What can you do in 140 days?

What can you do in 140 days?

 

Two years ago today I stopped to see my friend Stacey at Blue Bayou Pub. I knew she was in pain and had been seeing doctors about it for quite some time. When I arrived, there was no one else there and she told me she was waiting for test results and they found lesions on her liver and a tumor on her pancreas.

 For a second, I thought “At last! They figured out what is wrong and can help you now” but before I finished my thought, Stacey also said she was already told it was stage 4 pancreatic cancer and there was nothing they could do. She was just waiting for a call confirming what she had already been told.

 I didn’t know what to say, I was shocked and overwhelmed. I fought back tears as other customers came in. A few minutes later the phone rang, it was the lab’s confirmation of the diagnosis. Stacey came out of the kitchen with tear-filled eyes, just looked at me and simply nodded yes.

She wanted to be upbeat and positive and that had to be so hard for her to do because she was afraid. It was 140 days from that phone call that Stacey passed away. 140 days full of chemo and its side effects, severe pain, and so many doctors’ visits.

All of this makes me wonder, “What could I do in 140 days?” Go on a much needed diet, spend time in my craft room, take a class or two, devote more time to friends and family? Or maybe just be grateful for what I have and enjoy life….