DFCI

I used to think that my last visit to the hospital could not arrive soon enough.

I have just come from Dana Farber Cancer Institute, my home away from home these past two years. When I first heard the news last Wednesday, I cried, but my peepers had remained try since then- until today. Saying goodbye to the nurses and staff was very difficult. Realistically, most are people I will never see again. It was my first moment too since I learned of the relapse when my gut questioned if moving to California was the best idea.

To be true, I never liked to get up at 6:00 AM to go get my chest pricked and my bloodstream tainted, but the team at Brigham & Women's Hospital and Dana Farber honestly and truly made it possible. If they had been even slightly less than their patient-oriented, friendly, informative selves, I might have used the hassle and stress of my weekly visits as provocation for quitting. Long ago, they stopped asking for my ID card to check in; they reserved private rooms for my treatments even when I was well enough to sit in the chemo-armchair-factory (so depressing!); nurses were always friendly and always made time to answer all of my questions; they'd bring me heated blankets and water without me even asking; they'd page whomever I needed at that moment whether that be a social worker, a doctor, a nutritionist, the scheduler, or even a holistic healer. It's not much, but I always felt like a VIP at Dana One Infusion Room.

Aware that I have been spoiled at DFCI, I'm nervous to be changing all of this and I'm sad to say good-bye to these people who probably don't even realize how important they have been to my life.