Hope

Hope- my last story to tell about the patients who have a forever spot in my heart. She was named so appropriately. She was 6 when she was diagnosed with leukemia. That was in 1999. I had her her first day there and just absolutely adored her. She was so darn cute and her family was so nice and wonderful. She started requesting me whenever I was on the schedule and she would only let me poke her finger because she said it didn't hurt as bad when I did it. She never fought us on anything, and she was just so sweet. The thing that stands out to me about Hope is her faith. Man, that child had more faith in her pinky than I have total. She would tell everyone about how good God is and about how much Jesus loves them. She witnessed to the baggers at the grocery store and to anyone else who met her. There is no impact like a child whose hair has fallen out and who is only 6- with pain and sickness and all kinds of bad stuff going on- telling you about how awesome and amazing God is. Made me realize that if she could praise Him continuously, then I certainly had no reason not to. Hope got chemo treatments for 2 and a half years and was in remission after that for 3 years. Then, in 2005, at age 12, she relapsed. Her parents had to decide whether to go through chemo again or to go for the bone marrow transplant. Her 4 year old brother turned out to be a perfect match, so they went for the transplant. She was at Duke for 6 months during that time, but came home and eventually went back to school and a somewhat "normal" life. She posts frequently on her Caring Bridge site and she still talks about how awesome and amazing God is. She even talks about how she gets persecuted at school for it and she just keeps doing it anyway. If you have never been to the Caring Bridge website, you should check it out. Hope is just a huge bright spot in my life and I still talk with her from time to time through Caring Bridge. I pray that she has a long, happy life ahead. Some of the greatest examples of strength, courage, and faith that I have ever seen or will ever see have been shown to me through children, through working on that unit. It is incredible what I learned there and how it made a difference in my life. There are so many kids that have touched my heart in many ways, but I wanted to talk about these few and share them with you. I feel really fortunate to have known them and to have loved them and been a part of their lives.