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A Secret to Hold Close Chapter One Mylie couldn�t believe her ears. �No, it can�t be!� she whispered. She placed her head in her hands and twisted her fingers into her deep chocolate brown hair. Her uniquely golden colored eyes closed as Mylie tried to process what she had just found out but her mind seemed to be running in slow motion. �Are you sure?� her father demanded while her mother looked helplessly from the doctor to her husband to her daughter. �Mr. Larson I wanted to be sure before I came to you with the analysis but the most recent tests support our diagnosis.� Dr. Blake, the specialist, paused before continuing, �I hate to pressure you but we were lucky, we caught it early and we need to take advantage of this.� Mylie�s father interrupted him, �Lucky!? You just told our daughter that she has a rare form of leukemia. Possibly terminal. What I want is for you to leave us alone for a minute okay?!� �Of course, Mr. Larson. Just alert the nurse when you are ready for me.� The doctor excused himself and Mylie�s mom gathered her daughter into her arms. �Oh Mylie, honey, we are going to fight this, I promise.� She could hear the tears in her mom�s voice but surprising she didn�t feel sadness or tears, only a numbing sensation that was spreading though her mind and body. I only came into the doctor�s office to find out why these bruises wouldn�t go away� but now� This whole ordeal had begun when Mylie had noticed some bruise on her body but she had dismissed them because she was always getting bruised from the various sports that she did. It was only when after a couple of weeks that the marks hadn�t faded, if anything they had gotten bigger, that Mylie�s mom had gotten worried and talked her into coming to the doctor. It wasn�t just the livid bruises all over her body, Mylie had felt tired and weak for a while which wasn�t like her at all. She was normally very active, playing soccer and running cross country but lately she had noticed her stamina wasn�t as good and simple things left her tired and weak. She had also woken up some nights with nosebleeds and scratches that she got didn�t heal up easily. The worry began when her normal doctor decided that she needed some special tests done and that was when she was sent to Dr. Blake. And now she was being told she had a rare form of leukemia. Kylie pulled out of her mother�s embrace and faced her and her father. �Mom, Dad, the doctor is right.� Her voice was flat, emotionless, �We are lucky to have caught it early. If I want to beat this then we need to get him back in here and we need to talk about the options.� Her parents shared a worried look but did as their 19 year old daughter asked. Her father rose and stuck his head out of the door to get the doctor. The next half and hour was spent talking about Mylie�s newest barrier in life and her options on how to beat it. The test revealed that she had a form of leukemia called Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia, or JMML. JMML is very rare in children, only about 1% of children get this type of cancer, and even more uncommon in teens. This disorder originates in the bone marrow cells that normally function to form blood cells. Myeloid stem cells, produced in the bone marrow, eventually develop into red blood cells, platelets and white blood cells. These blood cells are the ones that normally circulate around your body and protect you from infections. But with myeloid leukemia, like JMML, your white blood cells don�t work as well as they should leaving the body weak and venerable to infections. Mylie listened as Dr. Blake explained the different types of treatments she could try but in the end he recommended one treatment above the others. �Now I normally wouldn�t suggest this type of treatment but with Mylie�s excellent physical shape, her body should be strong enough to handle the intensity.� Mylie just nodded. �Since JMML has been proven to be resistant to chemotherapy I am going to suggest stem cell transplantation from a sibling which would extend your chance of survival but, Mylie, I have to let you know that your chance of ever being fully cured is slim.� She felt tears sting at the back of her warm brown eyes but she blinked them away. Now is not the time for tears. I can cry later. Now I just need to know what I can do to beat this thing. Dr. Blake paused and then forced himself to continue, �And Mylie, I would also like to recommend that you go talk to someone about this. We have many excellent on-staff psychologists that could help.� Kylie just nodded, and in the same emotionless voice said, �Thank you doctor, I will think about it. I would really like to go home now� I have� a lot to think about.� He smiled kindly and said, �Of course. How about you come again in a week with your decision and we can get started on your treatment.� He turned to walk out but was stopped short by Mylie coming to her decision. She didn�t have to, or want to, stew about this any more. She knew what she wanted to do. �Wait.� he glanced at her surprised, his hand on the door, she continued, �No Dr. Blake, no more thinking. I want to start this treatment as soon as possible. My decision is already made. I want to go through with the stem cell transplant.� Mylie knew that her sister wouldn�t hesitate to do the transplant with her. They had always been close and Mylie had a feeling that this disease would have just as much impact on Jess as it would on Mylie herself. The doctor shot her parents a worried look but said, �Alright� we�ll make another appointment for a consultation and then go from there as to the surgery.� They made the appointment and left the doctor�s office quickly. All of them wanted to get the emotional warmth of home compared to sterile and coldness of the doctor�s office. When they reached their cars Mylie�s mom started to reach for her to pull her into a hug but the silent girl just shrugged her mother off and climbed into her car, �I�ll see ya�ll when we get home.� and didn�t wait for their response before zooming off, leaving her parents standing helplessly behind. Mrs. Larson watched as her daughter took off and with tears in her eyes she turned to her husband, �Oh, Jake what are we going to do? I felt like she put up a wall against us. I want to help her but�� �I know, Mary,� he said, taking his wife into his arms, �I felt it too. But we can�t force her to talk to us. We just have to be there for her when she needs us, and that is all we can do right now.� Note from Author: This story is dedicated to all the incredible work that I have seen the Make-A-Wish Foundation do. I volunteer at the Children�s Hospital and I have seen so many kids� faces light up with what this amazing organization does. So please, find your local Make-A-Wish Branch and volunteer, donate money or even help a child�s Wish come true because the happiness that you could help these children get is more then worth it. Back |