"Who says life is fair, where is that written?"
- William Goldman, The Princess Bride
The day was finally upon the young Mr. Edwards and he was scared, very scared. "Everything is going to be OK. God is going to guide you through this. When you wake up, the healing process will start. Remember something my love. Your family loves you more than anything and you're a survivor." The last minute words of comfort from his mother were endearing; but now it was time to face the Reaper head on. His bone marrow transplant was mere minutes away from starting. "Are you ready for this Scott?" The prep nurse asked. He took a deep breath, looked at his family and said, "Looks like it's now or never. Let's do it." The nurse began to wheel him away. As he was leaving, he turned his head to his family members and said. "I love you guys and when this is over, all of us are going to St. Louis for a Card's game."
Bone marrow transplants are extremely risky procedures; the first trick is finding a match. He was fortunate in that regard; his younger sister Alana ended up being a perfect match. Now, the two months prior to the procedure he was basically quarantined from everything. See, the body's immune system is highly susceptible and extreme caution had to be exercised. Fortunately, he was in the hands of professionals and the procedure went off without much complication.
After the procedure was completed, he was required to stay in the hospital another two months for monitoring. On the 50th day of his stay he was finally given the go ahead to return home. Scott had spent his time in recovery at the Mayo clinic in Minneapolis. Upon his release, he was picked up in a new rental van by his father. As they traveled through Iowa on the way back to Kansas the air conditioning gave way. His constitution at the time was of such a delicate nature that the hot flashes he was experiencing when the AC went out caused him to think briefly about his old nemesis the Grim Reaper. In the end, he sloughed the thought off as just another bout of bad luck.
Upon his return to Madison; he was greeted with a hero's reception. Half the high school was camped out in front of his house waiting for him. A number of his cohorts at Madison High were holding signs that read, "Way to Go Scott!" and "We are Proud of You!" It had been quite some time since a smile had appeared on his face; the wait was now over. He thanked everyone for their show of love and then headed into his house for some much needed rest.
Everything was OK now, the bone marrow transplant was a success, he was feeling better and his well- being was gradually improving. Most importantly, his dalliance with the Reaper had finally come to a conclusion, or had it? Unbeknownst to the young Mr. Edwards at the time, the Reaper was still lingering. See, he was sure he had Scott boxed in; but once again he managed to slither out of it. Most would think by now that he would have grown tired of Scott and moved on to more tranquil prey. Not the case, the Reaper plays by a different set of rules than everyone else. Besides, it was only halftime in their game. The second half still had to be played.
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