Life 's A Journey Filled With Many Things

At the time I entered the room, my world collapsed. My mother was lying on the bed and crying after the surgery. I was only 10 years old but I knew what cancer means. So overwhelmed by my fear and unrest, I lost hope for my life: how can a ten-year-old boy live without his mom?

The calendar read July 28, 2014 as I laid on a cold, hard hospital bed awaiting the results of my MRI scan. My waiting came to a sudden end when the Oncologist entered the room with a sorrowful look revealing I had stage 4A Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Lost for words, as I sat in disbelief of the news, tears began to run down my face. Oddly, my tears were not of sadness. At the time, crying just felt like the natural thing to do. My body physically reacted before my mind could even begin to process the information.

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.

In 1983 Aharon Appelfeld published a work of fiction titled Tzili that closely resembled his own personal Holocaust experiences. This work of fiction revolves around a maturing teen who is alone and on the run during the Holocaust. In Tzili, Appelfeld brings to life his characters, which include Tzili, Katrina, Mark, and Linda. Throughout this literary analysis Appelfelds’ memoir Story of a Life will be used to access the parallels that exist between Appelfeld’s own personal experience and his fictional work Tzili.

I suppose it should have been obvious to me before I even started at NCCF that not every case of childhood leukemia or lymphoma turns into a star on the wall in the hallway celebrating a successful remission. But nothing prepares you to hear a quiet “unfortunately” precede the name of a child who, weeks before, had fearlessly conquered double-digit multiplication.

My parents had just attained engagement when they found out my dad had cancer. My dad had Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma stage four at the age of 25 in1996. My mom and dad were shocked but had hope my dad would make it. My dad has inspired me to be the best I can be and not let anyone stop me. This unexpected event happened before I was born but tremendously affected me. This my dad’s unforgettable story.

In the winter of 2013, I lost my father to a rare disease called Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). This disease is a life threatening immunodeficiency in which the body makes too many activated immune cells. He suffered bed rest for months on end in the hospital where I, nor any other of his seven children, were able to see him until his last day. I was only in eighth grade and was just starting to learn what it was like being a teenager in high school. Surviving the rest of the year was mentally exhausting and undoubtedly was the most challenging time of my life. It wasn’t until ninth grade when I truly realized I wasn’t the only one affected by the loss of my father. My widowed mother was torn in two and would never be whole

When I was a child my friend, Abby, was diagnosed with leukemia. At the time, I didn’t understand how serious of a diagnosis that was, I just assumed that it was just like any other illness; she would get better. She did not get better. Abby was eight years old when she died. The memorial was a somber affair; I didn’t know how to react. We were both eight but only one of us got to be nine. I finally understood what leukemia was, a death sentence.

If you were to meet Kari Whitehead and ask about her daughter, Emma, she would tell you with bright eyes about her first look at her 10 pound baby with a hair full of head, she would tell you about her first steps, sweet kisses and tickle wars. Kari would tell you about how Emma loves to paint, her favorite color is purple and her voice might crack as she painfully recalls that just when she was getting good at writing her name, her childhood was tragically interrupted by cancer. Just a few weeks shy of her fifth birthday, Emma was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Kari and her husband found comfort in that with chemotherapy, their precious child had 80%-90% chances of surviving. With great hopes, Emma began her 26 months of chemotherapy; however, after 16

His stories range from fishing mishaps to radio contests “wins”. Each one when told makes my day just a bit brighter. I hadn’t learned until recently that most of my father's stories had a lesson that could be taken out of the story. Much like how many books have themes, my father's stories had lessons that my siblings and I learned from. Sometimes the lessons would be to work hard or studying is important, but most of the times his stories were just reminders of not just his childhood adventure, but also to remind us that determination can get you out of a life of poverty to a life of

"Cancer changes your life, often for the better. You learn what's important, you learn to prioritize, and you learn not to waste your time. You tell people you love them” (Siegel 1). When cancer hits, it hits hard. It does not give a break, it does not give a day off. It takes a special sort of person to beat this growing disease. Leukemia is perhaps the worst of all cancers to date. It is especially affecting children more and more in today’s society. One might ask how could a parent that loves their child with their entire heart could cope with seeing their child go through so much suffering? How could they even begin to cope with this? Leukemia is the leading cause of death by disease in children and young adults between the ages 0-20

It was a warm December night in Key West, enjoying a nice dinner with my wife Tina and friends on Duval Street. The sound of conversation, utensils clanging, and music playing, enlighted the evening, The joy was suddenly interrupted by the ringing of the phone, it was Kim, Lizz’s best friend, telling us that “Lizz is in the intensive care unit at St. Mary’s.” We ask “What the hell happened?”. The response is one that still haunts me to this day, “Lizz has brain cancer”. The ride back felt eternal, filled with every negative emotion from life’s menu.

At the age of nine my parents sat me down to discuss Grandpa’s last visit to the doctor. He had become the rule instead of the exception and had been diagnosed with lung cancer. How could this have happened after all that I had accomplished with him, heroes are not supposed to lose. Confusion and hopelessness were the emotions I felt at the time because failure to prevent cancer seemed to inevitably lead to a failure to beat it. There was no game to play that could cure my Grandfather once cancer had arrived.

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” (Psalms 23:4). A verse in the Bible that I had learned when I was young; when I was growing up in a church. My worldview as Christian is to believe that God created the heavens, the oceans, the life and the earth. Additionally, it is to also understand the important concepts of the world and not to stay close to one single thing. To understand life as a christian is to be living in the New Testament portion of the Bible than in the Old Testament in the Bible. However, in the year that we are in, in the environment that we are in, and in the state that we are currently in…only calls for prayer and meditation to the common individual. Moreso, it has been a journey of interpreting life as an experience through journey and through meditation much rather than “living” in the church than just visiting it on sundays.

In the long winding journey of life, each decision we make affects our lives in ways we rarely even think to imagine. Whether the largely mundane decision to take the car or the bus home, or even a decision so significant as to accept or refuse a job proposal in a different country, may both may affect the path that your life takes on the same scale; all depending on what you choose. In my life, there is mainly one event that I know without a doubt changed the course and possibly the destiny of my life’s journey.