May the 4th be with you
If you’ve been following my journey, you know that I rarely miss an opportunity for a pun or a good costume. A few nights before my first chemo treatment, a good friend told me about a friend of hers who always dressed up in fun costumes for chemo. Challenge accepted! 🤣
AND the ridiculous of Lulu’s Fight began. I dressed up in costumes cleverly paired with anti-cancer themes for each of my 16 chemotherapy treatments and still continue this tradition every 8 weeks for my regular oncology checkups. You can follow me on Instagram @lulusfight_ibc for upcoming themes and throwbacks to past favorites. There are also future blogs swirling around in my head to share more about the ways the costumes were/are an important conduit of God’s provision for Lulu’s Fight.
When I found out I was accepted into a clinical trial at Emory’s Winship Cancer Center, I knew I wanted to do something fun/encouraging for other patients and the only thing that kept popping into my head was Yoda. You see I had a 50% chance of getting the trial drug. As I was awaiting my randomized fate of whether or not I would receive the drug, I kept thinking of his famous lesson to Luke Skywalker, “Do or do not. There is no try.” So, clearly, Yoda became the inspiration for my trial appointment themes.
And now, every trip to Emory I wear Yoda ears and bring a Yoda sign with some kind of sentiment or encouragement, “Yoda best healthcare workers” or various Yoda says pieces of advice such as “Yoda says, ‘Do be kind.’” In the beginning (pre-pandemic), I also handed out Yoda stickers, too. (AND if I can find where I put them🤦🏻♀️, I’ll start doing that again.)
The people I pass in the hall mostly look at me like I’m crazy, and they’re right. However, I know it matters. I spy Yoda stickers on the backs of Emory name tags on occasion and see these as evidence that someone was encouraged by my little ‘reindeer’ games. The employees at check in laugh and tell me I’ve brightened their day. My care team always walks in the door in anticipation of what’s going to be on the sign and take pictures of it to share with their family and friends. AND, it’s a way I can encourage other patients. As you might imagine, Yoda ears are a conversation starter. AND then, I get to learn about their story. They are added to my prayer list and our stories become intertwined, even if it’s only briefly in time.
So, today, May the 4th be with you… may you receive encouragement from someone in your life who’s a little further along in the journey, may you have courage to ask someone about their journey, or maybe it’s time you get to be bold enough to wear Yoda ears yourself. In any case, may you be blessed on this Star Wars day!
Love first and hope always,
💕
Lulu
This picture was from my birthday week in early April 2022.