waiting rooms

So, I'm in the midst of this low-iodine diet right now--it is preparing me for a yearly scan I have to do to check for my thyroid cancer and make sure it hasn't returned. It is a bit of a bummer, but it is all relative, as I know a lot of people have it a lot worse. A LOT WORSE, as evidenced by my recent visit to the radiology clinic this morning (I'm going every morning this week for shots in my butt and doses of this and that.) Waiting rooms bum me out. I can't help looking around and thinking about all of the sadness, all of the people waiting for bad news or even worse, waiting to die. I realize this is depressing. And then I think about all of the people that work there--how do they do it? And then I think about how nice everyone is, for the most part, in the hospital--especially the nurses. They have such an important and rewarding job, and a job I really don't think I could do. How do you give someone a shot in their butt without freaking out? Not to mention performing surgery, or changing the bed pans. Wow, those people are special. I wonder if you have to have some sort of super-power to be able to block out the sadness and fear and grossness all around you? Or maybe people who go into that line of work just have so much compassion they don't even think about those things. I don't know. But it sure makes you feel humble, I know that much.

F.