In 2008, my mother had advanced stage breast cancer, and I was her driver to chemotherapy every Friday. When I would pick her up she always had a plate of muffins or cookies to bring to the nurses and other patients. One morning when I picked her up, she said, "Turn left on 24th St. We need to pick up Jackie."
My mother had made friends in the chemo lounge and we began a chemo carpool shortly thereafter for those who couldn’t drive themselves or didn’t have family like we did. The chemo lounge became a fun place of getting to know each other, asking “what are you in for?“ We soon became the Friday rowdy bunch!
And my mother quickly, with her maternal instincts, knew when somebody needed groceries, when somebody needed a ride, when somebody needed a gas card. She was other-centered and did not want the spotlight on her. Sadly, in September 2009, she passed away. Two weeks after her death, I did my best to bake her healthy brand muffins and make my way to the chemo lounge that Friday. Of course I had to stop for Jackie on the way and drive her there and when chemo was over I stopped at the grocery store and filled two bags of groceries to leave at Mary’s door. As I left the groceries at her doorstep, she immediately texted me in her brusque way, “You didn’t need to do that, but I love you, baby!“
I have dedicated my life to, what I coin as my “church “ and my people, my Chemosabes. And I started a nonprofit in October 2010 called Chemo Companions. We are based out of Arizona and we provide programs to patients and families going through chemotherapy. We visit with them, we provide financial assistance, grocery assistance, complementary modalities, such as meditation classes, yoga classes, art therapy sound bowl therapy, etc. We adopt eight families at the holidays and provide essentials for them and their children gifts grocery cards, diapers formula, etc. We also hand deliver about 1000 chemo comfort bags to oncology offices around the entire state of Arizona.
My mother had made friends in the chemo lounge and we began a chemo carpool shortly thereafter for those who couldn’t drive themselves or didn’t have family like we did. The chemo lounge became a fun place of getting to know each other, asking “what are you in for?“ We soon became the Friday rowdy bunch!
And my mother quickly, with her maternal instincts, knew when somebody needed groceries, when somebody needed a ride, when somebody needed a gas card. She was other-centered and did not want the spotlight on her. Sadly, in September 2009, she passed away. Two weeks after her death, I did my best to bake her healthy brand muffins and make my way to the chemo lounge that Friday. Of course I had to stop for Jackie on the way and drive her there and when chemo was over I stopped at the grocery store and filled two bags of groceries to leave at Mary’s door. As I left the groceries at her doorstep, she immediately texted me in her brusque way, “You didn’t need to do that, but I love you, baby!“
I have dedicated my life to, what I coin as my “church “ and my people, my Chemosabes. And I started a nonprofit in October 2010 called Chemo Companions. We are based out of Arizona and we provide programs to patients and families going through chemotherapy. We visit with them, we provide financial assistance, grocery assistance, complementary modalities, such as meditation classes, yoga classes, art therapy sound bowl therapy, etc. We adopt eight families at the holidays and provide essentials for them and their children gifts grocery cards, diapers formula, etc. We also hand deliver about 1000 chemo comfort bags to oncology offices around the entire state of Arizona.