The Lesson from Three Parents of Children with Cancer

​I grabbed my cell phone to shut off the alarm even before I opened my eyes. As usual on a Sunday morning, I checked the news before my feet left the warmth of the covers so I wouldn't miss a disaster, a tragedy, a loss to remember in the prayers of the day. That day, the first Sunday of Advent, the news of President George H. W. Bush's death led the news. Tears came to my eyes as I read Marshall Ramsey's tribute to the 41st president in The Washington Post. (Dec. 1, 2018; https://wapo.st/2CqDJ8Q.) The cartoonist's tribute showed a TBM Avenger parked in the clouds with Barbara and Robin Bush waiting for his arrival.I hadn't always known Robin's story. I had been blissfully ignorant of childhood cancer 19 years before, just as George and Barbara Bush had been five and a half decades before. When their second child was diagnosed with advanced leukemia, they had never heard the word. Defying their doctor's recommendations to tell no one and let Robin pass in three weeks or so, the three flew to New York City for the little girl to receive treatment. The hope they had for their blonde-curled preschooler was not to be. The Bush family called Robin's death their greatest sorrow. (The Washington Post. Nov. 30, 2018; https://wapo.st/2CrJkMt.)On Dec. 3, 1999, I was catapulted into the world of childhood cancer when my then 5-year-old daughter was diagnosed with brain cancer. During that journey, I learned of Robin's story. I connected with the heartaches and hopes of parents...
Source: Lions and Tigers and Bears - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs