My Heart Goes Out to You

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Douglas Maurer， a 15 years old boy， had been feeling bad for days. His temperature ranged between 103 and 105 degrees， and he had severe flu-like symptoms. Finally his mother， Donna， took him to Children's Hospital at Washington University Medical Centre in St. Louis. Blood tests revealed leukemia①.

During the next 48 hours， Douglas endured blood transfusions， spinal and bone marrow tests  and  chemotherapy②.   He   developed

pneumonia③. For ten days his mother stayed in his hospital room. One night Douglas， afraid， asked her to sleep in his bed by his side. Through her tears， she had to tell him she couldn't; I.V.  tubes were attached to his body， the bed was small， and there was no room.

The doctors were frank， telling Douglas that for the next three years he would have to undergo chemotherapy. He would go bald and probably gain weight. Learning this， Douglas become even more discouraged; although he was told that there was a good chance of remission④， he was smart enough to know that leukemia can be fatal.

On the day Douglas was admitted， his first time in a hospital， he had opened his eyes， looked around his room and said to his mother，“I thought you get flowers when you're in the hospital.” Hearing this， an aunt called Brix

我很同情你

15歲的道格拉斯·莫勒， 这些天一直身体不舒服。他的体温到了103至105华氏度，并有严重的类似感冒的症状。最后他的妈妈唐娜把他带到了圣路易斯华盛顿大学医学中心的儿童医院。验血的结果是白血病。

接下来的48小时，道格拉斯经受了输血、骨髓检查和化疗。 他又得了肺炎。 十天来他妈妈一直呆在医院的病房里。一天晚上， 道格拉斯感到害怕，让妈妈在身边陪他睡一觉。她不得不用眼泪告诉他， 她不能;I.V.管子连在他的身体上，床很小，没有地方。

医生很直率地告诉道格拉斯，以后的三年他必须忍受化疗。他的头会变秃，体重可能也会增加。知道这些后，道格拉斯变得更灰心了。尽管人们告诉他病痛会减轻，但聪明的他知道白血病是致命的。

那天道格拉斯住院了，这是他第一次住院，他睁开眼，环视了一下病房，对他妈妈说：“我认为住院的时候会有人送花。”听到这句话，一位姨妈打电话向圣路易斯的布里克斯花店订花。售货员的声音很高，听起来挺年轻的。姨妈觉得一个没有经验的职员可能不知道订花的重要意义。

所以姨妈说：“我希望花能特别迷人。它是送给我十几岁得了白血病的侄子的。”

Notes： ①leukemia /lu??ki?mI?/ n. 白血病 ②chemotherapy /?ki?m???er?pI/ n. 化疗 ③pneumonia

/nju??m??nI?/ n. 肺炎 ④remission /rI?mI?n/ n. （病痛等）缓解