Practical Spirits

I have a favorite cheer leader at the Shivers Clinic. She is one of the Seton chaplains and a real pleasure to be around. She also helped me a lot when my mother was driving me crazy. She brought a nurse practitioner to a meeting with my mother. They explained the clinic, the support services and programs available to me. Although I will be 62 this month, the meeting made my mother feel as though she had conference with the adults. There are reason that I lived across the county from my mother for 30 years. Yes, I love her and she loves me.



My life as I lived it was really blown apart by these cancers. I live in my mother's apartment, my laundry, dishes and some food is prepared by her maid. A couple of times I was too weak to bath and her aid helped me.



It would be too much to have Charley running a household that an immune system compromised person like me could live in and expect him to drive me to doctor appointments, refill prescriptions, visit me at the hospital each day and care for himself and the dogs.

Many of the chaplins are great at facilitating communication between health staff, patients and families both in a earth bound practical way and spiritual way.

Today my favorite chaplin was helping the oncology nurses by calling patients ( including me) from the waiting area to the infusion center. She asked each of us how she could make us comfortable (pillows, blankets, juice... ). It was a graceful start to a long treatment day.