I have been told that they sat there in disbelief. Here was a
doctor giving them odds on my recovery, and looking for a decision
in the near future.
Research had shown that the transplant had even less potential
for success, should it not be carried out while I was in my first
remission; and it was well known by the doctors that most people
in those days slipped out of their first remission after a relatively
short period of time.
So here was this amazing dilemma for my parents and Linda.
Should we throw all on the line and risk a trip to London to
attempt to achieve a permanent cure? Or should we recognise
that the conventional treatment had worked well to date with
me, and hope that it could rid me of the disease forever?
What a position to be in as a parent?
Now that I am a parent, I can fully appreciate the position
they were in. If I went to London and the operation failed, they
would probably have felt guilty for the rest of their lives. And
if they refused that opportunity and I was eventually beaten
by the disease, they would wonder if the transplant may have
worked.
The choice to stay home and persist has proved successful
so the correct decision was made. But it certainly caused
enormous anguish.
I believe that the doctors were in two minds themselves. They
could not know whether it was the correct rnove or not. How
were they to know that I was going to succeed on the conventional
program?
It would have been a scary experience for Linda, who would
have had much of her marrow removed under a general
anaesthetic. Not necessarily a dangerous operation for her,
because the marrow taken out would be replaced by her healthy
system in a very short period of time; but it still would have
been both inconvenient, and frightening. Linda, of course, was
quite prepared to do whatever she could to help.
