When The Grim Reaper Calls

There has been much to write about since I last submitted an article, but there hasn't been much time to write. The Realist family has been busy dealing with the sudden demise of a favored aunt.

Auntie Elle was a vivacious and active retired nurse in her eighties, with a sharp, quick mind able to both discuss the events of the day and to enjoy life's pleasures to their fullest. Elle was an avid reader, and always requested that her gifts be in the form of books. One of her favorites was The Poisonwood Bible, which she said told her a great deal about the area of Africa her Swedish missionary parents wanted to be assigned to before her father came down with tuberculosis (he survived) and changed the plan. She was also very partial to FoodTV and loved to try the recipes she got from them. She even helped organize a "girls' day out" to go see Mamma Mia with the family females, and was reported to have danced in the theater aisle as she became an instant ABBA fan.

But time and tide wait for no one, and despite having appeared to be in excellent health as of the last week of January, she came down with what she initially insisted was food poisoning. After five days of misery at home, her daughter finally succeeded in getting Elle to agree to be taken to the hospital. Once there, it took a few days of testing to come up with the diagnosis: leukemia. With a white cell count of 300 and a red cell count of just 5, the doctors were amazed she hadn't died already.

At first, there was hope that this could be treated so that she could continue to have some kind of a life with her daughter and granddaughter. We had hope up to that point as Elle had visibly responded to a blood transfusion, but a case of opportunistic pneumonia blocked that possibility. Her reserves were used up. After another series of testing, the oncologist delivered the diagnosis just as Elle had demanded, direct and to the point. "Elle, you aren't going to win this one," said the doctor. One doesn't win against acute leukemia, a disease variant which kills very quickly.

Article Author: Realist

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