Some of you will remember that my son is gravely ill. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor two years ago, underwent surgery and then a year and a half of chemiotherapy. Earlier this year, the tumor was gone on MRI scans, and, despite the fact that he has permanently lost the use of his right arm in the process, it appeared that our nightmare was over, and we took off for a long holiday in Australia this summer to finally enjoy some worries-free time together as a family.
Unfortunately, the quarterly exam made on our return showed that the tumor was back, and thus that we'd need to find another solution to cure our son. We are now getting ready for some radiotherapy.
This week, our son underwent surgery to insert some miniature gold balls in his head - they will be used as "signposts" to target the rays that will be used on him as precisely as possible. I understand they use gold so as not to trigger airport metal detectors, as these balls will not be taken out afterwards. As surgeries go, it was quite minor (it's a quite superficial) but it did require anesthesia and two nights spent at the hospital, and spending time with a child attached to a drip and various other equipement in a hospital room is never the most pleasant of times. There's a lot of waiting, and inevitably you end up pondering the worst case scenarios, which in our case are really "worst".
Thinking about our son's illness is never a pleasant thing. Consider that him "only" losing the use of his arm and being handicapped to some extent for the rest of his life was a good outcome. It's easy to get depressed, angry and to lose interest in the world around you. But not thinking about his disease is callous and cold and uncaring, so what do you do?
In my case, blogging (in addition to job and family) has certainly been a way to keep busy, and the impression to be able to influence things a little bit with my writing has been an important thing for me. I've been playing the Cassandra, and some of you have noted that this doom and gloom may be overdone, but you have to understand that for my son, a world marked by resource shortages and war and the dislocation of our current way of life would really not be an easy place for him to live in, and if by writing about the worst, we can work towards avoiding it, then I consider it will have been useful, even if ultimately wrong.
If my blogging has been more controversial in recent weeks, do take this background in consideration. Making the world a peaceful place, able to provide for the weaker members of society, has become an intensely personal issue for me. It is not my intention to abuse the wonderful welcome I've received on dKos, and afterwards on ET, nor to hog unnecessarily the spotlight, but there's so much to be done, and if my writing on a topic which is vital to how our future unfolds is deemed relevant, then I'll continue to speak up.
One final point that I'd like to write about is to tell you about the way my son's care is paid for. I've mentioned this previously, but it is worth repeating in veiw of all the horros stories provided by nyceve and others: 100% of the cost of the care for my son comes from our national healthcare system. We've never had to wait for any treatment, we've never had to disburse a cent, my wife got an allowance to compensate for the fact that she had to essentially abandon her job to take care of my son. The quality of care has been as good can be found anywhere, and it's paid for by social contributions and national solidarity (even if some of the care is provided in the private sector). Dealing with our kid's illness was and is stressful enough, and I can't imagine having to juggle in addition with major money headaches - including to the point that it can threaten care provided, and reading stories about such woes here on dKos break my heart each time. You guys have to keep up the good fight for comprehensive healthcare for all, and if my experience can show that 'socialist' systems are not so horrible, I'll be glad to say it loudly again.
Finally, one question to the community. I saw (but did not see if there was any conclusive answer) that there was a debate about soliciting donations and wanted to know the following: one of the families that we met at the hospital in the past year lost their son to a brain tumor, and they have created an association to fund research on children's cancers and to help improve the living conditions of children in hospitals. would it be inappropriate for me to make a call to help their association (now active in France and Canada) here on dKos?