Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People

David, a two-year old with leukemia, was taken by his mother, Deborah, to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, to see Dr. John Truman who specialized in treating children with cancer and various blood diseases. Dr. Truman's prognosis was devastating: “He has a 50-50 chance.” The mother’s ordeal can be almost as bad as the child’s because she has to stand by and watch her child suffer through the countless clinic visits, the blood tests, the intravenous drugs, the fear, and the pain. David never cried in the waiting room, and although his friends in the clinic had to hurt him and stick him with needles, he hustled in ahead of his mother with a smile, sure of the welcome he always got. When he was three, David had to have a spinal tap—a painful procedure at any age. It was explained to him that, because he was sick, Dr. Truman had to do something to make him better. “If it hurts, remember it's because he loves you,” Deborah said. The procedure was horrendous. It took three nurses to hold David still while he yelled and sobbed and struggled. When it was almost over, the tiny boy, soaked in sweat and tears, looked up at the doctor and gasped, “Thank you, Dr. Tooman, for my hurting.”

Source: DTW, July 15, 2008