Today as we talked to a pediatric oncology patient, my thoughts drifted faraway…
Imagine if the positions were reversed and I was lying in this frail 22-year-old’s bed in his place, with him standing above me with a team of doctors. Imagine if I was the one feeling feverish, nauseated, and in pain, with bleeding gums and diarrhea. Imagine if I were the one who was told that I had anaplastic large cell lymphoma for the third time over and that all we could do was hope that this new treatment would work. Imagine if I was the one looking up at him from that bed, with silent eyes that were begging him to find some way to make me feel better.
“You’re so healthy,” I would think, as I lie there looking at him standing in his shining white coat. “You’re so very healthy and I hope you really do cherish that. I hope you work hard to achieve your goals in life and I hope that every dream you’ve ever dreamt comes true for you. Did you say that you once dreamt of reducing the suffering and pain of others, of healing the ill, of giving hope to those who have no hope? Well then I hope you use every ounce of good health that you have in you to do it. Because that’s what life is – the celebration of people doing good things for each other. I can’t do anything for you now – look at how little I can do for myself! But I can let you know that I’m counting on you. We’re all counting on you actually – you have the energy, the means, the ambition to do something special for us. So then what are you waiting for, what are you wasting time for? The path is laid out and there are lights all along the way. Each step of the way has been spelt out for you and there are people cheering you on at the sidelines. Then really, what are you waiting for? Time’s running out, don’t you see that? Just do it!”
