Love This Life...

A couple of weeks ago I met a very special friend for lunch. Tuyet and I met at MD Anderson Cancer Center when I was a third year medical student and she was actually a patient on my service.
To make a long story short, Tuyet was in the hospital for nearly the entire month I was on my Surgery rotation. Over the course of that month, I got to know Tuyet a bit, and learned about her life and her struggle with Synovial Sarcoma. (For those of you that are not medically oriented, synovial Sarcoma is a rare but aggressive tumor that originates from the tissue that lines the joint spaces.)

When the time came for her to get discharged to go home and our patient/doctor relationship was over, she asked me if it would be ok if she could keep in touch using email from time to time. I agreed and we have kept in touch here and there ever since.

I asked Tuyet permission to write about her on my blog because I think that she is a great person with a very strong outlook on life and has a wonderful spirit that we can all look up to.
From my friendship with her, I feel I have grown as a physician as well as a person. She has taught me that no matter what life throws your way, you should always hold your head up high, be thankful for what you have, and enjoy every day that you are alive on this earth. Disspite all of the trials Tuyet has faced in the last couple of years, she still remains a positive person and displays so much strength! She is a young woman, a mother, and a special person with a wonderful spirit. It was great to visit with Tuyet and see how well she is doing!

Here is a picture of us at lunch

While we were at lunch, Tuyet shared a saying with me that I think is very inspiring and a great message. She was visiting her friend in California named Susan (who was also a patient at MD Anderson). They stubbled upon some shirts with a very inspirational message while they were window shopping.

The saying had so much meaning to both of them after all that they had been through together.

Susan purchased the shirt as a souvienier for Tuyet's visit to California. Here is what it says...

LovethisLife...
is about celebrating the moment
and that we're not guaranteed
or owed another day
and how cool it is that what we hide
can actually be the fuel towards our glory
and that it's not so bad being proven wrong

LovethisLife...
is about welcoming the blind turn
and the possibility that
there's no such thing as coincidence
and that empathy is incredibly sexy
and that it's never too late to
pick up a guitar or a paintbrush
or to make an amend
or to make a new friend

LovethisLife...
could be about rekindling a past flame
or igniting a new one
or shapeshifting from a dreamer into a doer
or savouring the carress of a love long gone

LovethisLife...
means whatever it is you want it to mean
because

LovethisLife...
is a celebration of you and your path

LovethisLife...
'cuz it could go at any second