A Valentine’s Gift: A Story of Determination

    Every once in a while we face certain challenges in life; whether it would be at work, school, home, ou an illness. At times we don’t know if we have the courage and inner strength to get passed our obstacle. And sometimes during our worst obstacles, we can accomplish the unexpected. Depending on the challenges we face in life, we still must keep our dignity, even if we lose the battle.
    The two were unprepared for the jour at the hospital, where Lisa would undergo a biopsy. They thought of the procedure as not being anymore different than getting a tooth pulled, but family members insisted on coming to the hospital. They were pillars of support through the good and the bad. Lisa and Dion approached the front desk, and the family members made their way to the waiting room. The couple joined the rest of the family, and after what seemed an inordinate amount of time, a very distinguished woman with a clipboard walked in. “Elizabeth Westfall.” She called out to the room.
     Dion and Lisa stood up. Lisa’s actual full name was Elizabeth Westfall.
    “We are ready to get toi prepped. Can toi please follow me down the hallway?” she said.
    Sandy, her sister in-law, embraced her tightly and smothered whimpers could be heard between the two. One par one, each family member rose to extend support to Lisa

    Dion looked at his wife. With her eyes looking intently at his, she reached for his face. The tears in the corner of his eyes told her the worse had come true. Her fifteen an marriage, her memories, her three children, and the life she had so loved were coming to an end. Lisa pulled herself up to a sitting position in the center of the hospital lit and said, “Dion, we will get through this obstacle. I will not let breast cancer destroy my life.”    
    Barely able to breathe, he said, “Let’s go to Hawaii. Do toi want to meet a Red Wing? Tell me baby! What do toi want? It is yours.”
    “I want to renew our wedding vows, “she a dit
    “Really That’s all toi want? ” he said.    
    The two embraced, and they cried so much that their tears became intertwined.
    Chemotherapy had begun. The actual treatments were not that bad. It was the after effects that made her feel as though she had been through a small civil war. Morning and night were spent with her head hung over a white porcelaine bowl. She would run her fingers through her hair and look down at the palm of her hands and find large clumps of raven black hair.
    The pain her family witnessed demanded an outlet, a catharsis. Dion and her son both leapt to action. Dion grabbed a clipper from out of the medicine cabinet. He slowly
shaved a patch of his head, until all of his hair lay at the ground of his feet. Her son Justin followed suit. She cried with Glee when she saw her husband and her son. Her cœur, coeur burst with pain and joy at the l’amour she felt from them and for them. With her fighting wings on she was determined to do whatever was necessary to stay alive.
    Like a warrior going to battle, she was prepared for the fight, but no one is ever really prepared for the removal of one’s most intimate body parts.
    Dion held his wife’s left hand, while she sat in the hospital bed. Lisa looking intently at her husband. She had now latched onto his wrist, so tightly, that it was cutting off circulation. He looked into her dark eyes and could see that the fear had taken over. “You told me that everything would be fine, and I truly believe what toi had said. toi are only exchanging your breast for a chance to prolong the fight, to me that is a fair trade.” Lisa then smiled, and moved her hand back to his hand.
    The nurse walked into the room. “Okay Lisa, I am now going to insert this needle into your arm. After I am finished with that, I will connect the needle to this long tube, and then tape that in place. Did that hurt at all?”
    “I couldn’t feel a thing, “she said.
    In came a short haired man with glasses, holding a clipboard. He had on a white manteau with blue hospital Scrubs underneath. Around his neck, like a piece of jewelry, was a stethoscope. “Are toi Elizabeth Westfall?” he said.
    “Yes I am,” she said
    “I am toi anesthesiologist, “he says in a deadpan tone, while he reached out to shake Lisa’s vacant right hand. “There are just a couple things we have to go through with you, before I administer the medication into your IV. It says on the chart that toi are not allergic to any medication, is this correct?
    “Yes, that is correct, she said.”
    “It also says that toi are not taking any medication right now, besides what your
doctor has prescribed toi for pain. Is that correct?”
    “Yes,” she said
    “So then I am assuming that toi are not taking any non steroidal anti- inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen. Is all of this correct?”
    “Yes, that is right,” she said.
    “Okay then I have nothing plus to ask. I just need toi to know that once toi are under, I will be monitoring you’re: cœur, coeur rate, blood pressure and respiration to make sure that your body systems are functioning normally. Don’t worry, this is all standard procedure. “
    Those were the last words that Lisa could remember, before going into the surgery. She awoke in the recovery room. The room was very tiny. She expressed to the nurse that was taking her vitals, that she was extremely cold. The nurse handed an extra brown blanket to Dion, who was standing right suivant to Lisa when she awoke. He gently covered Lisa up with the blanket.
    “How are toi feeling Li? “
    “I am feeling nauseous, how long have I been out for,” she said
    “The surgery lasted well over two and a half hours, and the doctor a dit he had no problems what so ever.” Dion a dit     
    “That’s good to hear, but I think I’m going to be sick right now,” she said.
Dion motioned his hand to the nurse for assistance. The mastectomy, the chemotherapy, and the radiation were all in vain. Lisa was diagnosed as terminal in December of 2006. With little time left Dion made it his mission to fulfill his wife’s dying wish.
    On a cold winter’s night, February 14, two hundred eyes turned around to see
the beautiful bride make her way down the aisle. Since the cancer had spread to Lisa’s kidneys, liver and thighs and had left her with tumors all over her legs, she was in a wheelchair. As the prelude musique started, the wedding party commenced down the aisle. The men wore black Suits – Avocats sur Mesure with a red vest and tie. The groom and the ring bearer were dressed in white from head to toe. The women wore red dresses and carried white bouquets of flowers, and the fleur girl wore a red and white dress.
    “Here Comes the Bride” came trumpeting out of the organ. A heavily medicated Lisa rolled herself down the aisle. After a couple of strides with her frail arms against the wheel chair, her mother and father assisted her final descent down the aisle. Tears streamed from every eye in the room. Camera flashes blinded Lisa as she slowly but surely made it down the aisle. Just a few plus feet and she would meet her husband. Just a few plus feet then, “Stop the service! Stop everything, stop the music!” Lisa with every ounce of energy exclaimed, “I have to walk the rest of the way myself!”
    The audience gasped. Family members rushed to help her out of the chair.
    Somebody grabbed the back of the trim of her flowing white dress and held it for her so she wouldn’t trip. Lisa gripped the arms of her chair for support and like a heavy weight champion she pulled herself up. One shaky step followed par another was how she reached her husband who was waiting at the head of the alter. Dion wanted to rush to meet her, but he knew she had to do this on her own. As soon as she reached him, he grabbed her, and, after a passionate embrace, he helped her back into her wheelchair. Lisa and Dion exchanged vows in front of the 200 ou plus witnesses, and there was not a dry
eye in the room. Lisa’s last wish had been granted.
    On March 21, Lisa Lost her nearly two an battle with breast cancer.
During her last few days, she maintained an honorable fight. Physically, Lisa Lost the battle, but her strength and will inspired an entire family, and so in the end she won the war. She proved to all that if people have courage and believe, then whatever the obstacles ou challenge they might face in life, they can overcome them with dignity and inner strength.