That in a nutshell is how daughter Nikki (who is, herself, one of the 'big people' at 20 y.o.) empathized with the very solemn and depressing thoughts I shared with her as we drove home from NCH after spending another Thursday morning with the Kythe kids. "Can you imagine, it's so sad to think that none of those small kids will ever grow up to become big people." And the reply was "Big people suck anyway." The one liner sounded insensitive and not at all funny, but I
know she felt affected by her first visit - especially since she got assigned to the cutest kid in the ward - a 2 year old patient named Kim Espiritu who danced, giggled, sang and showed no signs at all of the leukemia threatening her still energetic body. See how pretty little Kim looks like a china doll with her cute bangs.As for my friend King Galero (remember him? from Aug27 blog entry http://msfrancisco.blogspot.com/2007/08/hail-king-galero.html ), he was once upon a time the most mabungisngis and cutest, 'smilingest' baby in the hema ward - just like cute Kim now. I even took a picture of him and posted it in my entry last August! I learned from Cynthia the Kythe officer that King passed awy two
weeks ago. King has finally joined his King!I did not have time to grieve, although the news saddened me immensely and the empty feeling has hovered over me like a dark cloud the entire weekend. I quickly embraced and cherished my time with all the remaining familiar faces that still greeted me in the three wards...
they were still there. There was Knowell Placero the 'feeling guapo' guy who kept wanting to have his pictures taken last month (and I took some more this time! See him here playing with a hotdog balloon)... I thought he looked healthier, but then I was told that the added weight was more a result of the steroids. There was Lougie Ibarra, whose foot finally stopped bleeding. There was Laurence Gumba, who, true to form, still loved to eat and eat and eat like there was no tomorrow (well there really is none if you think about it). His tummy though was much more bloated now. See him happily eating spaghetti and jollibee chicken. Oh yeah, John Ligurdo still pouted at me and wanted to attack me and throw crayons.
I made new friends. Kyla Caber, I am told, does not have much time left. She has brain tumor and is completely bald... oh but see her here, so very very proud of the jigsaw puzzle she completed!! Kyla Enriquez has leukemia and had dolls all over her crib...here she is clutching one. And there was fair and pretty Laurice
Bernadine Fernandez, battling lymphoma, but still looking very much like a fair, 'chinita' princess in her picture..But t
he one I spent the most time with this time was 9-year old Kimberly Saure - the very pretty leukemia patient I met on my previous visit. Her wish list then simply said "kikay kit" and so last Thursday I gave her one of those inexpensive eyeshadow/makeup kits for children ...the ones you find in the toys department. I quickly put on some light lilac shadow on her eyes and pink gloss on her lips. When I held the mirror up for her to see, my goodness, her face could have lit up the entire
room! Her eyes twinkled and she was so happy, feeling like she was the most beautiful girl in NCH! Kimberly really is beautiful. She has very expressive doe eyes and the longest lashes. Here we are, smiling sweetly for the camera..I do not know why I feel compelled to single out each and every one of
my little friends and spell out their complete names and post their pictures. Perhaps it is my way of immortalizing every single one of them, so they live on long after their giggles, smiles and cuteness have left the wards of NCH -- the way King Galero will forever have his picture posted on my Aug 27 entry, cute and energetic, smiling and mabungisngis - exactly how he was the first time I met him.My little friends are happy when people take the time to play with them, tell them stories and make them forget their pains for a while. If you would like to help them, please log on to http://www.kythe.org/index.html You can make a donation that will help fund the chemos, the blood transfusions, the bone marrow procedures, the drugs, the painkillers... OR you could also just choose to give them your time.... a few hours out of a week or out of a month will make them happy and make them feel like they're the most beautiful people in the world.
Don't be one of the big people who suck. Please help little kids suffering from terminal cancer. Maybe there are those of you who can grant them their wishlists? (shhhh, Kimberly wants a piano, even just the toy one operated by 2 AA batteries.) There are many affiliate hospitals under the Kythe program, but if you would like to help at the NCH in particular, contact Marian or Cynthia at 7240656 loc 59.
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