My favourite finds in this week's Saturday Synopsis treasure hunt were my exchange with Nurse Kayley and a quote from Arnold Schwarzenegger about helping others.

Last year, after my bilateral mastectomy and, later, emergency surgery to remove an infected breast implant, a nurse named Kayley was taking care of me. When I asked her whether she was going to check my mobility, she responded: "Oh no. I'm just a nurse. I'll leave that to the physiotherapists." I quickly replied: "No one is ever just a nurse. Nurses are angels. Nurses are the backbone of the medical system." Kayley smiled and said that she felt so special, as she should.

Two years ago, I shared a few quotes from Arnold Schwarzenegger, including this one: "Be part of the solution, not part of the problem. There will always be tragedies and disasters and injustices you can’t solve. But there will also always be little moments when you can do something—anything—to help." This statement is as relevant today as it was two years ago.

Now on to my favourite bits.

"Things will get better. You will make them better."

— Colin Powell

My [cancer] coach told me that higher patient activation leads to greater self-care behaviours, better health outcomes and less use of healthcare services. In other words, when a patient has high knowledge, understanding, skills, competence, confidence and willingness to manage their health and participate in decisions about their care, they will take better care of themselves, enjoy improved health outcomes and ultimately use fewer healthcare services because they're staying on top of their treatment.

"Paint what you already know, and in time you will discover the mysteries you do not yet understand."

— Rembrandt

"Soon I would come to learn that many families in St. John's read the French on packaging as if it were part of a product's name. This was especially the case when it came to buns [a generic term for the sweet treats produced by Vachon]. A ½ Moon became a ½ Lune Moon. A Log became a Billot Log. It was a kind of ignorance-based bilingualism."

— Mark Critch

Without exception, I recommend that people network, and by that I mean reaching out to prospective employers. Networking allows you to showcase your skill set and to signal your availability. Think of it like selling a house: you display what you've got and you share that you're on the market.

Having grown up in the country―where people really do say "g'day" and we wave to anyone who toots their horn as they speed past the farm―it seemed odd to me that I wouldn't say hello to someone I passed every morning, just a few feet away. So I implemented a system. First, I would glance at the other person when we got about five feet apart. If they glanced back, I would say hello. If they didn't, I would try again the next day. Eventually, even the shyest people would look at me, and I would seize the opening. Within a few months, I was saying hello to all the regulars (in addition to any new pedestrians who were open to it). Often, our "hello" evolved to include "how are you today?" as we started greeting each other from farther apart.

"Be part of the solution, not part of the problem. There will always be tragedies and disasters and injustices you can’t solve. But there will also always be little moments when you can do something—anything—to help."

— Arnold Schwarzenegger

"When strangers start acting like neighbors...communities are reinvigorated."

— Ralph Nader

That's not to say that FOMO [Fear Of Missing Out] is completely a thing of the past for me. I see what others are posting on social media: once-in-a-lifetime trips, fabulous birthday celebrations, weekends filled with hedonistic pleasures. At times, I wonder whether I'm spending my time, money, energy and attention in the right places. Mostly, however, I like my quiet life. That's why I was so taken by the concept of JOMO [Joy Of Missing Out]. Here, at last, was an acronym that legitimized my natural tendency to be a homebody.

I've often quoted writer May Sarton who talked about the humility, honesty and sense of destiny required by someone who allows their private dilemmas to serve as a public example to others. Sometimes, those closest to writers inevitably have their stories told as well. As I have shared my experience through this blog, I've often shared the experiences of my husband and children too. That has required humility, honesty and a sense of destiny on their part. And I'm grateful to them for allowing me to express my truth.

"Study a foreign language if you have opportunity to do so. You may never be called to a land where that language is spoken, but the study will have given you a better understanding of your own tongue or of another tongue you may be asked to acquire."

— Gordon B. Hinckley

After the doctors left the examining room, Nurse Kayley appeared with a pamphlet on exercises to do after breast surgery. I asked:

— Are you going to assess my mobility?

— Oh no. I'm just a nurse. I'll leave that to the physiotherapists.

— No one is ever just a nurse. Nurses are angels. Nurses are the backbone of the medical system.

— Oh I feel so special now.

Sometimes when we are sick, we may be reluctant to let others help us, fearing that we will be a burden. But when we allow them to support us, especially in ways that come naturally to them—such as baking, driving, advocating, advising, listening—we give them a gift. The gift of being helpful (e.g., by easing our pain). The gift of making a difference (e.g., by helping us feel less alone). The gift of doing something (e.g., by taking notes during a doctor's visit). All of this can give loved ones a sense of control in the face of an otherwise chaotic illness.