When I Was Four, My Mother Left Me Alone in a Church—Twenty Years Later She Returned Crying, “We Need You”

The hematopoietic stem cells in the graft were intended to engraft in her marrow and begin producing healthy blood and immune cells.

That would take time.

Days before anyone knew whether early engraftment signs were appearing.

Longer before anyone could talk confidently about recovery.

A transplant was not one dramatic afternoon.

It was the beginning of another dangerous medical phase.

PART 41 — I DO NOT GO UPSTAIRS THAT DAY

The source version of my life would have me demand a wheelchair and roll upstairs against medical advice.

I did not.