âItâs hard even for me to get my head around this story even though I lived it,â he confessed, as he recalled the moment when he discovered that the illness had attacked his body for the third time. âI was in music camp with my class, on the beach at Caesarea. At some point, I sat alone on the sand, watching the sunset. I had a gnawing, undefined bad feeling. Something was not right but I didnât understand what. It was only when I got home that I realized the cancer was backâagain. I needed treatment immediately.â
âI couldnât digest the fact that life may go on for all those around me but I may not be there. The trick is to know how to keep going, without self-pity and without anger. You want to get away but you canât. You are the cancer and the cancer is you. You understand at that moment that this is what was decreed for you and there is no place to run. You have no choice but to think positively.â
Seventeen year old Amit Kalmanowitz began, âIt was in the middle of 6th grade when I noticed a strange lump in my armpit. At first they thought I had appendicitis but I heard the doctor say those wordsâthe words everyone is scared of.â So began the battle of overcoming the diseaseâthan three times in the course of just five years!
Ten-year-old Yonatan Dor will never forget his 8th birthday. âI had a hacking, dry cough,â he remembers. âI noticed a swollen gland in my neck and showed it to my mom. We went to the doctor and he sent us straight to the emergency room. I didnât really understand what was going on, but within a few hours, I found myself in a room, hooked up to an IV. It hurt a lot. My parents didnât want me to have to sleep with the hospital blankets, so they brought me my quilt from home, but I was all worked up. It turned out that I had leukemia. I was really angry that this was my birthday present. I was just a little kid and didnât really understand.â
Seven-year-old Ilai De Silvaâs mother related, âThe disease attacked him very aggressively, requiring a bone marrow transplant. There were 11 possible donors. A few days after we found out, I received an urgent call to come to the hospital. I drove all the way with tears blinding my eyes. I didnât know what to expect. On the way, I got another call from Ezer Mizion. The person on the other end sounded so happy. I just knew it was good newsâand it was. She was calling to inform me that they had a donor. Instantly, the tears were transformed into tears of happiness. A donor meant life for my little boy!â
Ilai said, âWhen we met the donor, my mom screamed âthank youâ at least 20 times and then started smothering her with kisses. I remember that we hugged. She was really nice.â Yonatanâs donor gave him chocolate. âBut more important, he gave me life. I donât think there is any greater gift in the world. Itâs so scary to think about what would be if he hadnât registered with Ezer Mizion,â Yonatan said.
Amit said they found his donor very quicklyâthree weeks after they started the search. âI remember how excited the doctor was. She asked me to give her a kiss. I almost did. The truth is that to this day, I didnât meet the donor. Itâs a major step. Itâs not like meeting someone to play basketball. I guess I am waiting for the right time, when Iâll feel ready.â
Binyamin joined the dialogue at this point and talked about the point when they discovered he had cancer. âMy illness began when I was two and a half-years-old. I had a high fever for a few days, and the doctor claimed it was a virus. Well, it wasnât a virus or the flu or any of the âgoodâ diseases. It turned out that I had leukemia. When I was seven, the disease came back. But now that I have a transplant, I hope itâs gone for good. Today, Iâm happy to say, I have gotten past the fear.â
When asked about the hardest moment during the treatments, Binyamin said, âYouâd be surprised. Youâd think I would be worried about dying but I guess thatâs too big a worry to handle, so I focused on a littler worry: how would I handle my hair falling out. They told me it might grow back differently. I hoped I would have straight hair, not curly. It didnât turn out that way.â
The foursome endured months of intensive treatments in the hospital which kept them out of school for long periods.
âAt first it was fantastic. I loved the fact that I didnât have to do any schoolwork. But as time went by, I began to miss it more and more,â admitted Ilai.
Kalmanowitz said he missed half of 6th grade, a third of 7th, almost all of 8th, and all of 11th grade. âIt was a crazy time. But, Iâm happy to say, I managed to make up all the work in a snap. The problem was more the social angle. A lot of friends used to come to visit, but still, at the end of the day, you are the one who is left to cope alone with the disease. It was like we could connect up to a point but then I was left aloneâthe kid with cancerâwhile they were leading ordinary lives.â
In spite of the boysâ grinning faces, it is clear that the trauma of the illness left its mark.
âYou find yourself paranoid, checking all the time for another lump, G-d forbid,â said Amit. âIn medical lingo, they talk about needing five years of complete recovery before a person is statistically out of the woods. In my case, the cancer came back two months before the five years were up. You canât imagine what it feels like to be so close to the finish line and have to start all over again. Itâs like some of those games where youâre close to winning then you draw a card that sends you sliding all the way back down. It was crazy!
Yonatan said that he feels like a true survivor. Binyamin said that he learned that he could get through things he would never have thought he could handle. Amit said he has a lot more confidence. â I was sure I was born into a life of pain and suffering, but somehow, I managed to get back on track. Today I can honestly say that I enjoy life every day anew. You wonât see me getting stuck on trivialities. I learned to enjoy and appreciate the small things.â
Yonaton added, âThere is a line in a song by Aviv GefenââItâs not enough to live, you have to be alive.â You could say that this summarizes everything I believe in today.â
Ilai requests that everyone register as a bone marrow donor, adding, âWeâre the lucky ones. There are a lot of kids who are still waiting. Iâve met some of them.â
Dr. Bracha Zisser, director of Ezer Mizionâs bone marrow registry said, âAll four boys were cancer patients who were given the gift of life thanks to compassionate people who donated to the registry.â For more info visit www.ezermizion.org.