The curve ball of cancer

---

Last March, Aaron Bonds thought he had a pulled muscle. After 40 years of working out five days a week, he expected some minor aches and pains.

When doctors discovered he had lymphoma, however, Aaron and his wife, Lisa, knew they needed a different kind of strength.

Aaron spent two weeks at Washington Hospital Center. Lisa quickly set up a CaringBridge website and began posting updates on her Palm Pilot.

“It became my public therapy,” Lisa recalls. “I didn't necessarily want to tell Aaron how scared I was. I wanted to be there and be positive for him,” she explains.

Help and healing

---

CaringBridge not only gave Lisa a crucial emotional outlet. The website also provided a way to ask for help. “Our kitchen was being renovated, and people used CaringBridge to coordinate visits and arrange dinners,” Lisa says.

At one point during chemotherapy, Aaron couldn’t eat anything but bacon and ice cream. “A fellow cancer patient in Cincinnati read that on the website and shipped us 12 pints of Graeter’s ice cream,” Lisa says.

Throughout his treatment, people left thousands of messages. “I always joke that Aaron knows everyone in Washington, D.C.,” says Lisa. “Having so many people thinking about him and praying for him helped his healing.”

Cherishing every day

---

Aaron has completed chemotherapy. His port was removed in January. “When you’ve been through something like this, just doing everyday things together means so much,” Lisa says.

This spring, the Bonds will be enjoying evenings on their front porch and spending time with family and friends. And Aaron, of course, will be back at the gym.