A spa day worth the wait
By John Bach
Six months ago when the Karen Wellington Foundation (KWF) stepped into our life, we were still making regular trips to the chemo suite. Julie hadn’t yet had her double mastectomy, and we definitely didn’t know she would ultimately be declared cancer free. In other words, we had no idea where breast cancer was taking our family.
That’s what makes KWF so incredibly special. They get into the fight with you. And they show up when everything is murky. They knock on your door when your kids don’t know how long their Mom may have.
Back in December, volunteer and breast cancer survivor Lori Falke showed up at our home with a surprise spa package. She said KWF wanted to put some fun back on Julie’s calendar. This came at a time when fun was pretty far off our radar, yet her timing was perfect.
They’ve done the same for more than a thousand other breast cancer patients who have been on vacations, spa days and special trips. Tragically, for some, it’s among the last experiences they may get with their family. For Julie, it was a wonderful break between reconstruction surgeries.
We went on our special day yesterday at Mitchell’s Salon & Spa. We had a wonderful and relaxing experience that included a massage, a pedicure (complete with a charcuterie board) and a manicure. At one point as we were sitting on a comfy couch in our plush white robes listening to ethereal music, I’m pretty sure we both forgot what led to all this pampering. And that was the whole point.
Since we didn’t get to properly celebrate our 26th wedding anniversary, we capped the night at The Melting Pot with a four-course meal. The waiter asked if we were celebrating anything, and Julie explained we were celebrating our anniversary and beating breast cancer.
As we walked to the car, Julie noticed a group of ladies struggling to grab a selfie, and she volunteered to snap a photo for them.
While she was taking the photo, they asked if she was the person who whooped cancer’s butt. Turns out they were sitting nearby and overheard our conversation with the waiter.
They then congratulated her and explained they were also celebrating a friend who had beaten cancer.
Little did we know they had more than breast cancer in common. They also had the Karen Wellington Foundation in common, and Julie woke to this message this morning:
“Hi Julie. Normally I wouldn’t message someone I don’t know but I felt this. I’m pretty sure you were the one who graciously took a picture of my friends and I last night at The Melting Pot parking lot. Your picture from the Karen Wellington FB group literally was the first thing that came up in my news feed. Just wanted to let you know I will be praying for you. From one survivor sister to another, you got this!”
