The Next Day

I met the man. He looked like he is in his early thirties. He was quite polite, rather outgoing and looked like a fun and intelligent person. He's one of those guys you can see bringing his kids to the park on the weekends, helping with homework on weeknights. It was just so hard for me to accept that this guy who looks like the stereotypical responsible, loving and fun father who's only but thirty-some has one dying son and another who is counting his days since his bone marrow transplant and seeing how many more he can go.

The younger boy, who couldn't receive a bone marrow transplant, had been taking a medicine called Lorenzo's Oil, which is to slow or stop the disease from progressing. It's must like drinking cold oil. There are lots of foods they can't eat while taking this oil. They need to be kept on a very low-fat diet. Food is usually boiled, grilled or dry roasted. The father said since they've started on the oil earlier this year, it hasn't helped at all. Recently, they decided to stop making their son take the oil. He says now he just wants his son to be comfortable and to enjoy the rest of his life, being with his family, his friends and to be able to eat what the other kids are eating.