Life in the cancer ward of any children’s hospital is not. The children’s hospital is the “rink” where I met the special people who have contributed so much to my life. I was the spectator to their fight with a disease in order to win life. I shared in their face-off in the struggle to overcome what at times seemed to be unfair odds. I watched the “coaches and general managers” of medicine, professional and caring doctors and nurses, set a game plan to keep the enemy from advancing. I saw the action of the nurses’ station, moving throughout the ward as a team using their own strategies: chemotherapy, medication, radiation, and personal love and support, to win the battle. As a parent, I joined those who loved and cherished their children as deeply as I did my own. I ached with them and their pain and yet I learned from their hope and courage. The challenges of the ward and the rink are similar; the lessons are the same; but the consequences of victory or defeat are quite different.
What do You think about Companions In Courage (2001)?
