new york city part II

When you get close to Memorial Sloan Kettering there are subtle hints of suffering amidst this city of opulence—requests for donations of blood and platelets, fragments of conversations about cancer, and sick people walking the streets.

When I walked these streets years ago, I didn't see all of this. Then I hammered through my New York life in a fog, wanting to get to the next place really fast, worked up, and unaware of the hardships of a city and people—which extends beyond shopping, finance, museums and restaurants. The things we usually associate with New York. For this sobering experience, I will always be thankful.

Anxiety started to settle over me before the doctor came in. I began to pray for everyone in the hospital—receiving chemo and other treatments or reports. It’s powerful to pray for people you don’t even know in their presence.

So, as the details of my cancer are better left vague here—it mirrors the information I know. While my consult was well worth it, and I now have a treatment direction—a new set of questions and ambiguity have unraveled. Questions are sometimes never answered but decisions do need to be made. I trust and know that God will continue to guide my path towards recovery.