U - Understanding

The first time Babe went to speech therapy was in the beginning of the worst part of the healing process, about two weeks after all treatments were finished. Babe was not having it that day, he was sick of feeling ill, sick of not being able to eat, swallow, speak, or sleep well. He was asked to do some humming exercises to strengthen his vocal cords but even that was just over the top for him. The speech therapist was so understanding of how he felt. She was a super sweet, very patient, helpful young gal and very good at her job. I instantly liked her.  Babe was so grumpy, but she just rolled with it. 

My dad was a doctor and I had a lot of friends who were his patients. Sometimes they would complain about  the gals who worked for my dad and said they had terrible bedside manner. This speech therapist was not like that at all. Just knowing that people feel crummy after cancer treatments and being sensitive to that helps people feel better and understood. She wasn't pushy at all. She knew that he would not want to eat anything but respectfully asked if he would eat a dry cracker, a couple of bites of yogurt and drink some water, she wanted to see how he swallowed. Babe did not want to do any of those, but because she was so nice about it, he did. 

We were supposed to see her last week but I got the days mixed up and we had to reschedule. The day she called about missing the appointment, she was happy to hear that Babe could speak and realized that he probably didn't feel the need for speech therapy but asked if he would come see her in person so she could hear his voice herself. He did agree. 

Today was the day he saw her again and once again, Babe apologized to her for his bad attitude. She reiterated that it was totally fine and that she sees patients with neck cancer all the time and understands that they are coming off of treatments and really do not want to be in her office. Her attitude was so infectious it was easy to feel at ease with her. She was very happy to see how well Babe has recovered and gave him some exercises to do and said she will only have to see him one more time and if he does these exercises his voice would get even stronger and the swallowing muscles as well. 

I am so grateful for the healing in Babe's body, every day he looks and sounds better, and I know in my soul it is the Lord answering the thousands of prayer warriors battling on his behalf. If you have prayed for him, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We are so blessed to have you in our corner. Today felt like life is getting back to "normal." 


The lesson: A little understanding goes a long way. 

Pouring hope, 

Nen♥