The City of Hope

The City of Hope
The City of Hope is the name of a cancer institute located in Duarte, CA, where HJ (my wife) and I regularly attended like students for almost a year to get her colon cancer treatment. I noticed that most of the hospital buildings bear the names of private donors. Hospital staffs were kind, punctual, and professional. They respected the dignity of patients. I give this hospital the five stars mark.
The other day, though not feeling perfectly well due to my weak bronchi, I was glad to visit with HJ the hospital to have her portacath flushed. This is to be done every four weeks. We took the freeways to get there as we had done before. It takes about an hour by our drive. The freeway 57 was okay, but 210 was clogged, so we took a local road to the hospital with no problem. We have learned all the local routes leading to the destination by experience. But, as we get aged, driving became no more fun. Besides, the LA freeway is not a country road.
The Starbucks free coffee in the hospital is fresh and good. I like the bold one, not wimpy stuff. But that day I did not get the taste. I knew it was all my fault, not Starbucks’. Something good is not necessarily felt the same way all the time. Before I finished my coffee, HJ finished her job. The chemo lab was filled with patients waiting for treatment. But they were all new faces to us. It reminded me of school. Though school buildings remain the same, students are replaced completely every some years, one generation after another. This hospital practice is likely to go on in this fashion until a magical breakthrough in medicine occurs.
Looking back, HJ and I encountered an unusual course which became a part of our life’s journey. The journey is an one way road. We would never be the same as before. We realized that our life here after all is temporary. Our fleeting years could be long or short in the measure of time. Being with a cancer patient was not easy. But I felt much blessed that I had nothing else important to do but to help her and to be with her closely. As Pat, our church member, put it, I also suffered from a cancer. Thank God. We survived a cancer. Our life style changed completely. My emotion at times was not suppressible. As a result, I can see a person’s life more clearly now. Life is a journey to somewhere! It is where the hope is. The hope gives us joy and peace.
On the last chemo day last July, we came out of the front entrance of the hospital. There were some patients carried into inside on wheelchairs as HJ was several times carried on a wheelchair pushed by a tired looking old man, me. We stood in front of the water fountain to take a picture of us (as shown herewith) to celebrate her successful completion. She looked so happy and so beautiful with her bright smile that I felt some tears in my eyes. We were delighted with the perspective that we be healthy and free again. (September 24, 2012, KYP)