Qilu Evening News Qilu one-point reporter Wang Xiaoying compiled
A month ago, Arya Nickjoy, who lives in northeastern Massachusetts, died, leaving her 3-year-old son with one last gift — an upcoming children's book. Previously, during the treatment, he had written a book to his son and read it to him on his hospital bed.
Nick Joy with his son Elias before his death
In the second half of 2018, Nick Joy always felt a terrible headache, but he didn't pay much attention to it, thinking that it was too stressful at work and that his son was sick and needed to be taken care of. Nick Joy is a pediatrician who works in the hospital's neonatal ward and often has to work night shifts. At the time, his 1-year-old son, Elias, was hospitalized with an infection, and Nick Joy was under pressure from both work and family.
One day in November 2018, Nick Joy went home from a shift because the headache was so severe, but his wife, Neomi, noticed that Nick Joy was talking a bit slurred. "He said that when he called a nurse in the hospital, he suddenly couldn't speak clearly, and I suddenly felt something was wrong, so he had to go for a check-up."
Neomi, who is also a doctor, met Nick Joy at school in 2012, married in 2016 and gave birth to a son, Ilias, the following year. The scan revealed that there was a "suspicious lump" in Nick Joy's brain, and both of the doctors instantly understood what it meant. "But none of us said it out loud," said Neomi, "no amount of medical training would have prepared us both for the news, and we were completely confused." ”
Group photo of Nick Joy's family
Nick Joy was diagnosed with grade IV cerebellar medulloblastoma, a malignancy that is dangerous and requires surgery as soon as possible. The couple decided to protect their son Elias and pretend that everything was normal. "We did our best to stay normal, smile at him, play with him, and he had no idea what was going on."
On November 9, 2018, the day before his 27th birthday, Nick Joy underwent surgery that lasted up to 7 hours. Recovery after surgery was very difficult, and he was hospitalized for three months, and he had to learn to walk, speak, eat and write again. Because the tumor is removed, it is difficult to walk in balance. At this time, Ilias, who was still ill, began to ask his mother, "Where has Daddy gone?" Neomi said: "I feel so bad seeing my husband's appearance. He said he just wanted to get back to me and Ilias and get back to his job. He loves his job. ”
At the beginning of 2019, Nick Joy was finally discharged from the hospital, and he made a decision: write a children's book for his son. During that time, he was doing four rounds of chemotherapy while writing books. The story is about a magical adventure with lions and dinosaurs, and he wants to explain to Ilias in this form that his father is ill.
Nick Joy underwent painful treatment at the hospital.
"Nick Joy knew that one day we had to tell Elias what cancer was, and he wanted to make it easier." Naomi also thought it was a good idea, and she encouraged her husband, saying that his son would like it. "Nick Joy is imaginative and his description is full of innocence. I think that's why he's a pediatrician, he always gets along well with kids. ”
After writing well, after reaching out to "thousands of publishers", last September, Nick Joy's book was finally published, and he also took the book and read it to his son. "The picture of him reading to his son is really emotional." Neomi said that although Ilias was not very good at speaking at the time, he would also learn dinosaur barking when he heard the plot describe the roar of dinosaurs.
In November 2019, Nick Joy returned to work after returning to health, and all the suffering seemed to be over, however, the unfortunate thing happened 4 months later - the cancer returned. In March and July last year, Nick Joy had two surgeries and couldn't hide from 3-year-old Elias because he had seen his dad vomiting in his hospital bed and drowsy all day. "He cared a lot about his father, but at this age, he couldn't understand that some diseases couldn't be cured. He always thought that he would recover with just one spoonful of medicine. ”
Elias was reading a book that his father had written to him.
Last December, the cancer spread to Nick Joy's spine, and surgery didn't help, and doctors had to resort to conservative treatment. Nick Joy spent his last Christmas with his family, and although he was already very weak, he was happy to see his son happily unraveling gifts. On February 8 of this year, Nick Joy, who was only 30 years old, died of a deteriorating condition, leaving his son with his last gift: a second book, Eddie and the Last Dodo on Earth. The book, Neomi says, talks about the importance of family, "and you have to always believe that no matter what happens, your family will always be with you."
It's also a consolation for Neomi: "After losing my husband, I shifted my energy to publishing his books so I was able to stick with it. I wouldn't be too sad to think that the book was all about what Nick Joy wanted to say. "At present, Ilias does not know that there is such a book, and on the day of publication, he will have a big surprise.
The family is still actively involved in fundraising for disease treatment, "Now I can't do anything for Nick Joy, but we can raise awareness of the disease and help more people follow up." 」 ”
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