I don’t normally ask for these kinds of things, but the maintence guy at work (Sammy, and yes, we do call his assistant “Sammy’s Little Helper”) has hit a very rough patch here today. He’s nearly sixty, and they work the poor guy to death at work, they’ve had him doing things which are damned hard for guys twice his size and half his age. In recent months, he’s had a spate of health problems, mostly related to a stent they put in his heart, but there’s been other problems as well. To add to that, his wife’s been very ill, last month she was hospitalized for what was supposed to be minor surgery, and because of complications that arose, nearly died in the hospital.
This week, Sammy ended up in the hospital (it’s at least the fourth time in as many months), today, not only was he diagnosed with leukemia, but his wife passed away. IMHO, they should have caught the leukemia well before this, since he’d needed to go to the hospital for transfusions several times in the past couple of months.
A prayer is being sent even as I type. Please give Sammy my best wishes and if you think it’s appropriate, let him know he’s being prayed for. Would you like me to put him on the regular list for my prayer meeting on Thursday?
I suppose we all realize things like this go on every day but until it is pointed out on a personal level we don’t appreciate the gravity and suffering it means to those involved. I hope your friend finds his way out of this. With people like you around him, I’m sure he won’t be short of help.
Thanks. I haven’t heard any updates on Sammy’s condition, but leukemia’s a long nasty fight, so I’m sure he’s going to be out for a while. I’m sure that this has got to be very hard on Sammy’s youngest grandchild, because the child absolutely adores Sammy and was hoping to be able to live with Sammy next year (Sammy’s son and daughter-in-law just moved to Florida and they’d promised the grandson that once Sammy’s wife got better that he could move in with Sammy. That doesn’t look like it’s going to happen now.)
A little bit of good news. Sammy showed up at work on Thursday, looking pale and glum, he also wasn’t moving as fast as he usually does, but he seemed to be in pretty good spirits, all considering.
I kow its not much of a consolation, But the type of leukemia most common in his age group is Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia or CLL.
Its much less agressive tha the acute forms. With treatment, he has a good chance of living a full life span.
