Chapter 3 - Learning to Heal

One of the patients that Grant had literally fallen in love with was a beautiful little nine year old named Melissa. She was strickened with cancer and was going through all the different treatments that her young body could withstand but she didn't let it get her down. She was always bubbling over with laughter, talking with all the other children and so full of life at every visit. It was hard to keep her in her bed as she always ran to greet him when he visited. A big hug and a kiss on the cheek was given each time she greeted him. Grant knew next to nothing about the disease and how to fight it with his gift. She was so special that each time he visited the hospital he made certain that he visited Melissa and even introduced her to Jannie as his 'other' girlfriend.

During a visit in late July he didn't see her and asked about her to the nurse who was accompanying him.

She looked at him strangely before answering in a rather stilted voice, "Melissa isn't with us any more."

"I guess that means she was released, good for her. I'm glad to hear it."

"No Grant. She didn't go home, she's not with us any longer."

Standing very still and watching her it took a bit for what she was saying to sink in. "You are telling me that she... That beautiful little girl so full of life... died?" he asked with tears flowing down his cheeks.

Still watching him she nodded. "There was nothing else we could do. We tried every thing we knew and it still grew worse. That disease seem to thrive on the medication that we gave her, nothing worked and finally..." Tears were flowing down her cheeks as well. "We try not to let these kids get close to us, we try but they still do. Mel was a favorite of everyone who worked on this ward and we all were devastated when we finally lost her."

"But it was in remission! The medication you were giving her had the cancer in remission. She was getting better!"

Shaking her head she went on, "That's what we thought too. Sometimes it does that. For no reason that we know of it will stop spreading and stay where it's at for a while. It's like it's gathering its strength for the next phase. When it starts back it moves rapidly all over the body and there's nothing we can do except make their passing as comfortable for them as possible."

"NO! DAMMIT NO! That is NOT acceptable! There has to be something that can be done," he all but shouted as he turned away from the ward he was about to visit and rapidly walked back towards the nursing station.

When they were once more at the nurse's station he turned again to the nurse who had been escorting him. "Who is in charge of your Cancer Research here? A large hospital, a teaching hospital like this I know you have one. Who is in charge?"

"Dr. David Morgan."

"Could you call his office and see if I can get an appointment to speak with him today, please? I'll wait while you check."

Thirty minutes later he was being ushered into the office of Dr. Morgan. "Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, sir. I have a few questions for you if I may."

"Let me see if I can save you some time Mr. Avery. Paul Flynn is a friend of mine. He has told me of the wonderful work you have done in the wards from time to time. I take it that you are not happy with something that happened down there regarding one of my patients. Does that about cover it?"

"One of your patients stole my heart and from what the nurse told me the hearts of most of the staff. I don't even know her last name, her name was Melissa. When last I visited it was thought that the cancer was in remission and now I find out that not only was it not in remission, it came back stronger than ever and killed her."

"How many people do you have working on this disease? I don't mean all the support staff that handles the paperwork, the janitor's in that wing and so on but the actual number of staff researchers looking in the microscopes and working to stop this disease?"

"Twelve."

"Out of sixty people in this department only twelve of them actually do research work? How much does a budgeted position in research cost you?"

Speaking into his intercom the secretary soon brought Dr. Morgan in the new budget proposal they had working up. Looking over it for a moment he turned back to Grant.

"This is the budget for the current fiscal year. It just started the first of this month. Salaries and benefits for each of the researchers costs us roughly $178,000 a year."

"If you had more positions could you staff them? I mean staff them with qualified researchers?"

"I think we could. I think I could find more qualified people to hire for our research, why?"

"Dr. Morgan, I'm going to fund some positions. Having been around bean counters before I will do it this way. For every four research positions you have manned and staffed I will fund an additional one. You have 12 qualified researchers, I will fund positions for three more. If the number drops below that then you will lose a privately funded position. It will stay one position funded by me for each four that you fund. How long will it take you to find them and move them here?"

"That's over a HALF MILLION DOLLARS!" exclaimed the astounded man excitedly.

"To repeat myself, Dr. Morgan," he said smiling as he dug his cel phone out of his pocket and turned it on, "how long will it take you to find them and move them here?"

Punching a single button on his phone Grant waited for it to be answered. "Cal, Grant Avery here. How much money do we have in our account? I'm about to spend a LOT of money and need to know it's there."

He quickly went over the proposition he had made to Dr. Morgan. "What I need from you is to meet with him and the Admin staff here. Draw up something so the bean counters can't all of a sudden make everyone including the janitor into researchers. Hold on, I'll ask," he said into the phone.

"This is my attorney I have on the line, when would it be convenient for you and the Admin people to meet with him? Next week sometimes if possible."

Dr. David Morgan was sitting there in a complete daze. This young man who was not even old enough to vote was proposing to fund three positions in the research center and acted as if it were nothing special.

"Cal, he'll have to get back to you with that. He's in a daze right now." Laughing he then continued, "Even though it isn't the Lakota nation that is directly benefitting I think we can stretch a point as EVERYONE will benefit from this, including us. I'll talk with you when I get back. Sorry to call you at home on your day off, you take care and thanks a lot."

Hanging up and pocketing the phone he turned back to Dr. Morgan. Removing a card case from his pocket he handed over a business card for Calvin IronEagle. Excusing himself he left the good doctor still flabbergasted at the offer he had made. While several foundations had made donations to cancer research this was an individual, a very YOUNG individual, Dr. Morgan was not used to such happenings. Stopping with the secretary for a moment he also gave her one of Cal's business cards in case Dr. Morgan misplaced his. With a smile and a wink he wished her good day and left.

His week-end with Jannie was much more subdued than was the usual. They spent more time just holding each other and enjoying each others company than in going and doing. The frailties of life had just come crashing home in a manner neither of them had expected.

When their week-end was over and Grant had returned to school his direction had changed. Instead of studying the kidneys he spent more and more time exploring all the cancer research he could find. Where were ALL the cancer cells similar, where were they different. What made some move to the colon while others moved to the breasts? Was there some type of biological 'magnet' that drew the aberrant cells to certain sites? Could their internal 'compass' be shorted out or thrown off course so that they never found their intended site? Would a colon cancer cell thrive and grow if it were located in the breast? Could the body be trained or a manufactured organism be introduced that would act as 'traffic cops' to keep the infectious cancer cells from their intended locations? Keep them moving all over the body EXCEPT where they wanted to go until they died, were flushed from the body or were neutralized by some other means?

These and many other questions buzzed through his head as he studied all the material he could find. Another thing he did was to make the rounds of the different cancer wards. He examined patient after patient to learn the 'feel' of the different cancer cells. He found that at each location the cells had a slightly different 'sense' to it. The field surrounding the cancerous growths was just slightly different, just enough that he could feel it, could tell it during his examinations. Unfortunately it was not a difference that he could explain to others.

When asked about it his stock answer was to imagine trying to explain the color Blue to a blind man. He was looking at something they couldn't see and had no reference for. How could he describe what it looked like, what it felt like, what there was an over abundance of and what was lacking when they had nothing to compare it to?

To Dr. Morgan he suggested that if no study had been made by any of the other research groups then one should be made showing how all the cancer causing cells were alike and a separate one on how they were different. Surely by now the different cancer cells had been thoroughly mapped. Could their similarities be used against them? Could their differences be used against them? A lot of knowledge had been gained about cancer. A lot more was known about it now than ever before and some treatments were defeating certain types but a lot more needed to be known so that more and different treatments could be used to defeat more of the deadly disease.

Finally the summer trimester was over and Grant was going to spend some time at home. He wanted to stay away from illness and relax for a while. He needed to recharge his batteries so to speak from all he had been doing as baseball season was once more upon them and he was again helping the team. This time he was simply on-call for problems, not spending time in the dugout like last year.

Jannie was there when he arrived. Her school was not on the trimester system so she had a full three months off while he had three terms of 15 weeks with two to three weeks off between them. While this one was for two weeks he had arranged not to return until the winter term. This was his busiest time of the year as both his baseball team was playing and his football team was starting practice. From August through October he had both teams to worry about so that even without school he was kept busy. This was his money making time so he could afford the other things that he did, the scholarships, the cancer grants and so on but before that started he needed a break for himself.

The Smithson brothers owned a cabin on a mountain lake not terribly far from Grant's home. They had both invited him to use it when he wanted and he had made arrangements to take them up on it. They had both talked about the isolation and the tranquility of the place. They both used it for the same reason that Grant so dearly needed it, as a place to regroup and focus on the problems at hand and let the rest go until it could be properly dealt with. So he and Jannie were going there for two weeks to relax and unwind from all the things that had been happening to them.

Jim Avery drove an beat up old pickup truck that he absolutely loved. Other than the body and frame there were few original parts remaining. As things wore out they were replaced and upgraded. It had a small block V8 engine in it now instead of the original six cylinder. This gave it both more power and a higher cruising speed. He had a quick change rearend in it so he could cruise the highway and get much better gas milage than a regular pickup but in twenty minutes he could change the gear ratio to give him all the pulling or towing power he needed for any hauling he had to do. Outside it looked like hell as it was three different colors of primer but inside it was comfortable with updated seats and upholstery, air conditioning and ran like the proverbial Swiss watch.

Grant traded vehicles with his Dad for the trip to the lake as he wanted to take everything with them that they would need. The 'everything' included a 50 gallon drum of gasoline as there was no power lines and the cabin had a generator. Solar power heated the water, there were kerosine lanterns for light, they only needed electricity for the stove, TV and/or radio. The fridge was an old style icebox and the local store sold block ice to keep it cold. While not exactly roughing it they weren't staying in the lap of luxury either. They were both looking forward to the time away that they could spend together.

It took not quite three hours to drive up to the cabin and after taking everything inside Grant pulled the truck over to the tank and using the portable pump that was there he transferred the gasoline into the storage tank they had. He then pulled the truck between two trees so it would stay shaded and went inside to help Jannie.

Less than an hour later they had the food, clothing and other things put away, the windows open to air out the cabin and were ready to look around outside. It was only a short walk to the lakeshore from the cabin. While rather long the lake wasn't very wide as they could see the other side from where they were. Fishing was supposed to be fair, the water wasn't too cold for swimming and there weren't a lot of people.