So I need some ideas from you guys. My boss, John, has kidney cancer. He is in the stages of chemotherapy - round 1 of many to come. I have not yet posted anything on his cancer website or sent him anything because quite frankly, I'm not sure what to say. I have some ideas but I have to get something done tonight. I am going to make a card and have Kai draw him a pretty picture. Its mostly going to be a "thinking of you" card because "get well" is kind of silly since he's at the beginning of his treatment.

So, I was wondering if anyone had any words of encouragement or anything that you think I should include? I realize this needs to come from me, but honestly, whenever I try to put something down, I think it just sounds weird and what not.

You can always check online for a nice poem that's related to getting well, courage, determination .. cancer even? Check out those ecards and see if there's something you can use..

I don't have anything myself, sorry.

I guess something in the lines of " being with you till you get better", you can always quote the Bible, look at some psalms, also comedy always work, I'd mix some seriousness with a couple of jokes to lighten the mood if you are close enough to go that way.
I have this tile hanging from my kitchen wall with a pix of a panda upside down that reads " life is too important to be taken seriously" Find a pix of an animal goofing off and substitute the word "life" for "cancer". that'll cheer him up without insulting his condition with all the other stupid jokes that I'm thinking of right now and I don't dare to write down...lol.

Adrian

Really all I can think of is to let him know that you are there for him and his family if he needs you. As most people know, the chemo can make people feel worse than the cancer, although hopefully with a better ending. I think the best thing is just to be supportive. There is really no "right" thing to say to someone who is having to go through something like this.
One of Adrian's suggestion was maybe to quote the Bible. But I would only do this if you know that your friend believes in the Bible. It could be upsetting if he does not.

My dad went through six rounds of chemo, and I know he appreciated hearing from people throughout. He appreciated knowing people were praying for his recovery, and when people stepped in to help out my mom -- who put her whole life on the shelf to take care of him -- that meant a lot to him too.

Some kind words now are great, (and really, anything that comes from your heart are the right words. If you overanalyze it, it'll always feel weird to you), but bringing meals to their house occasionally, offering to babysit or run an errand, hit the grocery store for them, that kind of thing, will mean a lot too down the road.

I guess the main thing I learned from my parents' experience is that a lot of people offer good wishes when a person is diagnosed or begins treatment, but true friends stick around through the long haul when things get hard. So maybe don't worry quite so much about what you say now because your true concern will show loud and clear as his treatment continues.

Always loved this poem. It's so inspirational in situations when you feel down. Maybe you'll like it too.

http://www.psalm40.org/dontquit.html

you are right Jwriter, when my ex was in the car accident that I always talk about, about 20 people or more showed up the first and second day, and I remember the doctors telling me to tell these people to go home and come in small groups over a longer period of time and that's exactly what happened, after a week we were the only ones there, me and her family and after another week, not even me because I had to go back to work. So I guess its important to stick around for the long haul ( I had to be a trucker to come up with that one...lol).

Adrian