Hail King! Hello Angelo!

King Galero, a very friendly, smiling and playful 1-1/2 year old baby has Non-Hodgekins Lymphoma and was confined at the National Chldren's Hospital when I visited him last Thursday. He was due to have his second bout of chemotherapy that afternoon. But he was so playful and ma-bungisngis (giggly and tickly!) as we watched Game Ka Na Ba that morning and he played with the cardboard box I gave him. (Actually, I gave him a very cute and colorful "shape sorter ball", but he preferred playing with the box it came in!!) Five-year-old Angelo was another lively and spirited one - last month that is. He has leukemia, and has such a fighting spirit.. in fact, he is the most popular kid on the block, having been in and out of that hospital for more than a year now! Last month we played that popular game where both players take turns trying to slap each other's open palms; he was rolling over with laughter and trying to beat me.. and so I pretended to "lose" by letting my palms stay an extra second longer. I watched him that morning as the nurse collected his urine - which did not look like urine at all -- it was blood. I was told he was not responding well to the transfusions and had began to have some sort of internal bleeding. Last Thursday when I dropped by his bed hoping to continue our game, he was listless and did not recognize me anymore. His eyes were sunken and his gums bleeding. I do not have a picture of him that I can post. I should have taken one last month when he was still well, just like I did King today. I do not know if I will still see my friend Angelo on my next visit.

Visit the Kythe site to know more about how you can help kids with terminal or chronic illnesses like King and Angelo. Or, like what some of us do, take the time to visit them and cheer them up and play with them once a week (just an hour or two is all it takes!) so they continue to feel loved and cared for. You can pretend to be a clown, a princess, a witch, a rabbit or just their big sister or brother or auntie who makes faces and tells stories ... whatever you think will make them happy and feel like ordinary kids again..