Page 13 - She's One Crazy Lady!

Dedication
to Sue
Knowing there were many very worthy and loving people I could have dedicated my book to, I have kept a promise I made back in January 2003. A promise that this book would be dedicated to “Sue”.
Sue (Wickison) and I met by chance in the chemotherapy suite at Northampton General Hospital back in December 2001. We had both been invited to take part in a new clinical trial. I was randomly selected to receive a new drug, Taxotere. Sue was randomly selected to be given a course of standard drugs.
Sue did not like chemo. Sue loathed anything to
do with breast cancer. Like anyone, she did not want
cancer in her life. She made the medical team know that she did not like chemo, especially the needles, and she was known to be quite verbal. However, in no way were her expletives aimed at any one person; this was Sue’s way of handling it. She was scared; she was frightened. They had seen it all before.
Very often our appointments were at the same time so, as we sat side by side being pumped with poison, our friendship grew. We became confidantes; we became soulmates and met up socially many times and had long, long phone calls, putting the world to rights, comparing notes as to how we were feeling. As supportive as other friends, colleagues and family were, we both agreed the opportunity to be able to talk openly and honestly with another person in the same boat, who understood exactly where you were coming from, yet who did not really know each other, was welcomed, and needed. Sue and I comfortably off-loaded our innermost thoughts about our diagnosis of breast cancer and our shared worries seemed somehow more plausible, even when it came to talking about death, which, of course, was a daunting possibility. Personally, I had never opened up in such a way before, but it became easier and the feeling of having shared such fears and talking through worries was liberating. We were never morbid about things. In fact, we always found a lot of humour when discussing certain topics – hair loss
“
Sue and I
comfortably
off-loaded our
innermost
thoughts about
our diagnosis
with breast
cancer and our
shared worries
seemed more
plausible. ”
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