Holy Shit

I just finished watching PBS's new amazing new documentry, "A Lion in the House", which follows kids with cancer. That sounds pretty much as depressing as it could get, but I heard a commentator on NPR describe it as "something you would not look forward to watching but absolutely should see."

Most of the kids are more than old enough to understand that they are fighting for their lives, but their coping skills, understandably, are disarmingly childlike. It is painful, uplifting, frustrating, gut-wrenching, and inspiring. The documentary approaches the issue in a personal and touching way, without being dramatic. At one point, Tim, the witty, optimistic but self-aware kid that quickly become one of my favorites (if there is such a thing when it comes to kids with cancer) is told by his uncomfortable doctor that his options are between taking the medicine that may make him better for a little while or just stopping the treatment. Later, we watch his entire medical team struggle to support him and his family, against social, economical, cultural and personal challenges. It captures the best and worst of life and, on a smaller but definitely vivid scale, of medicine. And while they make me want to shrink away from that absolute promise of future pain, the stories of these kid's lives, and deaths, gives me a little bit more strength with which to deal with those future challenges.