I began training for my new job on December 17, 2012 and I have enjoyed my job since that day. I didn't start taking calls until January 3, 2013 and wouldn't you know? I got a registration that day! I was so excited. The lady I spoke with was apprehensive at first but we talked through all of her questions and then she said "After speaking with you I feel that I really can do this 3-Day. Thank you!" It made me feel so good to know that because of our conversation she trusted in herself enough to be able to participate.
I have taken over 100 calls at this point and I can really say I have yet to feel like I'm "at work." I guess that saying is true; "do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life." How true it is! Already I've heard some incredible stories about why people are inquiring about the 3-Day. They really open up to you and it's beautiful and sometimes it's beautifully heart-breaking.
A few weeks ago I spoke with a lady who seemed a little low. I took a couple of extra minutes with her and it turns out she had just had a benign lump removed from her breast and she was on dialysis. She said she had been depressed for weeks worrying about life and what was next for her. She said nobody really understood how she was feeling and then she thanked me. When she said "You know, I've been pretty depressed lately but now I feel like I can actually have a good night for a change" I had a hard time holding back tears. I could hear the smile in her voice. It wasn't because she had paid me the compliment it was because she suddenly had that beaming smile in her voice and I couldn't help but smile too.
Then there was the lady that told me "I can't walk in the 3-Day because I'm in a wheel chair but I'm a cougar so I'll just have a man to push me the whole way." Hahaha! I loved her confidence. Then there was the man who cried because he had lost his wife to mesothelioma eleven years ago "but it still hurts every day." The pain in his voice made a crack in my heart.
There are a lot of people that make me smile throughout the day. I don't take calls for 8 hours a day (I'm blessed with a flexible schedule that allows me to do things in my work day that don't include phone time) but when I'm not on calls I'm thinking about the people I spoke with. I think about how they're doing and if they're okay.
Today was my first tough day. I spoke with patient after patient today. Lung cancer. Colon cancer. Brain cancer. Cancer. Cancer. Cancer. *sigh* It was hard to hold my tears back today. Not all of them are terminally ill. I enjoyed their positive outlooks even though I sensed a bit of uncertainty in their voices when they told me about their next steps. The lady with colon cancer is only 52 and it has metastasized. The doctors aren't sure what's next. Yet she called and said she wasn't sure if she could walk but if she's still alive when the 3-Day comes to Atlanta she wants to come to a cheering station to say "thank you." Her name was Felecia. Felecia with 2 "E's".
The lady with lung cancer is in her 70's, raising two grand children, and clings to her best friend for support. Her best friend is her husband and they've been married for 56 years. I'll be honest. She was not pleasant at first but I worked hard to engage with her because I sensed that she was hurting from something. Then we talked about her cancer and it made sense as to why she seemed so cold and rigid at first. She's earned the right to be pissed off. Before we got off the phone she thanked me. For what, I wasn't sure and then she said "you were such a pleasure to speak with" in her cold and rigid tone. "Thank you, Shirley and you as well!"
I realize how incredibly blessed I am. Every time I pick up the phone I get the chance to be told a story, to view the world from a patient's, caregiver's, a best friend's, a husband's, or a concerned child's point of view. With every call I get a chance to put a smile on someone's face and if it's a day they don't feel like smiling that's okay too. Maybe it's a day when the caller just wants to be heard and that's when I turn up my listening ears and close my mouth. Everyone needs a friend; just like Shirley and Felecia with 2 "E's".
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