Another victim

Mum and I went to see her, as promised, and just before stepping in the door mum told me that this auntie has changed a lot since I saw her last year.

Indeed, as soon as she opened her door, I could hardly recognise her. Her hair was different, her face looked 'puffy', and she limped as she walked, and trailed behind us on the stairs, as her body was still weak. Another victim of cancer, and a good friend of my mum's, one of the few people we've kept in touch with after all these years.

We sat down, and this auntie and my mum began exchanging "tales at the hospital". A lighthearted discussion about their experiences of chemo treatments, hospital food, doctors and recovery... even though the core of the topic was as serious as life and death. Seven months of ordeal with doctors and hospitals, yet they still do not know what exactly is wrong with her... and during the recent "A" flu scare, when authorities urged people to get vaccinated, she was one of those who did. The vaccination almost killed her, and her body swelled like a balloon overnight, her lymph glands grew to the size of fists all over her body, most likely an negative reaction to the chemical medicine she's been taking. If this is not medical malpractice, I'm not sure what is...

The auntie has a jovial aura around her, and when I was growing up here by myself, she would occasionally look me up. I sat and looked at how she has changed and aged, yet admired the way she manages to stay so positive and strong despite setbacks and near deaths.

She and mum talked and encouraged one another, friends in sickness, friends in health. As we turned to leave, there was a brief, brief moment when they looked at each another and told one another to take care.

A moment that was genuine and real, because they know and understand what the other is going through.