If your family member was diagnosed with a serious life-threatening illness today that would cost millions to treat, how far would go stand with them?
A lot of people pay lip service to the notion that family will stand with you forever but that is not always the case. Its always easier said than done.
Two years ago, I was privileged to meet a young but very inspirational family that taught me valuable lessons in humility. The Mukunis are just a special breed. The couple earn their living running a business in Mombasa town. They are very mild-mannered and one of the sweetest people I've ever met. When I first met them, they were just trying to rebuild their life, having gone through a harrowing post-election violence experience that left them shaken to the core. They had to temporarily move in with family up-country until calm was restored in the costal city. They had lost almost everything in the nightmare.
In 2008, as they celebrated Christmas with the extended family, one of the family members noticed a swelling on their younger son's neck and asked the mom if they had had it checked out. Apparently, another member of the family is a respected pathologist in South Africa and he took it upon himself to speed up the process of biopsy plus histological diagnosis. The results were not pretty. Hodgkins Lymphoma reared its ugly head.
The devastation that ensued was beyond words. The following weeks must have been the hardest the family had to face. Calls were made, urgent referrals to the hemato-oncologist and in record time, chemotherapy was initiated. In the midst of all this turmoil, the only thing the couple could count on was prayer. They are staunch believers in Christ and I can bet that lots of things were going on while they prayed, sometimes unaware that the prayers were answered long before they knelt.
Suffice it to say, their son's treatment went smooth sailing. His chemotherapy was never delayed for more than two days, and that was only when his white cell counts dropped below optimum and required a neupogen boost. He suffered from probably two or three episodes of mild upper respiratory infection in the two years of treatment (that's better than most normal people) and he never lost weight.
Of greatest note was that never once did they worry about the financial implication of his treatment. The power of family! Family hosted the Mukunis for the two years of treatment without a single complaint. Family raised money for drugs, admissions, tests and consultations. And when chemotherapy was done, family consulted on the next step and put the Mukunis on a flight off to India for a complete PET scan and prophylactic irradiation. My tears threatened to fall when I got a call from Mr. Mukuni on new years eve to say the PET scan was normal!!!
Eventually, my threatening tears did spill when I had the great opportunity to meet THE FAMILY behind the successful treatment of this amazing boy. The Mukunis held a thanksgiving luncheon to express their sincere and heartfelt gratitude to this amazing family that had steadfastly stood by them in their darkest hour. They were not all remarkably wealthy or powerful. They were regular people who contributed in all ways monetary and non-monetary to ensure mountains were moved.
Again I ask, how far would you go as family?
A lot of people pay lip service to the notion that family will stand with you forever but that is not always the case. Its always easier said than done.
Two years ago, I was privileged to meet a young but very inspirational family that taught me valuable lessons in humility. The Mukunis are just a special breed. The couple earn their living running a business in Mombasa town. They are very mild-mannered and one of the sweetest people I've ever met. When I first met them, they were just trying to rebuild their life, having gone through a harrowing post-election violence experience that left them shaken to the core. They had to temporarily move in with family up-country until calm was restored in the costal city. They had lost almost everything in the nightmare.
In 2008, as they celebrated Christmas with the extended family, one of the family members noticed a swelling on their younger son's neck and asked the mom if they had had it checked out. Apparently, another member of the family is a respected pathologist in South Africa and he took it upon himself to speed up the process of biopsy plus histological diagnosis. The results were not pretty. Hodgkins Lymphoma reared its ugly head.
The devastation that ensued was beyond words. The following weeks must have been the hardest the family had to face. Calls were made, urgent referrals to the hemato-oncologist and in record time, chemotherapy was initiated. In the midst of all this turmoil, the only thing the couple could count on was prayer. They are staunch believers in Christ and I can bet that lots of things were going on while they prayed, sometimes unaware that the prayers were answered long before they knelt.
Suffice it to say, their son's treatment went smooth sailing. His chemotherapy was never delayed for more than two days, and that was only when his white cell counts dropped below optimum and required a neupogen boost. He suffered from probably two or three episodes of mild upper respiratory infection in the two years of treatment (that's better than most normal people) and he never lost weight.
Of greatest note was that never once did they worry about the financial implication of his treatment. The power of family! Family hosted the Mukunis for the two years of treatment without a single complaint. Family raised money for drugs, admissions, tests and consultations. And when chemotherapy was done, family consulted on the next step and put the Mukunis on a flight off to India for a complete PET scan and prophylactic irradiation. My tears threatened to fall when I got a call from Mr. Mukuni on new years eve to say the PET scan was normal!!!
Eventually, my threatening tears did spill when I had the great opportunity to meet THE FAMILY behind the successful treatment of this amazing boy. The Mukunis held a thanksgiving luncheon to express their sincere and heartfelt gratitude to this amazing family that had steadfastly stood by them in their darkest hour. They were not all remarkably wealthy or powerful. They were regular people who contributed in all ways monetary and non-monetary to ensure mountains were moved.
Again I ask, how far would you go as family?
true life
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