THE SAD PART
GOOD-BYE, DAVE
When I first met Mike he was ALWAYS hanging with a very cool guy named Dave. He and Mike both had leukemia. I think Dave was worse than Mike, though but you couldn't tell by looking at him! He was a lot like I was about things. He was always happy and smiling. He never let anything get him down. My mom and his parents would talk and got along great! Dave would hang with me and Mike and we would have a blast!
I had a surgery in 1992 and another in 1993. Mike was there for both. Dave had only been there for the first one. The second time I saw Mike I asked him how Dave was and Mike told me that, a few months earlier, Dave had suffered some complications and died. Dave was only 15. I only knew him for about a week but sometimes when you meet someone you immediately can see how special they are and become instantly attached! That was Dave. Where ever he is now he is better. There is no doctors or pain or suffering. Dave is all better now. That is what I told Mike. And I still believe that. Dave is finally cured.
TOO MUCH MEDICINE
When I was 14 I had surgery on my right foot. I ALWAYS get sick from the anethetic. Well, this time I was real sick! I was vomiting for 3 days and couldn't keep anything down. The doctor kept giving me stronger and stronger drugs through my I.V to keep me from getting sick.
One night my mother and brother were visiting me. They were getting ready to leave and my step-father came in. He had come right from work (he has an office in Boston, right near the hospital). Because my mom and brother were leaving when he came they asked him if he wanted to stay and visit for awhile or leave with them. He looked at me and asked me what I wanted him to do. I said if he was too tired to stay I would understand but the choice was up to him. He thought about it and decided to stay and visit for awhile. My mom and brother left.
About 10 minutes later a nurse came in and gave me some new medicine through my I.V and said this should help me to not feel so sick but because nurses came in and out of my room and did stuff to me all day long I didn't pay much attention to her.
Fifteen minutes after she played with my I.V I had a muscle spasm in my right calf. I was concerned because this was the foot he operated on and my right calf was under the cast. I thought the spasm could do some damage. My step-father said no, that it would have to be something worse than a muscle spasm to screw anything up.
I wasn't concerned about the spasm after he said that. I was just annoyed. I sat up and massaged it. It didn't stop but I thought it was getting better. I went to lay back down and something made me spring back up again! I was surprised by this but, again, not concerned.
When it happened again is when I started to get concerned. By that time, all the muscles in my legs were spasming and my back and neck were, too.
My step-father was half deaf at the time so he had no idea what was happening until my left foot spasmed so bad that it hit him in the arm. He looked at me and, at first, he thought I was kidding around. Then he saw the panic in my face and realized something was wrong! I could still talk and I told him as best I could that I had no idea what was wrong and he said to press the "nurse's call button". By this time EVERY muscle in my body was convulsing at once and I had almost no control. I somehow managed to press the button but I had lost all my breath and could barely talk.
I managed to whisper "help me" into the speaker but the person on the other end didn't hear me and hung up. My step-father, of course, didn't hear this so I was now alone. My heart was spasming and I could barely feel it beating now. I thought I was dead. I turned my head over to the side and gave up.
Suddenly, I heard someone from the hallway scream "I NEED A NURSE NOW!!!!" It was my step-father. I guess he realized that no one was coming and paniced.
The last thing I remember before I blacked out is nurses coming in with all these machines and being hooked up to it all.
When I woke up it was 2am and the room was dark and I was alone. I remember I didn't hear ANYTHING!! No clocks ticking. No breeze outside. No one walking in the hall, not even my own breathing. Nothing. I thought I had died. I remember at that moment how, when I had blacked out, I saw a white light and that, to me, was confirmation that I was dead.
I looked at the "nurse's call button" and said to myself, "Ok, if I can press the button and I hear someone on the other end then I'm not dead."
I pressed the button and hearing that voice was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard!! The nurse that came in acted way too happy to see that I was awake. She told me it was a close call and I was going to be ok but that I had quite a scare! If my step-father had gone home with my mom and brother I would be dead. My step-father saved my life.
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