Uzziel
Ok, I'm going for a record; this will be my longest posting. Well you had to know it was coming sooner or later...it's time for me to brag a little on muh little bro.
His name is Uzziel, but nobody can pronounce that correctly, so we call him Uzzie (Ooo-zee) lol
He is sixteen today. He loves going to movies, playing video games, and spending time with family.
As most of you know, Uzzie isn't a typical sixteen year old guy. Sure, he likes to go cruisin' around for girls, he likes to crack jokes at all of us around the house and all that good stuff, but Uzziel is fighting a battle with Leukemia. And I don't use the term "fighting" loosely--he's a strong, strong kid.
6 years ago, Uzzie was first diagnosed with cancer in his blood cells. He put up a good first fight, taking all of his meds, going thru his chemo therapy and getting numerous blood transfusions and weekly spinal taps. Two years later, he was told that his body had gone into remission and he was no longer carrying the disease. But, almost a year ago, October 15, 2003, I took him in for a check-up appointment, and we were highly distraught as the doctor said, "It looks like your leukemia is back, and you're in for another fight. This time it's going to be twice as hard to win because your body is already immune to all the medications from Round 1." I remember trying my very hardest to hold back my tears, as I didn't want him to see me upset.
"Am I gonna lose all my hair again?"
"Yes, Uzzie."
"Am I gonna have to be in the hospital every week again?"
"Yes, Uzzie, and this time you will be staying in longer increments because the treatments wilbe twice as strong."
"Will it go away like it did the last time?"
"Anything is possible, Uzzie, but you will have to go thru treatments for at LEAST 2 years, and that's IF your body allows you to live that long."
Very matter-of-factly, he looked up at me and said, "I can do this."
At that very moment, my entire life changed; my priorities were rearranged, my outlook on life was reconstructed, my concern for myself was lowered and my desire to help my family was greatly increased. I had never been so much at a loss for words as I was that day. But, life went on just as it always does.
Well, on December 13th, Uzzie came home after a 2-week stay in the hospital for treatments. But, on December 15th, we took him right back in because he was running a fever of 103.7
On Tuesday, the 17th, Uzzie called and asked me if I would spend the night with him at the hospital. Now this is a kid who never, ever asks for anything. Whenever he had to stay at the hospital, he would always say, "I'll be ok. You go home and get some good rest for both of us." He never complained about anything. And so for him to ask me to come stay with him struck me as a little odd. I sort of sensed something was wrong.
When I got there, he was watching music videos. His fever had gone up to 105. He had a persistent cough that didn't sound right. I kept asking him, "How do you feel?" And would say, "I'm good." Well we finally laid down for bed around 11, and he had the nurse bring a bed in for me. He made my bed, put the sheets on, and then put this bed warming thing on there for me to lay on; I didn't even know what it was lol; he was so cute trying to make sure I was going to be as comfortable as possible. Throughout the night, the nurse would come in every hour to take his temp and BP, and I would always wake up to ask her for the #'s...one time his fever would be down and the next it would be back up again. It just kept fluctuating. Anyway, it was a long night for both of us...and I don't think he quit coughing the whole night.
So I stayed close by the entire week. As soon as I got off work on Friday, the 20th, I headed to see him. When I walked in, he had an oxygen mask on, his fever was still 105, for the 5th day in a row. I immediately gave him a cold rag to keep on his head; I would re-wet it every 4 minutes so it would stay cold. Just standing next to him, I could feel the heat that was finding its way out of his body. That night, his biological mom stayed with him, and we kept the babies with us (Allister 2 and Destiny 8 months).
Saturday morning came, and the phone rang. I knew it was his mom. In her best English possible, she cried, "Sarah, please come here with your mom." And so we left the kids with my aunt, and Mom, Dad, Steph, and me headed to the hospital. By the time we got there, his mom was in the ER, as she was having a nervous breakdown. I stayed there with her and everyone else went to check on Uzzie. By this time, he had been moved to the Pediatric ICU.
His mom was crying, and I asked her what was upsetting her. "Sarah, I am so sad. Dr. Rosen came in this morning and told me Uzzie is going to die in 2 days."
*To be continued tomorrow
His name is Uzziel, but nobody can pronounce that correctly, so we call him Uzzie (Ooo-zee) lol
He is sixteen today. He loves going to movies, playing video games, and spending time with family.
As most of you know, Uzzie isn't a typical sixteen year old guy. Sure, he likes to go cruisin' around for girls, he likes to crack jokes at all of us around the house and all that good stuff, but Uzziel is fighting a battle with Leukemia. And I don't use the term "fighting" loosely--he's a strong, strong kid.
6 years ago, Uzzie was first diagnosed with cancer in his blood cells. He put up a good first fight, taking all of his meds, going thru his chemo therapy and getting numerous blood transfusions and weekly spinal taps. Two years later, he was told that his body had gone into remission and he was no longer carrying the disease. But, almost a year ago, October 15, 2003, I took him in for a check-up appointment, and we were highly distraught as the doctor said, "It looks like your leukemia is back, and you're in for another fight. This time it's going to be twice as hard to win because your body is already immune to all the medications from Round 1." I remember trying my very hardest to hold back my tears, as I didn't want him to see me upset.
"Am I gonna lose all my hair again?"
"Yes, Uzzie."
"Am I gonna have to be in the hospital every week again?"
"Yes, Uzzie, and this time you will be staying in longer increments because the treatments wilbe twice as strong."
"Will it go away like it did the last time?"
"Anything is possible, Uzzie, but you will have to go thru treatments for at LEAST 2 years, and that's IF your body allows you to live that long."
Very matter-of-factly, he looked up at me and said, "I can do this."
At that very moment, my entire life changed; my priorities were rearranged, my outlook on life was reconstructed, my concern for myself was lowered and my desire to help my family was greatly increased. I had never been so much at a loss for words as I was that day. But, life went on just as it always does.
Well, on December 13th, Uzzie came home after a 2-week stay in the hospital for treatments. But, on December 15th, we took him right back in because he was running a fever of 103.7
On Tuesday, the 17th, Uzzie called and asked me if I would spend the night with him at the hospital. Now this is a kid who never, ever asks for anything. Whenever he had to stay at the hospital, he would always say, "I'll be ok. You go home and get some good rest for both of us." He never complained about anything. And so for him to ask me to come stay with him struck me as a little odd. I sort of sensed something was wrong.
When I got there, he was watching music videos. His fever had gone up to 105. He had a persistent cough that didn't sound right. I kept asking him, "How do you feel?" And would say, "I'm good." Well we finally laid down for bed around 11, and he had the nurse bring a bed in for me. He made my bed, put the sheets on, and then put this bed warming thing on there for me to lay on; I didn't even know what it was lol; he was so cute trying to make sure I was going to be as comfortable as possible. Throughout the night, the nurse would come in every hour to take his temp and BP, and I would always wake up to ask her for the #'s...one time his fever would be down and the next it would be back up again. It just kept fluctuating. Anyway, it was a long night for both of us...and I don't think he quit coughing the whole night.
So I stayed close by the entire week. As soon as I got off work on Friday, the 20th, I headed to see him. When I walked in, he had an oxygen mask on, his fever was still 105, for the 5th day in a row. I immediately gave him a cold rag to keep on his head; I would re-wet it every 4 minutes so it would stay cold. Just standing next to him, I could feel the heat that was finding its way out of his body. That night, his biological mom stayed with him, and we kept the babies with us (Allister 2 and Destiny 8 months).
Saturday morning came, and the phone rang. I knew it was his mom. In her best English possible, she cried, "Sarah, please come here with your mom." And so we left the kids with my aunt, and Mom, Dad, Steph, and me headed to the hospital. By the time we got there, his mom was in the ER, as she was having a nervous breakdown. I stayed there with her and everyone else went to check on Uzzie. By this time, he had been moved to the Pediatric ICU.
His mom was crying, and I asked her what was upsetting her. "Sarah, I am so sad. Dr. Rosen came in this morning and told me Uzzie is going to die in 2 days."
*To be continued tomorrow
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