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When death was at our door
July 23 , my brother was diagnosed with Leukemia. Just one day before my birthday a event so traumatizing that would change my life forever. At the age of 9 years old my little brother was growing very sick and my family was worried about him. So after multiply tests and a lot of hard work, the doctors delivered the news to my family. That very day he was transported to Children’s Hospital, where he would remain for the next 6 months. I cried over and over again, scared out of my mind for my brother. I was only 11 years old and had to be a big girl for my family and brother. My grandmother didn’t quite understand the state of feeling I was in, she just didn’t get it. I gasped for air but nothing but pain filled my chest. My parents were a wreak and so was I. They were both at the hospital at the time and they left me to stay with my grandmother until my dad could get back. I was all alone, lost in my own drowning thoughts. I understood they were going through a lot of stress as well. I’ll never forget that day, I love my brother and I was so scared I was going to lose him. For months my mother stayed with him and my dad and I visited the hospital everyday after I got out of school. I was going through changes that I couldn’t explain but everyone was so wrapped up with my brother, I never could get a word in. I cried every night for a whole six months. I wanted my mom and brother to come home more than anything in the world. If I had one wish , I would have wished my brother to get better and that are family would be a whole again. Each day my brother looked sicker and weaker, he lost all of his hair. He looked so weak and helpless and he slept most of the time so we never really talked. My grades were slipping and I couldn’t help it. I was dieing inside and I was falling apart. I needed strength but I had none. My friends would call me but I wouldn’t answer them. I was to far gone, the sadness had gotten the best of me. Soon enough my friends stopped calling. I would walk into school every morning and think to myself “ what did I do wrong?”. I blamed myself for everything because that was the easiest way for me to cope. At some point I stopped eating lunch and than later I stopped eating at all. I couldn’t take it anymore, it felt like every time I tried to get better I would just be knocked down. I missed my mom so much at night and I missed my brother constantly. The doctors came in and told my family that he would be needing a bone marrow transplant. They said that my father and mother and I we’re all to be tested in case we were a match to my brothers blood. The doctor said the chance of that was slim. That day I was tested by a nurse wearing a blue jimmy fund shirt and white scrubs . She was gentle and loving to my small boney arm. As the blood flowed out of my arm and into the tubes I prayed. I prayed that I could help my brother to get better. Six weeks later, we all anxiously a waited the results. When the doctor strolled in the room fell silent and filled with stress. I could see it in my mothers restless eyes that she had prayed for a miracle just like I had. One by one they called out our names. My father was first but he wasn’t a match, my mother was second and she wasn’t a match. Than, it was my turn and I saw it on the doctors face. Her jaw dropped and she kept reading over the files, it was like she couldn’t believe something was true. My parents looked at me at the same time the doctor did. I will never forget this moment, she said to me
“ Amanda, you are a hundred percent match for your brother. This is a very rare case.” My whole family screamed and the room filled with hope. I got this feeling that I was back and I was on the right track again. Months later after the surgery and after the months of quarantine my brother and mom came home. I asked for a miracle and that’s exactly what I got. It’s been almost five years now and my brother is better than ever. I saved my brothers life and I wouldn’t do anything to change. My brother means the world to me and if had lost him , I would have lost my whole world.
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Favorite Quote:
"One heartbeat."<br /> <br /> "Our scars remind us of where we've been; they don't dictate where we're going." <br /> -SSA David Rossi, Criminal Minds