So Much Hope…
As the sun was going down, the anticipation was building. The tests had been completed. The preliminary work-ups that would clear the way for the bone marrow transplant, were complete and it was just a matter of time when the new blood would arrive. When the washing of the blood would be over, Bruce would get his bone marrow transplant and he would take the next step, the big step, to rid his body of the leukemia that was trying to kill him.
So much HOPE…He knew his age and the type of blood cancer he had would put him in the high risk column, but he had HOPE. He was strong and healthy, except for having this cancer. He was ready for the challenge. His family and friends had made it clear to him, they had his back on this one. We would be his wall and he would stand tall, leaning against all of us.
The transplant didn’t even begin until the wee hours of the morning, a year ago,tomorrow. It took hours to complete, but when the last drop was squeezed into that I-V tube and traveled into his arm, we were so sure Bruce would be the one who would reset the curve on the survival chart.
When I think back to his struggle…absorbing all that chemotherapy, fighting off infection, GVH issues, the list is long. But his heart was strong and so was his will to live.
I know he had hard days and worse nights when it wasn’t so much the disease that raged-on inside him, but all the other problems that come with bone marrow transplant. And yet, he never really complained. He was a doctor, an infectious disease doctor, no less, so along with his medical team, he contributed so much knowledge to his own case.
And he fought on…until he couldn’t fight anymore.
That was one year ago. When we all had so much hope.
October 31, 2011 @ 3:17 am
I much prefer ionfrmaitve articles like this to that high brow literature.
October 26, 2011 @ 7:40 pm
My friend and I just had a discussion today about her friends father who is dealing with Alzheimers and his wife is convinced that his case will be different and he will not succumb to this disease. It is such an internal struggle when you have hope but you can also see what direction the disease is taking. Is it false hope and should we keep it because we don’t want to be accused of giving in and maybe not deal with the realities? Everyone’s cancer is different and so is their hope.
October 31, 2011 @ 2:42 pm
I’m quite pleased with the ifnomration in this one. TY!
November 2, 2011 @ 2:24 am
You’ve really catperud all the essentials in this subject area, haven’t you?
October 26, 2011 @ 7:20 pm
Thank you for sharing a part of Bruce’s story. It touches my heart. And think for just a moment, only a moment…..this scenario or ones very similar continue each and every day and probably each and every hour of the day. HOPE abounds, as it should! It is an aphrodisiac, as it should be. Is it wrong to HOPE, to fill your heart and soul with with HOPE? I certainly don’t think so. To contemplate the opposite of HOPE only gives cancer an edge that it doesn’t deserve or need.
And when the fight is over and our loved one has passed away, do we look back and regret that we placed so much faith in the power of HOPE? I think not and certainly HOPE not. IMHO, it is far better to have fought the good fight filled with HOPE than to have lived in despair for the time we had. Some may disagree but for me, the little light of HOPE will always burn brightly even as my life slips away!
October 31, 2011 @ 3:50 pm
Wonderful epxlaantion of facts available here.
November 1, 2011 @ 11:54 pm
I really couldn’t ask for more from this atricle.
October 26, 2011 @ 5:52 pm
we keep him in our hearts.
October 31, 2011 @ 12:46 pm
I might be beating a dead horse, but thank you for ptosing this!
November 2, 2011 @ 12:24 am
In the complicated world we live in, it’s good to find simple sloutions.