"Beauty is more than skin deep."

I watched TV and played monopoly with a 13 year old cancer patient today. She had been in the hospital for 3 months. She initially seemed very tired, but didn’t want for me to leave. Most of these patients are confined to a hospital room for most of the day. Consequently, most patients, especially extended stay patients, are very happy to have visitors. I had a really good conversation with her and talked about many things, including her family, school, and life at the hospital. She said her treatment was painful physically, but even moreso emotionally, because she was having a hard time accepting her changing appearance. It was a difficult subject for our conversation, because I didn’t know exactly what I could say to comfort her. I have to admit, one of the toughest aspects about working with cancer patients is to see them go through chemotherapy, lose all of their hair, lose all of the color in their face, and become completely weak and fragile. On the table next to her hospital bed, she had pictures of her family, including herself, before she became sick. She was a beautiful girl then, and I made sure to remind her that she is still a beautiful girl now. Talking with her made me so happy. She was such a sweet and funny girl, and at the end of the day, I felt so incredibly lucky to have had the chance to become friends with such a beautiful person, inside and out.