Generosity, or What You Dare Think
“Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.”― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
When my father had brain cancer and he went for a brain biopsy, they asked if they could keep some tissue for research.
“Yes,” he told them, and signed the consent forms.
“Of course!” was my reaction. You can’t cure cancer without research.
“That’s so like Dad,” said my mother afterward.
I stared at her in surprise. “What else would you have done?”
“Is it going to help him?”
“Well, probably not, but it might. And it’ll definitely help the next person.”
My mother raised her hand. “Then to hell with you.” She meant the stranger who might benefit, not me. Mom has always loved me.
But why would she want to refuse?
A minute amount of extra tissue would only mean a minimal additional risk of bleeding or infection. I didn’t expect paralysis with a small procedure.
Good news: Dad wasn’t paralyzed by the biopsy.
On the downside, only ten percent of patients with a high grade glioma survived to the two year mark.
My heart cried out