Two Years Journey, the Rise from Leukemia and Aneurysm to the Opportunity of a Lifetime

By Derrick R Harding

On February 16, 2014, a fellow elder quietly prayed for me: Lord, give my brother a new bone marrow. The next day, a Hematologist diagnosed that I had a bone marrow disease. This unbelievable news with no obvious sign or symptom was true. I had an aggressive acute Leukemia. Graphically, the Lord assured me, three times that I would be healed and the disease would not return (Nahum 1, 9). Acting proactively, the Hematologist scheduled my admission into a Florida hospital. Subsequently, a skilled Oncologist induced Chemotherapy immediately. Since I was extremely weak, fall alert sign was posted on my chart. Unfortunately, I disobeyed it one night, fell, and bashed the back my head that sounded like a cracking Styrofoam box. Obviously, whatever that was, it cushioned this death blow. One week later, I experienced excruciating pain at the back of my neck. My left Carotid artery was severed. The result was a massive aneurism that God revealed in the nick of time, after two weeks of severe pains. I was scheduled for, and had successful surgery at an affiliate hospital and recovered in ICU, an unforgettable experience from which God rescued me. Having overcome, I sought for and received a second option, since I was not registered in a Bone Marrow Transplant program at the former hospital.

On November 4, 2014, I received stem cell transplant at this new facility. The donor was my brother, seventy-two years old; one of the oldest male stem cell donors in history. Like Jesus suspend on the cross six hours, drained of his blood to redeem me from this curse, my brother spent six hours on his back, to donate six million stem cells to give me a new immune system. I was grafted on day 16, after transplant, and was released to my new life of recovery.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514454541

Derrick R Harding

Derrick, a Reading and Language Arts Teacher for many years, hails from the hilly sunshine country side of eastern Hanover, in beautiful, Jamaica. The eight of eleven children who grew up poor but did not allow poverty to define his ambition nor his future. He was always an average student whose ambition was bigger than he was. He learned early that education was the only vehicle towards upward mobility and with dint of sweat and hard work he came to realize his dreams. Guided by parents who fully embraced this mantra: “Hard work is the secret of success” he worked so hard, registered himself in a teacher training college and forged a path so purposely, his fellow cohorts wrote of him in the college Magazine: “Man from west, who never rest.” In 1972 he achieved his first dream, a Teaching Diploma from Mico Teacher’s College in Jamaica, with distinction in Psychology. In 1988, a Certificate in Reading from the University of the West Indies. He further matriculated in 1984 -1986 with a Bachelor of Science and a Masters Of Arts Degree in Education with specialties in Reading and Language Arts, from the University of Western Carolina. Mr. Harding has always had a love for writing and furthered his studies, at Extra Mural writing Center at the University of the West Indies in Kingston Jamaica where he got his first stamp of approval that he had a flair for writing. He continued to hone his skills in writing unpublished short stories and poems. He has two soon to be published novels to his credit, but found compelling reasons to publish his first novel “A Two Years Journey- From, Leukemia and Aneurism, to Total Health.”

Book preview

TWO YEARS JOURNEY,

THE RISE FROM LEUKEMIA

AND ANEURYSM TO THE

OPPORTUNITYOF A LIFETIME

Derrick R. Harding

Copyright © 2016 by Derrick R. Harding.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2016902712

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-5144-5456-5

      Softcover      978-1-5144-5455-8

      eBook         978-1-5144-5454-1

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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Rev. date: 07/11/2016

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Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Healed, Survive

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

F IRST I HAVE TO RECOGNI ZE the sovereignty of God in my life for rescuing me from condemnation. I was a wretched sinner condemned to die but through God’s providence I am alive. On the other hand I still cannot reconcile the fact that he has given me the privilege of carrying this sickness in my body, miraculously healed me and now put words in my mouth to declare his goodness. I can only attribute this to his amazing grace. As I write this piece I am flooded with emotion.

Yet I must give oodles of appreciation to my darling wife Shelly. She was my guide when I could not walk or dress myself. She extended the hand of God as my help mate to explain things when I was not coherent. O she was my advisor alright, who managed the finance and showing unconditional love at that; without which I could not make it. She was my warmth when my night was cold. She was my chauffeur and a good one too. I am still alive. Honey I salute you.

Then to the brethren at the Fire who kept the prayer vigil going, you brought me back with your prayers. Thanks to my Bishop and his wife, for remembering me financially and in their prayers; to my brother Kent who blessed me financially as well. Then thanks my brother Neville my donor, who unselfishly mortgaged his stem cells, to give me new bone marrow and his wife who stood beside and with him all the way. Also my siblings Tyrone, Norma and Joan who tested to see if they were suitable match to be my donor. God bless you; Yet I cannot forget my care giver Pauline who worked tirelessly to help me with my diet and medication. Thank you from my heart.

Not only you all, but the folks at Palm Spring and Fair Prospect hospitals Bone Marrow Center, you bless me and I bless you back. The Oncologist who proactively started me on Chemotherapy even before he got back all the results helped to save my life. I lift my hat to that blessed surgeon who did miraculous state of the art operation to remove the aneurism. May the mercies of God rest upon you, and how can I say thanks to the Physiotherapist who guided me practically holding my hand when I stumbled, during his sessions. Thank you Sir. These people showed great love. But at Fair Prospect the champion, dedicated warm hearted doctors and nurses who rallied around me as thou I were their own family. They performed the Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplant f lawlessly. O you break my heart when I think of the warmth of your smile and gentleness during examination, it reminds me of the touch of the master’s hand. I encountered the love of Christ during those moments.

And to my brothers, Stokes, and Monty, Dennis and Elder G; you were my drivers and meal carriers, and prayer partners. You never let me down. Even at the last minute, you would drop your business and take care of your fallen soldier. I thank you. Of course MW, I could always depend on you to rap at my door at the most opportune time. You never left without praying but, how can I forget the cooks who sent and brought me palatable food, which often I could not eat. Sometimes I was embarrassed because of the love and caring they put into preparation and being robbed of the joy of watching me eat. Therefore I would like to say to you all: You were strength when I was weak. You were there whenever I call. You prayed when I could not pray; you believed with me, and together we forged a bond that the devil could not break. Now thank God the past is over. God has given me another chance at life, new hope and wonderful dream, you have all made it happen.

Healed, Survive

1

S U NDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 20 14, I awoke brimming with energy. Every nerve fiber in my body seemed to work at optimum capacity. I enjoyed a state of wholeness—a physical, social, emotional, and psychological well-being that made me felt thankful to be alive. My mind, body, soul, and spirit experienced an effervescence of unrestrained energy. My cerebral function, ignited by high octane, captured crystal clear messages from my spinal cord and other parts of my brain and sensory system and propelled me into my morning’s action. Therefore, I must, by all means, first pay homage to the God who kept me alive during the night.

Subsequently, I took command of the day to bring me in alignment with the fullness of its many blessings. As such, I set forth to chart a course of this beautiful God-anointed day with daily devotion. Then being fully inspired, I broke into my number one exercise routine, running vigorously on the spot, which I fondly called Zimpum, complement of a tradition I imbibed from a brilliant little old man with a giant spirit, whom my mother cared for when I was a boy. Mass Eddy, as he was affectionately called, would run and dance on the spot and chant Zimpum, Zimpum Zaw, which he intellectually accentuated with clarity as he characterized himself as having performed with vim and vivacity. As a result, he carried himself always with an air of noble posture that figured him as a lean, trim, and tenacious fellow. Thus, I chanted and moved vigorously, yet in effortless motion, like the silky, smooth, rhythmic tapping of a ballpoint font from an electric typewriter, preserving words of romance on paper. I closed my eyes as I enjoyed an aura of divine peace.

This beauty and peace of the sunlight shone in all its glory that Sunday morning and suggested nothing sinister, nothing dull but fully immaculate. It ensured all the features that were reflective of a gorgeous and lovely day. The February winter gust, with radiating temperatures of seventy-nine degrees, accompanied by my body heat generated from this treasured routine, contributed to my sound mind, not of