Personal Narrative: Acute Myeloid Leukemia

As my father called my brother John and I into my parents’ room, I could feel the negative energy as it filled the house with sorrow. My 67 year old grandmother had been in MD Anderson Cancer Center for months, fighting leukemia, a cancer of blood-forming tissues, hindering the body 's ability to fight infection. “Acute Myeloid Leukemia occurs predominantly in the elderly and more than half of the cases are diagnosed in the subjects aged more than 60 years.” She spent an extensive amount of time laying in her hospital bed suffering with modest hopes of survival. We almost certainly knew her last days were approaching. According to Felicetto Ferrara’s article regarding therapeutic approaches for the recovery of leukemia, doctors should focus

The preacher began to present several prayers as he compared scriptures to my grandmother’s pleasant personality. The most heartbreaking moment was to see my grandmother’s best friend approach the stage. She was red all over as she was shaking from her hands down to her knees with tears flowing from her eyes. I could hear her pulsating heart from across the room. Immediately there was an over flow of tears falling from my eyes and life itself couldn’t begin to get any worse. My grandmother’s best friend, Paige, reflected on various inspiring moments such as the times they spent together as well as expressing my grandmothers loving personality. Ms. Paige emulated on how helpful and down to earth my grandmother was. I could almost see her refusing to sit down until everyone got their food during dinner time as well as finish eating, as she would also fully clean the kitchen before she enjoyed her own meal. My grandmother loved to tuck her grandchildren in one by one, as each grandchild waited their turn. We would exchange kisses with her, I can vividly remember the touch of her silky two pieced nightwear as well as her smooth skin as she ran her narrow fingers through my hair as she tucked us in. I buried my head deep into my mother’s lap. I could smell her soft skin engulfed with perfume as she wrapped her arms around my red plump face. I had never seen my mother cry until

My sister quickly filled my mother’s place, as we tried to keep our minds off of what just happened and focused on the fact that we had not eaten anything all morning. I could no longer produce tears. Accepting the fact that my grandmother is gone, is something that I know she wanted from her family. Thoughts of my grandmother being a statistic of cancer is heart wrenching. Leukemia did not win against my grandmother, but I also wish that she would have been able to get the necessary treatment she needed for a person her age. Upon my grandmothers death arose a fair amount of regret. My family was not available every family gathering my grandparents would host, which was a perfect opportunity to build a better relationship with my grandmother. I would always think about the amount of fun I could’ve spent with her if I put forth more effort into our relationship. Regretting the past is something that I know my grandmother will not approve of. As I sat in my seat as service ended I thought about the perks of being able to be with my grandmother at all times, and thought to myself that this event is the perfect opportunity to build a relationship with her in spirit. Every day I would be able to wake up and greet her, even though there will not be a physical response. Experiencing my very first personal death opened up a new found outlook on life. Thoughts of other family members and friends had my mind