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Rose and Pam
October 16, 2007
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2006 was a tough year for Pam Cicchesi. It was during her mother’s last months of
life that the 35 year old found out she would soon be in a fight for her own life
against breast cancer. “My mother was dying and I was trying to take care of my
mother and go through cancer treatments at the same time,” said Pam.
But she soon found comfort in Rose MacLeod. Rose was a visiting nursing home Chaplin
who was helping care for Pam’s dying mother. Pam says she felt calm around Rose.
“She would give me spiritual advice and talk to me. We just started to bond from
there”.
Rose had noticed Pam long before their friendship was formed. “Pam, I used to really
admire her from afar. There she was visiting her mom.
She was already bald and wearing
her baseball cap,” said Rose.
But the bond between Rose and Pam would soon become more meaningful than either
of them had imagined. The same day Rose presided over funeral services for Pam’s
mother, she too was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“Pam was right there for me. The first treatment I received, Pam sat with me during
my chemo. It was one of I think a kind of sisterhood,” said Rose.
In Pam’s mind and heart she was just returning the favor. “I’d be there for her
like she’d been there for me. I just really tried to help her out and educate her
about as much as I went through and to let her know that it’s going to be okay.”
Life after breast cancer seems more than okay for Pam and Rose. Thanks to their
doctors and each other, these now life-long friends can call themselves survivors.
And they’re thankful for that.
“I just want to thank her for everything she’s done for me. I hope if there’s anything
else I can do for her she just gives me a phone call because I would do anything,”
Pam says of Rose.
Rose is looking ahead to a bright future. “The best is yet to come. I thank her
for being there for me and hopefully together we can be there for others.”
To learn more about breast cancer and local support groups, log onto leememorial.org.
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