Good News Against The Odds

"Everything went well."

And with those three words from the surgeon, all 7 of my mother's children - all adults now - hugged and cried out of sheer relief. The mass that was removed was not cancerous. "Now, you won't be able to see her for at least 2 1/2 hours, but everything is fine..", the doctor assured us.

The reality of her predicament was very clear to us; either the mass would be cancerous or it would not be. There was no middle ground. And the fact that the procedure was done in a renown cancer hospital, Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Pa, had earlier led me to believe that the odds were not really in mother's favor.

I cannot imagine how we would have reacted if the news was different. What would he say to us then? How would he say it? And how drastically would our lives change, knowing that our 68 year old mother had basically been given a death sentence. "But, it turned out good", my wife said to me as I ruminated over the other possible outcome. She was basically telling me to accept the good news and be appreciative.

I also realize that mother's situation might be a good metaphor for obstacles that face a lot of people; you may think that the odds are not good, but somehow, some way, the news comes out favorable. And I think that mother's outlook on everything - her optimism - created a sense of optimism amongst her children who were so vulnerable for 3 hours while the doctors worked on her.

In the end, I learned that sometimes good news can come out of something that seems so awfully futile. Cancer is an awful thing, but sometimes we get lucky and for now, the odds are in our favor.