© 2023 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM. World Rights Reserved. http://www.kebba.com
When I was diagnosed with a rare cancer in Summer 2021, I considered various options to beat it. Cancers are wily forms of wrong cell growth, often very aggressive. And there are over 100 types of cancer. Mine was aggressive. My doctor is friends with a cancer surgeon at Mayo Clinic, and I was offered a swift backdoor into the Mayo system. Although I approach every other illness and malady and imbalance from a holistic view, I just knew it was right to say yes to the Mayo system. Two weeks later I was on the surgeon’s table, and that month, I began chemotherapy. I am still completely happy with my decisions.
So, if you have heard that chemo is horrible, well, it does make you feel lousy. However, I am now 6 months past the end of my chemo year, getting my energy back, and I have realized there have been several big gifts. I will name 3 today.
Gift 1: It did fix the cancer situation! I get scanned and blood-tested frequently, and there is no indication the cancer is still with me or has spread. Buh bye, cancer! Mayo is VERY serious about beating cancer.
Gift 2: It made me weak, so I was forced to learn to ask for help. I am accustomed, all my life, to being independent and strong. I’m the one who helps others. But now, I needed rides to appointments. I needed a friend to hang out with me through all the steps of the hospital day. I needed people to push me in wheelchairs around the hospital: lab, doctor, chemo unit, lobby, catch my ride. I needed the chemo nurses to help me up from the treatment recliner. I learned to say, “Sorry, I’m weak and just need to sit down. Now, continue what you were saying?” I needed to be taken to lunch after appointments; I was drained by the end of each cycle and needed real food. No way I could fix an extra meal at home.
Almost 6 months after I completed treatment, I needed to give a professional talk. I was (am) still weak, and I had to ask someone to find me a tall chair I could sit on, to give my presentation; magically, the chair appeared. No one ever said no or showed me any disrespect! And by the way, Mayo has an absolute army of wheelchairs all over the campus. When you leave for the day, you can leave yours by your parking space, if you need to, and the wheelchair squad will simply retrieve it and repark it. They understand. Everyone has different abilities and needs, and those may change from day to day.
Gift 3: It made me so weak, I had to discern what was important on every level. Did I really need a wheelchair to get down to the lobby? My friend Paula took me to most of my appointments at Mayo, and she would park herself in the Cafe’ and do accounting. Paula said this profound thing: If you are wondering if you need the wheelchair, you need the wheelchair. Don’t use your precious energy to walk. At home, did I really need to go to the bathroom, or could I wait? Did I really need a snack, or could I save that walking trip (20 feet) and just wait? Getting groceries and dinners delivered was a no-brainer, because we were deep in the Pandemic. In Phoenix, delivery systems have become superb.
Today, I still retain the habits of Gifts 2 and 3, engraved in my brain: If I need help, I will ask for it; people are kind. If I’m considering doing a thing, I ask myself if it will it be worth the energy it will take. I’m still not making any time-consuming meals, as I still get very tired, standing. But the dizziness and faintness are mainly gone. I’m able to meet friends for dinner and even allow that to energize me. My energy picks up every week.
So that’s me, my own best client/patient, ever more Healthy Happy and Loving Lifesm!
Kebba Buckley Button is a stress/energy management expert, holistic healer, and award-winning author who celebrates life. She has a longtime natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within: Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office. They are also available in Scottsdale, Arizona, at the Franciscan Renewal Center bookstore and at the bookstore at St. Barnabas on the Desert Episcopal Church. Or simply email us to order: kebba@kebba.com . Thank you!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button