Tuesday, August 1, the beginning of a new month and a 12-mile day in celebration of the abundance of life I find each Tuesday evening sitting with the participants in the Breast Cancer Support Group which meets in-person at the Flagstaff NAZ CSCAZ center. This group is so amazingly life-giving. Listening to them support one another with encouragement sustains everyone through whatever challenges are on deck. Last night one participant spoke of concerns for an upcoming surgery and those around the circle who had already experienced surgery shared their stories, advice, recommendations, and encouragement. The conversation was so important for each as one told their story and celebrated being on the other side of the anxiety and one shared their story and recommended the items most helpful on the immediate days after surgery. They smiled, laughed, and shared tears and normalized the worry of surgery and all the emotions and feelings that accompany such an experience. It is such a privilege to be in the same room listening to these individuals care for, nurture, encourage, and sustain each other. They recognize that privilege and thank one another for their vulnerability and willingness to share it all, the good, the bad, the happy, and not so happy. They offer support and community and that help one another endure whatever yesterday, today, and tomorrow bring.
Today NAU Intern Alice and I are headed to Kykotsmovi, AZ and Hopi Health Services to test our new Equiva Tele-Health Tablets internet connectivity and to educate the team at Hopi Health Services about the Affordable Connectivity Program and our free tablets in hopes that many families impacted by cancer across the reservations in northern Arizona will be able to qualify and take advantage of this new tele-health option. We probably won’t be getting in lots of steps today, but hopefully we will be launching a new tool that offers free access to all CSCAZ services, education materials, healthy lifestyles workshops, virtual support groups, tele-health appointments with their medical teams, and so much more to those in rural locations across northern Arizona. Alice and I are looking forward to the journey.