The Healing Touch

The changes

Alfred along with John is infront of Dr. Philips who explains the details of his disease. John listens to doctor with utmost concentration.

Dr. Philips said that AML is a severe blood cancer. In Johns case, it couldn't get detected in blood test and so, additional test need to be taken to determine whether it has effected brain or other internal organs.

John went through the file and found the word "lumbar puncture". He was taken to another room and Dr. Anderson was there. He asked John to lie down in curled position. Test was about to begun, John lies in the bed as a baby inside mothers womb. Needle was injected in the lower part of spinal cord and CSF fluid was taken. Unbearable pain. John closes his eyes, no painkiller or seductions was effective.

John's condition was marked critical and chemotherapy was recommended on urgent basis. There was reduction in haemoglobin level and increase in WBC count. John was already tired.

He was taken for chemotherapy induction. When Cytarabine and Arabinoride got induced to his body the pain he went through is unexplainable. John knew chemo has its own side effects. His neck long thick hair was lost. What he couldn't see was that even his eyebrows and eyelids were gone.

Alfred was in tears. He remembered their college days. John, with a guitar in his hand, used to flip his long wet hair to wake Alfred. John was proud of his rockstar image.

"Alfy, I want a mirror" John said.

"Trust me. you don't want to..." Alfred couldn't complete his words.

"I need to see for myself" John said firmly.

Reluctantly Alfred handed over a mirror to John. He was broke. He felt like a dead weight. How he pondered his hair...he threw away the mirror in disguise. His life was become like those broken pieces of mirror.