Connecting with Patry Francis

My three-year-old daughter smells like soap and toothpaste as she crawls into bed next to me. It’s ten o’clock at night and I’ve just returned from the Intensive Care Unit where I kissed my husband goodnight on the forehead. My daughter knows daddy is sick, but in her mind he’s suffering from the flu.

It’s not the flu, though. It’s a rare but reoccurring blood disease. So rare, in fact, it has yet to be diagnosed.

In 1982, his father walked for miles—from an apartment in Havanah to the church of Saint Lazaro in the Cuban countryside. He went there to pray for his two-year-old son, who was dying from a mysterious blood disease. He would make the trip again two years later, when my husband was only four, and again at six. During each episode, doctors would begin a barrage of tests, ruling out one disease after another. Every member of the extended family went in for genetic testing. Still, his condition remained unexplained

This is his sixth stay in the hospital. His symptoms are not as severe as when he was a child, but his condition is still critical. But through it all, we are grateful. This rare blood condition is very similar to so many others, other diseases that are fatal, diseases that create lethal toxins and destroy organs. Yet, my husband continues to recover.

He also hopes doctors will be able to discover something new during this episode, something that may help others with the same condition. Perhaps they can learn something about how his body manages to self correct, why this disease goes into complete remission. Perhaps it could lead to a cure for similar diseases that are fatal.

Facing mortality can be frightening, but it can also be liberating. It reminds you what’s truly important. You also learn the importance of community, as you are forced to rely on others for help. It is in this spirit that I send out my prayers to a fellow writer Patry Francis. Patry Francis is the author of Liar’s Diary, a colorful murder mystery that has filled in the drab hours of waiting in uncomfortable hospital chairs. Patry is facing her own medical ordeal right now, diagnosed with an aggressive cancer just a few weeks before Liar’s Diary was due for its paper back release. In her blog Simply Wait, there is a glimmer of the awe and insight that mortal awareness brings. I hope her recovery is successful, and in the spirit of community I extend my support, for her health and her creative vision.

I will continue to carry my copy of Liar’s Diary with me, and as soon as I finish it, I will post again with a detailed review. But now I must get some sleep, an hour has slipped by since I started this post and my snuggly bundle of soap scented love has just fallen into a deep sleep.