Amherst family thankful for community support as youngest child undergoes bone marrow transplant

Thursday, November 12, 2009

To the Editor:

On June 3, our lives as we knew it came to a crashing halt. Our 10-year-old son, Drew, was diagnosed with severe Aplastic Anemia. A simple way of explaining it is “bone marrow failure.”

After five long months, immunosuppressive chemotherapy has failed and we find ourselves preparing for a bone marrow transplant. Drew has been preparing physically and we have been preparing emotionally. We have spent five months praying and wishing that this nightmare would all go away. That hasn’t happened. Now we have to diligently focus our energies on hope and for being thankful for all that we have and all that we have received since Drew became ill.

Thankful that we only live an hour away from Children’s Hospital in Boston. Thankful that Children’s is only one of a few hospitals in the world that specialize in bone marrow failure in children. Thankful to the amazing doctors, nurses and support staff that have supported and comforted us. Thankful that AA is a rare condition and that more children aren’t affected by it. Thankful to our families who have been by our side. Thankful for a town that has rallied around us in a way that we never would have imagined. Our lives and our priorities have been swiftly reorganized. This was something that we used to read or hear about happening to other families, not ours. That we could be so ignorant to think that it would never happen to us was an eye-opening experience, to say the least.

What has opened our eyes more than that is the way that people have responded to our situation. Friends, family, community and even total strangers reaching out and supporting us in ways we never thought possible. We are grateful for our friends who have arranged benefits, sent cards and gift baskets, gas cards, or looking after our other two sons, Kevin and Ryan, and our dog, Ginger.

We appreciate all the stores that have accommodated our requests on Drew’s behalf to shop before opening their doors to the public. It has allowed Drew to feel a little more connected to the world that he’s been kept away from. Thank you to CineMagic, Barnes & Noble, Toadstool Bookstore and Halloween Annex for their assistance. We are continually told by our team in Boston that the devotion to Drew’s education provided by the Amherst Middle School is something special. We are so grateful.

The holidays are approaching quickly now. For us, we will be taking it on a day to day basis. It’s too hard to plan ahead at this time. The isolation is tough to take and we still have a year to go. However, what stands out most in our minds is that this is the year that we will have the most to be thankful for. Our gratitude cannot be expressed by the written or spoken word.

Thank you everyone for showing us the true meaning of giving. Thank you to everyone who is a registered bone marrow donor or who has donated blood and to the people who make it possible. The gift you give is immeasurable. Thank you especially to a young man, somewhere in this world, who is giving us the most important gift of all. Thank you to two young men who showed us what being big brothers is all about. Thank you to the boy we have always said was born smiling, for showing us the true meaning of courage, faith and strength. Thank you to God for guiding us through this.

Happy Holidays and God Bless.

TEAM D’AUTEUIL

PETER, JENNIFER, KEVIN, RYAN and DREW

Amherst