The Power of Support

When I think about support, I picture someone's arms under another person holding them up. I looked up the definition and it reads: bear all or part of the weight of; hold up; give assistance to; enable to function or act. I believe support saves lives.

The role of support

No greater feeling

There is no greater feeling to know that support is there to pick you back up when you have reached rock bottom. That’s when love/support feels the best and when it matters the most. Support walked into my life and made a believer out of me.

Just for me

From my experience, dealing with heart disease (and probably any disease) requires love, attention, and support. I was blessed to find support that was gifted/built with patience just for me. Support that cared for me, understood me, endured with me, and fought with me, even when it felt like I had nothing left to give. They remembered their reason and got up for me.

Support was different

I embraced it

This support was very different. That’s why I say it made a believer out of me. It seemed as they went through everything I did ahead of time just to walk through it with me with ease and confidence. It was so unbelievable but at the same time, I embraced it. For me, I needed support that could understand and endure with me.

A different kind

Now don’t get me wrong, anyone that supports you is absolutely amazing and a blessing. I just needed a different kind. For example, if I was in pain, no matter if it was every day or if I was uncomfortable in my body and anxiety was taking over me, someone would understand that.

Genuine

A necessity

I searched for it for many years although I was always grateful for any support. One day when I least expected it, support, my kind of support, showed up. If I'm being honest, I was beginning to lose hope. Why? Because everything about heart disease is serious and has to be handled with care. You always appreciate support because it’s such a necessity, but when genuine support that understands is there, it feels different.

Who goes through more?

I remember one morning I was at St. Luke Hospital getting ready to have a procedure and my sister was my support this particular time. I was in the waiting room and I asked the question: Who goes through more, the person that’s dealing with the disease or the person that has to care for them? A man next to me said, "The person that has to care for them."

Gave me hope again

Although I was the one dealing with it, I kind of had to agree because it’s a different kind of strength/gift you have to have to care for someone that’s going through. I said all that to say having support gave me hope again. It gave me a reason to keep pushing.

I remember like it was yesterday when I believed in support on another level. We were having a serious conversation and they were saying they understood what I had been through and also had struggles. Looking at them confused me because they looked so well. Then they raised their shirt up to show me my same scar...