Alison
I am in state of shock. I have just learned that a local girl and a patient of mine has died at the tender age of 19. This is public knowlege so I am not violating any patient-provider confidentiality.
Alison Corf was a spirited and beautiful young girl who lived for life and had such an amzing personality. She never once, in all the times I saw her apeared to be a girl with leukemia, but she was.
All of her options had been exhausted and her only hope was a Bone Marrow transplant. I personally worked four bone marrow drives with HLA, an organization that tracks and managees intake of potential donors, but it is a complicated process to be a donor and to be a successful match for someone is rare.
Alison's chances were not good, estimated at 1 in one hundred million. her parents had the philosophy that if they hosted several drives, which is no short order expense, that even if they could not find a match, then think of all the people that they could match potentially. Over a year ago they hosted a drive in Londonderry at the Lononderry Middle School. Over 3,000 people showed up to give a tube of blood that could potentially match Alison's specific genetic markers and save her life. I personally drew 325 people in a 7 hour span.
After hosting several other drives they found three matches for Alison. She beat the odds and her chances were good. Until this thanksgiving when she contracted pneumonia. As a result of the Marrow transplant, she was on several forms of Immuno-suppressive therapy to help her body adjust to the foreign dna they gave her.
Alison died yesterday at Boston Chilren's Hospital. I cannot fully articulate my grief and sense of devastation over this tragic loss of such a young life. She was something. There are few times when I feel rewarded in my job. One of them was when I heard the news that she had found a match. Now I question everything.
They say that death is as natural a part of life as birth. Well I say that is a load of shit! Birth is never tragic, it is a miracle, no matter what. Birth never leaves you feeling empty in your heart and makes you question everything you thought you know. Birth never leaves the world deprived of such a girl like Alison.
I have no words that could be of comfort, but I sincerly hope that Alison is finally at the peace she could not find in her short life. May the angels and ministers of grace on earth watch over her family as they deal with this tragic passing, and may whatever Gods and Goddesses whom govern this existence give me strength to face this family on Thursday. For I am now on the verge of tears and seeing them will surely break my heart into even more peices.
The Kaddish is the Jewish prayer for the dead. it asks for peace in the soul and in the world. It asks that in the wake of tragedy and turmoil, that God bless and watch over the world when it stops turning. I am not Jewish, but I know no greater words than this prayer:
Yis'ga'dal v'yis'kadash sh'may ra'bbo, b'olmo dee'vro chir'usay v'yamlich malchu'say, b'chayaychon uv'yomay'chon uv'chayay d'chol bais Yisroel, ba'agolo u'viz'man koriv; v'imru Omein.
Y'hay shmay rabbo m'vorach l'olam ul'olmay olmayo.
Yisborach v'yishtabach v'yispoar v'yisromam v'yismasay, v'yishador v'yis'aleh v'yisalal, shmay d'kudsho, brich hu, l'aylo min kl birchoso v'sheeroso, tush'bechoso v'nechemoso, da,ameeran b'olmo; vimru Omein.
Y'hay shlomo rabbo min sh'mayo, v'chayim alaynu v'al kol Yisroel; v'imru Omein.
Oseh sholom bimromov, hu ya'aseh sholom olaynu, v'al kol yisroel; vimru Omein.
Alison Corf was a spirited and beautiful young girl who lived for life and had such an amzing personality. She never once, in all the times I saw her apeared to be a girl with leukemia, but she was.
All of her options had been exhausted and her only hope was a Bone Marrow transplant. I personally worked four bone marrow drives with HLA, an organization that tracks and managees intake of potential donors, but it is a complicated process to be a donor and to be a successful match for someone is rare.
Alison's chances were not good, estimated at 1 in one hundred million. her parents had the philosophy that if they hosted several drives, which is no short order expense, that even if they could not find a match, then think of all the people that they could match potentially. Over a year ago they hosted a drive in Londonderry at the Lononderry Middle School. Over 3,000 people showed up to give a tube of blood that could potentially match Alison's specific genetic markers and save her life. I personally drew 325 people in a 7 hour span.
After hosting several other drives they found three matches for Alison. She beat the odds and her chances were good. Until this thanksgiving when she contracted pneumonia. As a result of the Marrow transplant, she was on several forms of Immuno-suppressive therapy to help her body adjust to the foreign dna they gave her.
Alison died yesterday at Boston Chilren's Hospital. I cannot fully articulate my grief and sense of devastation over this tragic loss of such a young life. She was something. There are few times when I feel rewarded in my job. One of them was when I heard the news that she had found a match. Now I question everything.
They say that death is as natural a part of life as birth. Well I say that is a load of shit! Birth is never tragic, it is a miracle, no matter what. Birth never leaves you feeling empty in your heart and makes you question everything you thought you know. Birth never leaves the world deprived of such a girl like Alison.
I have no words that could be of comfort, but I sincerly hope that Alison is finally at the peace she could not find in her short life. May the angels and ministers of grace on earth watch over her family as they deal with this tragic passing, and may whatever Gods and Goddesses whom govern this existence give me strength to face this family on Thursday. For I am now on the verge of tears and seeing them will surely break my heart into even more peices.
The Kaddish is the Jewish prayer for the dead. it asks for peace in the soul and in the world. It asks that in the wake of tragedy and turmoil, that God bless and watch over the world when it stops turning. I am not Jewish, but I know no greater words than this prayer:
Yis'ga'dal v'yis'kadash sh'may ra'bbo, b'olmo dee'vro chir'usay v'yamlich malchu'say, b'chayaychon uv'yomay'chon uv'chayay d'chol bais Yisroel, ba'agolo u'viz'man koriv; v'imru Omein.
Y'hay shmay rabbo m'vorach l'olam ul'olmay olmayo.
Yisborach v'yishtabach v'yispoar v'yisromam v'yismasay, v'yishador v'yis'aleh v'yisalal, shmay d'kudsho, brich hu, l'aylo min kl birchoso v'sheeroso, tush'bechoso v'nechemoso, da,ameeran b'olmo; vimru Omein.
Y'hay shlomo rabbo min sh'mayo, v'chayim alaynu v'al kol Yisroel; v'imru Omein.
Oseh sholom bimromov, hu ya'aseh sholom olaynu, v'al kol yisroel; vimru Omein.