|
Sign my guestbook!
View
other entries!
since 4-6-05.
| |
Words of Wisdom From The Pediatric Bone Marrow Unit
To all the people who enter through this door, there is something you must
accept at this moment. You are going to experience physical and emotional pain
and suffering of which the likes cannot even be imagined by another human being.
I advise you one thing: channel your rage into beating your disease, not against
those who are here to help you. This whole bone marrow process is and trade off
and nothing else. You must give this hospital, these doctors, your disease, a
few weeks to a couple months of your life for a brand new one. You will be asked
to give up everything, all shame, all pride, all embarrassment, all the false
vanity that you can make it through this on your own without anybody, but if you
lean on the love and support of those around you, or those that love and care
about you, you will stand firm. There will be nights when you will cry, nights
when you think that things are at there worst, nights when you feel your time
has come. Don't let it. Don't give in and don't dare give up. You make it
through this and you have a brand new life ahead of you. And trust me, there
will come a period where you will hit rock-bottom, and the slide down is as
unpleasant as pulling yourself out, but believe in yourself, believe in the
magic of your spirit, and you will reach the skies once again. "Long is the
road, and hard, that out of hell leads up to light." This is not an easy path to
walk, you will be hard-pressed on every side as you venture upon it, but keep
your head up. There is dignity in walking this path, honor and courage. We have
all been chosen to bear this cross, and whether we think that there is a reason
for it, none of that matters. It doesn't matter whether you believe God is doing
this for a reason or even if you do trust in a God, and if you do, what God you
trust in. Our suffering makes us all equals, all part of the same species, and
while all of our stories are different, one fact of the tale will always remain
true.
As long as you walk with your head held high, as long you stay firm in your
belief that things can and will get better, there will come a day when you will
no longer have to walk with your feet on the ground. Being here opens our eyes
to a whole new world, and don't be afraid to accept this world. Because in this
world, people like you and me, no matter how ordinary we may be, can make a
difference if we choose to do so. So get up every time you get knocked down, and
before you know it, you will no longer be merely walking through life, you will
be soaring, floating above the ground, helping others as you have been helped.
And in each of our lives, there come the opportunity to be great, it may be
this, or this may just be leading up to it. But when it comes, pick up that
cross with pride and courage. When that moment comes, let your fears and
inhibitions go; close your eyes, spread your wings and fearlessly take to the
skies. Once you have walked on the threshold of death, you learn to appreciate
life all the more fully. So don't miss out on one more day of it. Pain is
living, and while life is full of pain and suffering and despair, it is all we
have. Carpe diem! Seize the day! Reach for the stars and someday, some
way, you will get there. Just believe, because any and all things are possible.
Ryan Patrick Kishbaugh
July 26, 1984 January 3, 2003
Bone Marrow Transplant November 19, 2002
(Posted next to the entrance door to Unit
5200: Pediatric Stem Cell / Bone Marrow Transplant)
|
