Homerun after a near strikeout

I met up with a friend (let's call her A) on Saturday for dinner at Pike Street Fish Fry (seriously, some of the best fish and chips EVER) followed by the Stupid Cancer Happy Hour at the Garage.  We asked at the front desk if there were any groups there for the "cancer happy hour" but he said no.  I then felt really awkward and self conscious asking about the cancer happy hour, as that is something that can make people feel uncomfortable hearing, plus we didn't want to "out" ourselves to any random person there as having the cancer (or tumors).  We asked a few other Garage employees, but no luck.  A and I grabbed a beverage, wandered a bit, and just kept an eye out for a small group that may have been who we were looking for.  I started to get a little bummed that this whole thing wasn't going to work out; I was so looking forward to it!

I'm guessing we were there for an hour, and A started drafting an email to an organizer from the organization to try and figure out if the HH was even still on or what.  Right before she sent the email, we noticed 2 people looking confused, checking their smartphones, and looking around.  I said, "could they be here for it too?" and then got shy.  Luckily, A wasn't afraid to hop up, ask them if they were there for the cancer HH, and tadaaa!  We found 2 more people!  They had pulled up the FB invite (which I didn't even know existed, but do now) and found the picture of a guy who quasi-organized it, and recognized him across the room by himself.  So all of a sudden we had 5 people in our little HH!

Besides me with my brain tumor and A with her cancer, there was a guy with renal cancer, a girl with intestinal cancer, and a cancer-free guy who has been dating the girl for a month.  ONE MONTH!!  And he was already here with her at cancer HH.  He's a keeper!!  :)   We all chatted for probably 90 minutes, talking about ourselves, our treatments and surgeries, how it's affected our friends and family and work and dating (the girl said she read that date #4 is the time to tell someone new about your cancer or tumors... very interesting...), funny moments (like my pirate story from work, which I apparently did not share in detail on here, but will!), hopeful things, the I'm Too Young For This! organization, what the Seattle chapter does, what we can get involved with, etc.  It was REALLY GOOD!  So much more successful than my attempt at the BTSG, ugh.  A couple more people showed up right as we were leaving, and hopefully we'll get to chat more with them in the future too.  These are my people.

I've joined the FB group and hope to attend more happy hours and fundraisers in the future.  There isn't a ton of activity in the Seattle chapter, but A and I are hoping to help increase it.  And if anyone out there is a young cancer/tumor (20s and 30s) patient or survivor, I'd LOVE to pass along the info.  I think this group could be a really great thing!

Good Times and Bald Times

I don't know what my deal is.  I feel so emotional lately and it seems to come on very quickly.  I don't feel especially sad, it's more like I just need to have a really good cry.  I don't like it.  I feel like I'm losing the happiness that I've been feeling so strongly.  Maybe I'm sad, maybe I'm lonely, maybe I'm afraid to tell someone new that I might date that I have a brain tumor (trust me, this NOT information I plan to share quickly), and maybe they'll get freaked out and leave.  Maybe I'm just super emotional.  I just don't know.  I want to snap out of this.

On a brighter note (and one that totally contributed to crying tonight), the Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology Program at Seattle Children’s Hospital released a series of videos a few days ago called "Good Times and Bald Times" and features 8 teen/young adult cancer survivors.  The videos are short and topical and talk about how they feel, treatment, losing their hair, mortality, etc.  I thought they were pretty interesting and could be helpful to teens and young adults (heck, anyone really) going through a cancer diagnosis.  Or if you're looking for a good cry, this may also help.  :)