Playing the Cancer Card

So honestly, I really haven’t played the cancer card much.  It’s a very valuable card, it can get you out of a lot of things (I’m sorry, I just can’t make that field trip/ serve on that committee/ come to that event, I have cancer) and can get you into a lot of things, too (lots of doors held for me, and my kids get into the pediatrician lightening fast!).  That said, not even three weeks out from chemo, and I can feel the ink on my cancer card fading.  I woke up this morning with pink eye and so immediately called the oncologist, expecting to have a prescription called in right away.  Instead, they passed me off to my primary care physician, who couldn’t see me for a few days and passed me off to the Target Clinic.  I must say, I felt a little “common” sitting there waiting for the clinic nurse to see me so that I could just get some antibiotic drops to take care of my crazy red eye. I feel sorry for those shopping with me at Target while I waited, though.  I was super vigilant about hand sanitizer, so I don’t think I passed along any germs.  But a bald woman with crazy, swollen red eyes, no makeup, and glasses wearing yoga pants and a fleece isn’t really the best look.  I’m not sure I’ve ever felt less glamorous pushing around a Target shopping cart!  I ended up spending more time there than I’d hoped, too, and was getting hungry.  I’m sure I looked super fab sitting in the clinic area in that state, eating Twizzlers from a family-sized bag.  But go ahead and judge.  I’ll show you my cancer card, and then you’ll feel bad.