cancer patient – Ezer Mizion

L’chaim! To Life

hourglass — A cancer patient cannot wait!

He was eight years old. Third grade is a time for small boys to learn multiplication tables in the classroom and how to pitch a ball in the schoolyard. But Naftali* had learned neither of these. Instead he learned about IV’s and scary hospital equipment, about hair falling out and about roommates who ‘disappeared’ never to return. Naftali had cancer. The medical staff called his parents in for a meeting. There was only one recourse left: a bone marrow transplant. It would save his life but a genetic match would have to be found soon or… it may be too late. Jews will genetically match other Jews and so Ezer Mizion was contacted. Ezer Mizion’s registry with close to a million potential donors is the largest Jewish registry in the world, but, for Naftali, it was not large enough. There was no match. Continue reading L’chaim! To Life

Rx: Smiles

pr L2l upsherin cake 1 — Raising the spirits to partner with the body in curing cancer

No adoring Grandma and Grandpa took a turn to snip off a bit of his sweet, little curls. There was no hair to sweep up from the floor. No peyos (sidelocks) adorned his little face. But there was a yarmulke and tzitzis and there was joy. The family celebrated his upsherin (celebration of first haircut) , his first milestone, with joy, with hope and with prayer that there would be many more milestones to celebrate in the future. Continue reading Rx: Smiles

It’s For Real

pr L2L for real 2 — Cancer Support: soothing the pain

All he wanted was to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah with Ima…. But his mother is a cancer patient. It’s bad. The top doctors have given up on finding her a cure… They say it’s just a matter of days. And the boy? He didn’t want to be an orphan before his Bar Mitzvah! His only wish: to have his mother at his side on his Big Day. A wish so small… but so out of reach.

💔 A wish that tears the heart to pieces. A heart that can only be made whole again by someone who has within him a giant heart – big enough to encompass a young boy’s pain.

♥ Moishy B, an Ezer Mizion volunteer is such a man whose heart beats with irrepressible, boundless chessed. Work schedules, personal errands all fell by the wayside as he devoted the day to bringing the boy to the homes of gedolei Yisrael (Jewish leaders) to get their blessing in honor of the simchah. Touching the greatness of our gedolim, being soothed by their words of compassion helped heal a heart torn asunder.

📖 Together, they traveled to Jerusalem to daven (pray) at the Kotel and even had a tour of the Kotel Tunnels, specially produced by another Ezer Mizion volunteer, our Man of Action – Moishy H.

🎁 And to top things off (after all, he’s only a young boy)… a bag of gifts and perks organized by Ezer Mizion’s warm-hearted Mrs. M.

Ezer Mizion – we’re there when it hurts. It’s not just a slogan. It’s for real!

pr L2L for real 1 — Cancer Support: soothing the pain

A Note Meant for You, Our Dear Friends and Supporters

This post is my platform to scream it out to the entire world – THANK YOU!

On the way home from Tel Hashomer this morning, just when I had finished saying, “Thank you,” for all the great mitzvahs that this organization does for us, a song started playing on the radio that could not have been more symbolic for me:

Hallelujah, forever,

Hallelujah – everyone will sing.

With one, lone word,

The heart is full of tons of gratitude.

It, too, shouts – what a wonderful world!

Hallelujah – with the song.

Hallelujah – for each day that dawns

Hallelujah – for what was,

And for what wasn’t yet – Hallelujah.”

Until quite recently, Ezer Mizion was “just another organization,” as far as I was concerned.

I didn’t really know what they did.

I linked up with them via a co-worker who understood that I was coming from a place of deep frustration.

I explained to them that my father is a cancer patient whose condition is not good and, unfortunately, he cannot get around now. When he needs to go to Tel Hashomer, he has no other means of transportation other than a so very costly ambulance.

On the other end of the line was a nice fellow named Shmulik, with huge patience and a pleasant demeanor. In an instant, my father was added to the Ezer Mizion Transportation Roster and only a quick phone call was needed to bring the nicest, kindliest, most respectful drivers each time transportation was needed. Cost: $0

Even when Abba was hospitalized and we forgot to cancel the transport.

Even when we forget to update some detail.

Even when we canceled at the last minute because our head isn’t on straight due to everything that’s going on.

Even when they had to explain everything to me 80 times over.

Even when it means having to send an ambulance especially for us because we’re not on the route,

Even then, they responded with full understanding, giving us such a good feeling.

So thank you, dear, special people on the other end of the line and behind the steering wheel. Thank you to Shmulik, Danny, and the wonderful girls at the ambulance call-in center and the message reception center. Thank you for being the entire world for people like us, who lose their way a little at the beginning.

Thank you!