Leukemia

High Point:

Knowing that even though I'm achey, that I'm healthy and that my family is healthy.

Low Point:

Running errands this morning and hearing on the radio that there is a fundraiser going on to help out a family's little, two year old daughter. She has Leukemia. And hearing that on the radio hit me kind of hard. Last year I had a previous student of mine pass away from Leukemia. He was such a special person. All the chemicals he had been given and the chemotheraphy and all those other icky things that people with Cancer have to go through were enough to bog anyone down and yet he always held his head high and tried to see the positives and the goods. He was first diagnosed with it when he was a third grader. I taught him when he was a fourth grader. He struggled with his studies from all the medications. He struggled with looking somewhat bloated from all the medications. He always kept such an active role in the classroom, despite all his absenses to see doctors and whatnot. But as far as we knew, he was doing well then and the blood transfusion from the previous year had taken and there was hope and things looked good. Fifth grade came and went. Sixth grade came. He was still a very dedicated student. He was excited about the year to end, because now he would be going on to being a big middle school guy!! - a seventh grader! oooo! And sixth grade ended and during the summer he started getting a lot of headaches and other odd symptoms of something that might mean things were just not right. So he went in for a check up... the Cancer had returned. He was put on a list for a donor. No donor was to be found, until one evening out of the blue there was a message found on the family's message machine saying a donor had been found in Germany. Thank God. And while they prepped and planned for another blood transfusion, the lung infections he had were difficult to get a handle on. Him and his mom moved into a hospital hotel that was sterile, and would hopefully help with getting him strong enough for the procedure. He was on 35 medications and other preperatory things to help. Yuck. He certainly didn't have this in mind when he was dreaming about starting middle school. The community raised money. The church held auctions and sales. We all sent motivational cards. The school donated a lap top with internet access so he could surf the web while stuck in the hotel room/hospital. The blood transfusion did take place, and while at first it looked like it was going to hold, it didn't. His body finally resisted it. And while we all prayed and kept our hopes high, we feared what the outcome would be...and still, this boy kept smiling, kept accepting visitors, kept making jokes and being a sparkle in the lives of people who loved him. The doctors and specialists sent him home. There wasn't much they do could any more and he was given the pass to leave the hospital and go live as he wanted until God came calling. And this beautiful person that he was, still kept on with the visitors and the stories and the smiles - even when he was home. The day his father sat him down and told him what it all meant and that he would not recover and that he was going to die...he still accepted visitors who brought by dinner and he invited them in and sat with them and chatted. His strength was amazing. I'm not sure I would have had the same strength he displayed. And up until the last minute, he was strong and happy - until his time came. It's heartbreaking thinking back on him and knowing he didn't get to start middle school like he so wanted to...that he wouldn't have that first girlfriend, or prom, or a driver's license, or all the other good things children deserve in life.

I am so blessed to have known him and I am so blessed to have health for myself and my family and my friends.