There he lay asleep, as if nothing could disturb him. He seemed so peaceful, but yet I had some anxiety. My brother lay there with no hair and as weak as I had ever seen him. He was very groggy and not himself. This picture was not normal. I had not seen him in 2 months and things were very different. The chemo had made him like this, and the new marrow was now growing. My brother was undergoing a bone marrow transplant to stop the onset of ALD, the disease he had. The white matter in his brain was deteriorating, but at that moment I still knew that I believed in miracles.
I believe miracles happen all the time. I never thought though, that my family and I would be praying for one. My little brother Nick has Adrenoleukodystrophy(ALD). It is a disease that runs genetically in our family. When he was only 7 years old, he had an onset of ALD and the only way to stop it was a bone marrow transplant. So, my brother, mom, and dad went to Kansas City, MO to see a doctor who specialized in ALD transplants. There my mom and brother stayed for about 5 months. It was a hard time. We were all separated and uncertain of the outcome. One thing that really held us together, was prayer. Then a couple days before my brother got his new bone marrow, he was exposed to chicken pox. He had no immune system at the time and if he got chicken pox, he might not survive. We were all very concerned, but just kept on praying. Nick was put in isolation, to make sure he wouldn’t expose anybody else. Finally after 30 days the doctors determined he did not have chicken pox and allowed him to be taken out of isolation. After that things went smoothly and his body accepted the new marrow and he got stronger each and every day. After 100 days he was allowed to come home and finish his recovery. Every thing was going great. He even got home in time to see my uncle one last time, before he died of cancer. Today my brother is doing fine, and living life enjoyably. The bone marrow transplant stopped the deterioration in his brain in the early stage of the disease so he will never experience the neurological symptoms associated with ALD. I am so thankful that he is doing well. With all the turmoil and difficulties we face in life, I believe that miracles still happen every single day.