| One night, about three months into Natalie's chemo treatment, she was severely neutropenic, and we had to take her in to hospital for treatment. The weather had been unpleasant all day, and as we left the house in torrential rain and high winds, my husband and I prayed that it would not get worse during our half hour drive to the children's hospital. I sat in the back with Natalie, stroking her hair and praying that she would be ok. She was so weak that she didn't even cry about the bumpy drive and the howling wind We live out in the country, and the roads were completely black and deserted. It felt like we were the only people on earth as we made our way into the city - and I was terrified of what was happening to us.. About 10 minutes after we left home, the skies were ripped apart by a flash of lightning, and from that moment on, the night was lit up by a thousand bolts of fork and sheet lightning. My daughter is usually scared by such violent weather, but she just whimpered and cuddled closer to me. A few miles further on, we found the road blocked by a fallen tree which lay across our path like an angry outstretched hand. I was on the verge of tears as my husband and I debated our options. With a great deal of trouble, we turned and drove back to take another route. Sitting in the back of that car, fighting the growing lump in my throat, and the overwhelming need to scream, I considered how much this situation reflected my own feelings about Natalie's cancer. Until she was diagnosed, she had been a healthy, vibrant little girl. Hearing the words "your child has a brain tumor" was like being struck by lightening. They burned so much that I could hardly breathe in those first days. I really had no idea what that meant at the time, and the diagnosis was like being forced out of our cozy bright home life into a raging storm for which we were totally unequipped. Of course, we did make it to the hospital, and Natalie recovered within a couple of days. The weather cleared up by daybreak, and I calmed down in the light of that new dawn. In the same way, our post-diagnosis days, weeks and months brought us into contact with many wonderful people who have helped us through the storm and given us hope of brighter days to come. |
"Sunrise over Uhuru (Freedom) Peak" Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. |
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| All in the Name |
| "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path - and leave a trail." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~ |
| ORPHANS OF THE CANCER STORM |
"Gathering storm clouds" Radison, Mauritius. |
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| "Storms In Africa" by Enya |
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| Copyright © 2003, Orphans of the Cancer Storm. All Rights Reserved. |