Tuesday's Blog- October 11

"When I moved away I left my brother. I also left ninety-four years of family.......But I also left his tumor. I left his suffering with the backdrop of the Colgate-Palmolive factory" (Nealon 24-25).


As Mary Jane Nealon was picking her parents up at the airport after celebrating their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary in Bermuda, her brother fell onto the staisr and burst into tears. He was in excruciating pain the past week but had not told anyone because he did not want to ruin his parents' vacation. Mary Jane took him to the hospital to later find out there was a lump. As their parents were arriving to the hospital after dropping their bags off at home, they found out there was a lump the size of a grapefruit in his abdomen. Johnny (Mary Jane's brother) had to have many tests taken. As Mary, her parents, and her sister were waiting around for the results, a family doctor took Mary aside and said, "I don't know what this is, but it's bad, and your parents are going to need you." She then made sure to reassure her mother, her father, and especially her brother, Johnny. After Twelve hours in surgery they found a name for his tumor: hemangioprisarcoma. Hemangioperisarcoma can be defined as a rapidly growing, highly invasive variety of cancer. It is a sarcoma arising from the lining of blood vessels; that is, blood-filed channels and spaces are commonly observed microscopically. The doctors informed them that they had only seen fifteen tumors like this before. It was very rare.

The next couple of years were consisted of trips to the hospital where Johnny got chemotherapy and radiation while Mary Jane continued nursing school. Her fantasy of nursing began to morph into the heavy chore of taking care of people. Nursing was not easy but she was dedicated. After Johnny went through six months of chemotherapy and radiation, he had six months of great checkups and his hair started growing back. Everything seemed to be getting better. He looked healthier than he had in a long time and he was doing everything a normal person would do. That following summer, the doctors called and said there was a new tumor in his lung and he needed to go to New York immediately. Mary Jane thought she could find a way to save her brother. But instead she felt like she needed to flee and get away from all of this. She needed to start her life she had been waiting for instead of getting caught up with her brother.

She decided to flee to Virginia. This is where the quote I chose came from. She decided to leave her brother, ninety-four years of family, her grandfather, her house, everything. She felt bad in the moment of leaving her brother to fight on his own but he told her he wanted Mary to go. And she thought if she kept repeating it in her head she would come to believe it. After spending tenth months in Virginia, Mary Jane found out her brother had died. She was furious. Mary Jane stated, " I was a good nurse, but nothing could make up for the frivolous ten months in Virginia. Nothing could give me back those days when my brother was still alive in his bed and I was dancing like a fool so far away from him". Mary Jane regretted every leaving her brothers side. She realized after his passing how unfair it was that Johnny had to fight for his life, laying in bed, while Mary was off dancing partying, and enjoying being a nurse.

This quote does not completely connect to me because nobody in my family has died from cancer, but it does connect to me in a different way. As I am preparing to graduate high school and leave for college, I am going to eventually have to leave behind my family, my brother, my sister, my house, etc. Just like Mary Jane did. The thought of leaving these important things behind to study and begin a career is scary. Mary Jane's story could happen to anyone. I thought this quote connected to because although some people may think it is very easy to just drop their past and start over, to some people it is hard. As I go to college I have to take into realization that my grandparents or my parents or any of the people I care about could get sick. Getting cancer is not something us humans have control over. However, something that I did learn from this quote and from Mary Jane is if one of our loved ones does get sick, not to go away and hope for it to get better. But to be there, support, and spend as much time possible with that certain individual. As I prepare to eventually leave for college, the time between now and leaving next fall, I will spend more time with my family and friends and make sure every moment counts.

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=family