When Giving up Is Not an Option

Alex is 12 years old and he is a winner. He has fought the greatest battle of all and now he is a veteran kid.  *“I was nine and a half when I got sick. I was in Constanța and I fainted when I was coming out of a store. I woke up in a cab and then we went to the hospital. I don’t remember much afterwards. I remember in the hospital they did some tests and the lady there told my mom <<Can’t you see there’s a timebomb in his chest?>>.” *  *“What I wanted the most was to be able to get out and breathe the fresh air. I rarely got out to the yard, and even then I only stayed for 15 minutes or not even that much. One day I got a surprise: my classmates took a school trip to Bucharest and they all came to visit. I greeted them in the yard that day. Outside of that, I missed my brother the most. I’d been used to spending all my time with him, and now there was only me and my mom, so it was really weird. But my mom had my back day and night. And I felt best when dad came to stay with me too. As for my brother, we talked on Skype and we played together in the network.”*  *“The bathrooms were the worst part. 12 or 14 wards shared two bathrooms, one for the girls and one for the boys. A lot of times we had to stand in line, especially at night, when everyone wanted to take a shower, especially the moms. We couldn't shower every day, because we were hooked up to the IVs. When they took our catheters out, we were in heaven, we were finally able to get out of bed and go sit in the hallway.”*  *“During Easter, I was in a coma. When I woke up, I only remember my mom telling me to push on my arms and get up. We can say that I recovered quickly, but I remember I had seizures after a few weeks, five in one night. Right about that time, I'd started to forget. I didn't know my dad at all, I only knew my mom, and not even her too well. I didn't know what was happening, where I was. I didn't know who I was. Twoo weeks ago, I had another seisure and I went back on anti-seizure meds to get better. I think that's the best piece of advice I could give anyone: Trust the doctors, they know just what to do.”*  **Join us in winning this war against cancer. We're enlisting soldiers! Donate!** **We’re Making a Hospital! The first National Hospital for Children with Cancer, Severe Diseases and Trauma**