The Little Pink Pillow
I am a woman, like so many women who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009.. When I reported to the hospital for my lumpectomy, a wonderful woman named Donna Jones visited me (she had called me prior to the hospital appointment to introduce herself as my advocate). She gave me a gift bag with various items in it, one of them being a soft, little pink pillow. She said it was designed to support my breast upon my release from the hospital so the seat belt and other surfaces wouldn’t hurt my poor, mangled booby, and it was mangled and bruised, and sore with three incisions. For the first 48 hours of my recovery from the lumpectomy, I used that pink pillow when I walked, sat, stood up, and lay down, and it was equivalent to a little pink miracle. Donna told me that a volunteer at the Cancer Center sewed every pillow; and that she and this woman had an arrangement that if Donna supplied the material, the volunteer would make them. I can’t begin to express how much relief and comfort that little pillow gave me, and my booby….such a little thing that made a big difference. Donna was kind and compassionate, and when I introduced her to my wife of 22 years, she didn’t raise an eyebrow, or display that look that some of us who are gay get; that looks that says, I have to tolerate you because it’s my job, but I really don’t like or approve of who you are. If you are someone who has to go through what I did, I highly recommend that you use a little pillow. Isn't it the little things that make a difference. I have no doubt if I lose my hair someone will have made a little pink scarf to match it. With people like Donna, and volunteers who care so much, I have no doubt that somewhere, someone makes little pink scarves. Thank you doesn’t begin to express the difference this made to me.
Warm Regards,
Denise Sassoon
Tucson, AZ
