wishfulwomanwonders

Grace

May 17th, 2005

Remember I mentioned bout my boss' daughter who's a Down child withLeukemia?

My boss sms-ed some of us informing that she was in critical condition. Herplatlet count was only 7K (normal people = 100K+). But when they brought her home, she was so excited, she kept playing with the pc & refused torest. When we visited, her typical antics & gestures made us all laugh. Sheseemed ok. In fact, pretty active. But we've been told that it's hard totell with these kind of illness. The patient can simply be up one moment &down the next. They tried to boost the platlet by giving Grace jabs but itdidn't work. Her lips kept bleeding... Quite bad. She looked like she haslipstick on. Because she has ulcers, she kept asking for milk instead ofsolid food. To think it all started with a flu.Grace's sister, Faith celebrated her birthday 2 weeks ago & one of theguests had flu.

It infected a couple of them including Grace. Where Graceis concern, she has to be sent to GH evertime she gets sick, even if it'sjust flu. Her dad, who's been monitoring her progress, was in Hong Kongthen. The doctor in charge at the time wasn't familiar with Grace's case.He/She put her on chemo/strong medication, not knowing that Grace's bodyjust can't cope with that kind of treatment any more. Nevertheless, Gracewas strong.

Actually, for a Down child, she has never given much problems to her familyexcept for the medical needs. You should've seen the tons of medicine &jabs she had to put up with. Still, she always manages to cope. The nurses& patients at GH love her.

My mom called yesterday to check & she could hear the kids playing in thebackground. Grace's appetite has improved & she has been asking for milk &also, noodles consistently. She even urges her maids for fast delivery.

Today, I came to know of the news by chance. The HR manager called me &asked bout funeral precedures... What a way to find out.

Grace's mom, May, is due for labour this week. She didn't take it very wellwhen Grace was in GH last week. Can't begin to imagine her agony now.Though the family was given time & notice, I don't think it helped much.After all, which proper family would be braced for this?

I dread the thought of facing them... We'll be leaving the office to visit soon. Honestly, I didn't think it'd hurt this much... Unlike my mom who's known my boss & his wife even before they were married, I've only come toget accustomed to this family after I returned to M'cca. Yet...

Guess it's coz Grace is just a child. It's always worse when it's a child.And it doesn't help that this is a special one. Her dad calls her "AmazingGrace".A few days back, I bought a soft toy for Grace & Faith. Chosed a puppy forFaith & an elephant for Grace with a message for her to be strong. But I didn't have the time or chance to hand the toys to them. I think the elephant's more appropriate for Faith now.Reema just called, asked us to keep it quiet & not call the family for now.

Needed to pour it out to someone so I thought of writing you...The world suddenly stopped & it has started raining. Work is simply meaningless at a time like this.

posted by AaahhH @ 9:42 PM