After we had lunch I felt sick and vomited, my parents immediately took me to the local doctors and he did a few tests, I was told to wait outside while he told my parents the results.
“What is wrong with me?” I felt horrible, my parents never made such a fuss around me before, it sort of made me feel special and important.
My parents came out and mum blew a sigh of relieve, “its ok you are going to be fine” “you don’t know that” said dad, “what is it tell me”……………after a long eerie silence they looked dead at each other, dad pulled me over to one side and said “You are going to be fine, its only a urine infection”. “Then why did you yell at mum?”……. “Ummm the doctors have to take a blood test” “why” ….. “Just to be sure that’s all it is”….. “Ok” I didn’t know what else to say, I didn’t want to sound stupid …. “But what is a urine infection anyway?”
After I took the blood test the agonizing wait for the results made my parents even more worried……I could over hear them arguing in the kitchen my mum was really paranoid “what if they find something” “they wont, now stop it your driving me mad lets stay positive, what happened to being strong for the boy” said dad…….. “Yeah, yeah your rights go check on him he hasn’t come out of his room all day”…… “Hey son how are you feeling” “I’m okay” ….but I wasn’t okay at all far from it I felt like someone was poking needles inside me “are you going to come down then jay” he said in a caring voice “I’ll be down in a minute dad’ I replied slouched against my bedroom wall.
As the day of the results loomed ….my condition worsened I could hardly walk my dad had to carry me to the doctors.
In the waiting room I was gasping for breath as if I had ran a marathon “what is happening to me” it cant just be an infection, I felt like I was dying.
By the time the nurse called my name I was completely knackered, and couldn’t move. So I stayed in the waiting room whilst my dad went inside as he shook the doctor’s hand and sat down the door slammed shut. Mum stayed with me, she was worried that I might fall off my chair and crack my head; she was always paranoid like that.
It felt like we were waiting forever, mum was shaking the entire time, whilst stroking my hair and telling me that I was going to be fine. After nearly an hour with the doctor, dad came out with some leaflets clutched in his hand, mum jumped out of her chair and rushed towards him, by that time I was completely out of it all I could hear was them whispering as if it were something top secret, soon after that mum broke down in tears I’d never seen her like that before she fell to the floor unaware that a everyone in the waiting room was watching her. Dad was quite teary his as were blurry and he spoke in a quivering voice “lets go son let’s go home”.
I didn’t understand what was going on why was dad crying? He never cries. And why did mum react like that she is so people conscious why did she break down like that? What is going on? What are they keeping from me?
When we got home I immediately crashed on the couch completely worn out and very cold. Dad came and sat next to me and wrapped a blanket around whilst he held me in a teary voice said “I love you” as he explained my condition to me “son ...You’ve got leukemia”… “What is that?” I didn’t know what it was it sounded quite funny to me… “It’s a disease son ...but you’re going to be fine you hear me” I would’ve believed him if he wasn’t sobbing so hard…. “Am I going to die then”… “No... You won’t, will find you a cure ok”… “Does that mean I won’t be going to school then”…. “You have to get better first”
Funnily enough at the time I wasn’t scared at all the more I learnt about what leukemia was the less frightened I was about it………the doctor forwarded me to the local children’s hospital ….and I was immediately put on a bone marrow register I was also given chemotherapy to help me along…….. All the time though I stayed at home mum and dad treated me differently and so did my brothers they stopped teasing me.…… and 11 months down the line a donor was found. Mum was ecstatic and dad was over the moon. I felt as though I had a lucky escape as I knew that many people die waiting for one ….since then I’ve started to appreciate life even more after my near brush with death I’m glad I’ve had a lucky escape and will be forever grateful to my donor.
