A Gift from a Son Who Died

Specific Purpose: To inform the class about what leukemia is, what the symptoms are, and what the possible treatments are.

I chose to write an essay about the “Topic of Cancer” by Christopher Hitchens. In this short autobiographical essay, Hitchens discusses his experience with Esophageal cancer. Just one day after lanching his book “Hitch-22” Hitchens was made aware of his illness, where he later describes the news as “taking me from the country of well, to the stark frontier.” It was then he chose to write about his experience for the purpose of documenting the changes that he, and his body were about to go through with chemotherapy, and also for the purpose of contemplating his current situation. The reason that I chose this story is because of my own personal experiences that I have had with many loved ones in my life. There is one case in particular that stands out in my memory, among the rest. It was when my friend of many years discovered that he had a very rare form of brain cancer. Soon after undergoing chemotherapy, he lost his battle. There are many people that believe chemotherapy at any stage is the best, and often times, the only way to cure cancer, yet others claim that chemotherapy is not the answer at all. A close analysis of recent statistics can settle this debate.

Leukemia is a cancer of blood cells, specifically white blood cells that are responsible for fighting infection. However, the abnormal cells in leukemia do not function in the same way as normal white blood cells. Leukemia cells continue to grow and divide, eventually crowding out normal blood cells. The end result is that it becomes difficult for the body to fight infections, control bleeding and transport oxygen (Medicine Net, 2015). It is estimated that each year, approximately 30,800 individuals will be diagnosed with leukemia in the United

In the early stages of Brian’s life his family received devastating news when his mother who was a registered nurse noticed that young Brian's arms were engulfed in bruises. He was diagnosed with leukemia and was informed that his life would be drastically changed. Three years of his life he spent most of his time at the hospital between

Leukemia is “a malignant progressive disease in which the bone marrow and other blood-forming organs produce increased numbers of immature or abnormal leukocytes. These suppress the production of normal blood cells, leading to anemia and other symptoms.”An estimated combined total of 162,020 people in the U.S. are expected to be diagnosed with leukemia, 60,192 people die, 14% live in remission and my father is just another statistic. When I was nine years old, my father was diagnosed with Leukemia, an illness that at the time I did not understand. This left my mother raising two kids and working two jobs to make ends meet. Throughout this time of never ending hospital visits, I experienced the kindness and care provided to us by my father’s doctors - something that until this day I will never forget.

Gwen Harwood’s mournful laments Mother Who Gave Me Life and Father and Child explore the challenging ideas of nostalgia and mortality to provide valued texts.

II. Thesis: Today I have the opportunity to inform you all about the number one childhood cancer, Leukemia, and also the new technologies we are using to help combat this disease.

In the year of 1989, an infant named Eric was born. However, he wasn’t your mediocre child that everyone hopes for. He was fairly sick, which was because doctors and hematologists found out he had anemia. He was suffering shortness of breath and fatigue, due to him not having enough red blood cells being produced in order for him to survive. It was because he has a very rare case of anemia called Diamond Blackfan anemia. This is where the bone marrow fails to function. He was expected to only live for 6 years.

A young boy named Lendon Riddle had been diagnosed with leukemia when he was just 2 years old. He was told by his doctors that he had 8-10% chances to survive past the first 48 hours of chemo and radiation.

Men and animals alike began to lose loyalty and the ability to feel emotions and “earth was only one thought”- the thought of death. Faced with the thought of death, no creature on earth fared better than the other. As life was taken from all creatures, the realization of a terrifying end became apparent and “no love was left.”

My eyes opened and all I saw was black, a strong rhythmic knocking noise echoed in the room. Isaac, my best friend and dorm mate was having a seizure and I watched as his body banged against the bedroom wall. It was terrifying. I was in shock and had no idea what was wrong with him, but suddenly I remembered reading about seizures in my old lifeguard manual and realized there was nothing I could really do. The optimal method was to wait and maintain his airway. I felt powerless, but eventually the seizure passed and Isaac returned to his old self. Soon after, I learned that for as long as I had known him, Isaac had been harboring a secret: epilepsy. Three years later, I saw Isaac‘s body on a gurney under the fluorescent lights of a hospital. He had another seizure, but this time, there was no one there to help. All that I have left of him are memories of who he used to be, his laughter and generous smile. My best friend lived with his illness, and he never once let it control his life. In him I saw firsthand the complexity of human health, the fragility of mortality and I’ve been inspired to pursue medicine ever since.

When a parent takes their child to the doctor the last thing they want to hear is that their child has cancer. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for a child to be diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, also known as ALL. Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia is one of the most common forms of childhood cancer, and “makes up approximately 25% of cancer diagnoses among children under 15 years old” (3). Children under five years of age are at the most risk of developing ALL. Since it is an acute form of cancer once the onset has begun the disease quickly begins to worsen, therefore patients must seek treatment as soon as possible. “ALL is different than other diseases in that it is not just a single disease but also rather a group of related diseases with different subtypes”(1). This uniqueness causes the treatment of ALL to depend on the subtypes the patient has, therefore each

Jack woke up one morning not feeling well. He felt very weak and could not get out of bed. His mother decided to take him to the doctors. The doctors took many tests to figure out what was making him feel that way. After about an hour or two the doctors got the results back from a blood test. Results that would change Jack’s childhood for the worse. Jack has been diagnosed with Leukemia, a blood cancer. Of course, Jack was not sure what that meant but, his parents became worried beyond belief with the long road ahead of them. Scientists and researchers were all involved in the discovery of Leukemia cancer, which increased knowledge of this cancer, decreased deaths and discovered treatments, and started charity groups to fund research.

Cancer, one of the most feared words in our vocabulary of this time, especially in childhood (Druker 1). Most people when thinking of “childhood cancer” envision very young children, although a “Nation Institute of Health Policy concerning inclusion of children in clinical research defines children as being younger than twenty-one years of age while the Food and Drug Administration considers children to be fifteen years and younger” (Ries 158). That being said, most cancers incidence peak among children occurs during the first year of life (Gurney 149). Some of the most well-known nationwide childhood cancers are leukemia, brain cancer, and other central nervous system cancers (oeconline 1). In conjunction, “the side effects of treatment,

The fear I held as a child that my body would become a vessel for other souls to enter was intensified. This was my first impression of my first time in a cemetery and I was not off to a good start. As I grabbed a map to find my way around, I began to dread the walk through the cemetery and having to see all the lives lost, especially those who lost their lives before they even really began. However, to my surprise, as I made my way through the graveyard this feeling of sadness slipped away. The sun began to shine through the clouds of gray and illuminated both the cemetery and my mood. I was delighted to notice that many of the tombstones I encountered read that these lives that were lost were not taken too soon. Most of the people had lived over eighty years and were buried next to fellow family members who also lived just as long. It was nice to see that many people were laid to rest next to family so they wouldn’t have to enter the next life