The Last Spring

Chapter five: Blossom

Hope is reborn again, the trip to the Chinese hospital becomes necessary.

"Oh God, heal my dear father, I am asking for your kindness on my father. Oh, dear God, make pain less harmful on him" Prayed Amel.

"Sofiane, there is a Chinese hospital that is experiencing a new treatment on the ALS patients; it is called the Stem Cell Therapy. They are supportive cells that have the ability to stop the degeneration of the motor neurons" Said Amel. "Wait!! What?!The what?!" questioned Sofiane.

"Let me finish, the Stem Cells Therapy. It says here that this is the future for the ALS patients. Though it is still on its early stages of experience, but they have big hopes on its efficiency on the recovery of the persons who have ALS disease. We need to take Dad there. This is another hope for him, and for us too" explained Amel.

While I was surfing on internet, I haphazardly found an article that was speaking about the stem cell therapy; a new cure for many diseases, and the ALS was amongst them.

Its effectiveness was not yet confirmed, and the doctors needed new people for tests to carry on their research. I did not care where a line in the article that said, "there is a need for tests". I directly went to the next paragraph where it says, "This may be the cure for many diseases, and amongst them is the ALS disease".

"Let me try to speak with him then" declared Sofiane with confidence.

"Go, and be persuasive, please" said Amel full of hopes.

Who would have thought that Dad would completely refuse the idea of undergoing another treatment, he simply wouldn't take the idea and refused to listen to it. The psychological effect of the disease affected him negatively. My mother also tried to convince him several times but to no vain.

Seeing him suffering with a degrading health situation pushed me to give it a try too. I could not just cross my hands and watch him die slowly. What I did differently was that I prepared my speech, my arguments and armed myself with faith and God's infinite resourcefulness. I took more than ten minutes explaining every single point about the experiences that they so far conducted with the Stem Cells Therapy. The phases of the treatment, the optimistic vibes of the researchers as well as doctors about this new treatment. Dad was repulsive and refused to accept at first, even to listen to me, but knowing how stubborn I am, after all I am his daughter, as I was explaining it to him; he started paying attention to me and reacted less to my insisting. Though he told me that he won't listen to what I was about to tell him, but I kept speaking. The second he said yes, I jumped on the opportunity to tell everybody and asked Sofiane to start all the necessary procedures for our departure. I was diving into huge happiness; I never talked the subject over with him again, and asked everyone to do the same.

The only problem was the amount of money needed for the medical journey. However, everyone who heard the good news insisted on contributing financially. It was such a benediction, God's benediction. To know that a lot of persons that we know, family members, or friends; were ready to give their savings for my father, for the person who, according to many confessions; was helping them at a certain point in their lives when they were in a desperate need for it.

Days were passing by, and me and Sofiane started the visa procedures after contacting the hospital and resembled all the necessary documents.

Everybody we knew hoped that everything would be better. A new changing point, thank God, shined over our house. We prayed for God every day; we thanked him for the new venture. I was swimming in extreme happiness. My Dad's health situation is not yet out of danger, but knowing that God is with us, and that we can do something for my Dad, a miracle; was in fact the happiest feeling ever.