Planetary Pilgrims know the difference between purposeful and useless waiting.

I saw my family doctor today. He had been away for six weeks. I had been hoping that the pathology report would have been available today for us to discuss but, alas, it is still early. So, we wait.


I am still feeling much pain in my arm. My family doctor agrees with me that nerve pain is not fun. It is annoying and keeps reminding you that something is amiss. Also we discussed the fact that I have diabetes. Diabetes can makes the healing of wounds slower. Maintaining a good blood glucose balance is important now, and will be important in the future, also.


Tomorrow I will see my surgeon for a post-op visit. If he has the pathology report by then, I shall hear about it. Most likely we will talk about the surgery, about the pain and swelling that I am still experiencing. I will welcome more pain relief, although I am trying to keep a balance between pain relief and pain management.


Once the report is available I will be referred to the Cancer Centre at Grand River Hospital. The Region of Waterloo enjoys good services in cancer treatment. You might want to visit this site:  www.grhosp.on.ca/CancerProgram


On Saturday I visited with a breast cancer survivor, who received care at Grand River Hospital. His story was inspiring, and I was grateful to have met him at this moment in my life.


Hopefully, soon we can move to the next step in this journey. Will it be fun? Hardly! I expect big challenges, and not a little discomfort.  But it will get me one more step closer to health again.


I have always been captivated by the season of advent. The four Sundays before the Christmas season are set aside to mark the waiting period before the Christmas holy day. Each of the four Sundays celebrates a special grace. A new candle is lit each Sunday, along with the previous ones:  for Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. So this is my time of waiting. I am trying to live the four graces, and to let them flow over me like a healing balm.


I invite you to check out the 3-minute Sesame Street version of Waiting for Godot, below. This amazing play, by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, was a favourite of mine during my university years. The characters in the Godot play wait and wait, but Godot never comes. Oh, we were so sophisticated then! We sponsored coffee houses, and volunteered in the inner city, and quoted Sartre, and agonized over the waiting, the deadly waiting for a just society.


Our waiting was not hopeless then, it was purposeful; we worked for a new day. And my waiting now is purposeful, also. I am not waiting for Godot, I am waiting for treatment that will help me to defeat cancer.


And it is time I got going; we will see each other again, soon, on the way to Santiago!