She Will Prevail

8 Pages 1998 Words

she was told that acute myelogonous leukemia was a very rare variety, with her being only the fifth diagnosed case recorded in Canada. Two of the patients had received bone marrow transplants while in their first cycle of chemotherapy and went into full remission. Unfortunately, transplants were unavailable to patients over the age of sixty due to bone weakness. The other two patients who had been diagnosed did not make it through the first six months of chemotherapy. It did not seem that my Nona had very good odds in her favour. Nevertheless, she opted to go forward with the treatment cycles with a positive attitude.

With full support from all her friends and family, my Nona was admitted to Saint Paul’s Hospital in mid-September. She immediately started her treatment, a pill form of chemotherapy which was quite new on the market at the time. During this phase of her treatment, she literally had to take handfuls of pills daily- some were the chemotherapy pills, but the majority were to deal with the side effects such as constipation, headaches, nausea, and uncontrollable shakes. It was obvious she was in severe amounts of pain, although it never showed. In less than two months at the hospital, she had befriended every nurse in her ward, along with many University of British Columbia practicum students. The constant stream of flowers and gifts to her room was no longer solely coming from family members and close friends, but now a great deal of the hospital staff as well.

After the two month pill cycle was complete, few i...