Hope
29/08/13 05:56
I listen to a wide variety of different podcasts each week. Some of my favorites are on scientific topics. I am fascinated by advances in human learning and understanding of the nature of the universe. Yesterday as I was driving to and from a variety of errands I listened to a recent podcast of WNYC’s Radiolab that told the dramatic story of Jenna Giese who had contacted rabies. Her presenting symptoms were puzzling to doctors and her family did not make the connection between her illness and a small bite from a bat. The diagnosis came slowly and only after her condition was critical. After two weeks in induced coma, Jenna began to wake and now has survived. She has some lingering disabilities, but the fact that she is alive is an amazing story.
Until recently, physicians believed that rabies was 100% fatal once the disease progressed beyond the stage that can be treated with the vaccine. The treatment that Jenna received has now become known as the Milwaukee protocol and has been used in other rabies cases. While only about six of thirty people who have received the protocol have survived, that survival rate is a dramatic increase over what was previously thought possible. Before the protocol physicians provided comfort care and waited for death to occur.
The dynamics of the case are not fully understood. Researchers have found evidence of others who have survived the disease and the existence of human antibodies that seem to be capable of fighting off the disease. It is possible that Jenna Giese was one of a rare number of people who have the ability to survive the disease. It is very difficult to accumulate additional data about the disease and treatment protocols because even with the protocol, survival is rare.
The fact that there are survivors, however, brings new hope to the process of research. We humans naturally look for opportunities to beat the odds. The difference between a disease that is 100% fatal and one that is only 99.99% fatal is huge when it comes to human hope. Of course the hope is that we can discover ways to effectively treat the illness so that the survival rates increase. In the past, medical researchers have discovered effective treatments for other diseases that were once thought to be always fatal.
We don’t live forever. Even those who survive against great odds will someday die. But premature death from illness seems to us to be a deeper tragedy than death that occurs after a long life. The hope that we might find effective treatment for a dramatic illness like rabies is inspiring.
In the back of my mind as I was listening to the report of new hope in the treatement of rabies is a tragedy that came to our community on Monday when a 94-year-old woman died in a traffic accident. Her 95-year-old husband was driving and has been hospitalized with serious injuries. Also injured and hospitalizes is her 98-year old brother. The members of our congregation are all caught up in the tragedy because we know the victims. The twin sister of the woman who died has long been a member of our congregation. The pain of the loss is raw and deep for her as she adjusts to the new realities of her life.
We all knew that the people involved in the accident would someday die. Realistically, we know that those who live into their nineties have had long and meaningful lives and that the number of years that they will continue to live are few. Still the suddenness of death in an accident is shocking. It is another reminder that life is fragile and can come to its conclusion suddenly and without warning. And the pain of loss is not less when the person who dies is an elder.
I suppose that twins are aware that the odds are that one will die first and the other will survive to have to deal with the grief of loss. But there is no way to prepare for that loss. So the tragedy is overwhelming. The situation is grim.
But it is not hopeless.
The two persons who were in the van that struck the car were both treated and released from the hospital. They have the possibility of decades of meaningful life ahead of them. The community is rallying around the husband and brother as they undergo treatment in the hospital. The community is also supporting the surviving sister as she moves through the valley of grief.
Our faith reminds us that death, even tragic and sudden death, is not the end of the story. There is more than the crash of the vehicles to the stories of the lives of these people.
Even in the darkest night the sunrise is just beyond the horizon. We humans have the search for hope deeply engrained in our nature.
The difference between 100% fatal and 99.99% fatal is dramatic. Before we understand the complex medical processes of survival, we know that there are a few survivors of rabies. We can wait for the data and deeper understanding of what has occurred. Before we know the details of life after death, we can find hope in the midst of death because we understand that love never dies. The end that seems to us to be so final isn’t really the end at all.
The powerful 11th chapter of the letter to the Hebrews begins with “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” There are many things in this life that are not seen. The old adage, “seeing is believing” simply does not describe the way things are. We believe in things that are unseen. We discover hope when all seems hopeless.
The search is now on for others who have survived rabies. Many medical researchers believe that they can learn more from those who have survived than from studying those who have died. I’m with the researchers. I am not unaware that 99.99% are overwhelming odds. But knowing that the other .01% exists is sufficient to keep hope alive and move us on the road to fuller understanding.
Until recently, physicians believed that rabies was 100% fatal once the disease progressed beyond the stage that can be treated with the vaccine. The treatment that Jenna received has now become known as the Milwaukee protocol and has been used in other rabies cases. While only about six of thirty people who have received the protocol have survived, that survival rate is a dramatic increase over what was previously thought possible. Before the protocol physicians provided comfort care and waited for death to occur.
The dynamics of the case are not fully understood. Researchers have found evidence of others who have survived the disease and the existence of human antibodies that seem to be capable of fighting off the disease. It is possible that Jenna Giese was one of a rare number of people who have the ability to survive the disease. It is very difficult to accumulate additional data about the disease and treatment protocols because even with the protocol, survival is rare.
The fact that there are survivors, however, brings new hope to the process of research. We humans naturally look for opportunities to beat the odds. The difference between a disease that is 100% fatal and one that is only 99.99% fatal is huge when it comes to human hope. Of course the hope is that we can discover ways to effectively treat the illness so that the survival rates increase. In the past, medical researchers have discovered effective treatments for other diseases that were once thought to be always fatal.
We don’t live forever. Even those who survive against great odds will someday die. But premature death from illness seems to us to be a deeper tragedy than death that occurs after a long life. The hope that we might find effective treatment for a dramatic illness like rabies is inspiring.
In the back of my mind as I was listening to the report of new hope in the treatement of rabies is a tragedy that came to our community on Monday when a 94-year-old woman died in a traffic accident. Her 95-year-old husband was driving and has been hospitalized with serious injuries. Also injured and hospitalizes is her 98-year old brother. The members of our congregation are all caught up in the tragedy because we know the victims. The twin sister of the woman who died has long been a member of our congregation. The pain of the loss is raw and deep for her as she adjusts to the new realities of her life.
We all knew that the people involved in the accident would someday die. Realistically, we know that those who live into their nineties have had long and meaningful lives and that the number of years that they will continue to live are few. Still the suddenness of death in an accident is shocking. It is another reminder that life is fragile and can come to its conclusion suddenly and without warning. And the pain of loss is not less when the person who dies is an elder.
I suppose that twins are aware that the odds are that one will die first and the other will survive to have to deal with the grief of loss. But there is no way to prepare for that loss. So the tragedy is overwhelming. The situation is grim.
But it is not hopeless.
The two persons who were in the van that struck the car were both treated and released from the hospital. They have the possibility of decades of meaningful life ahead of them. The community is rallying around the husband and brother as they undergo treatment in the hospital. The community is also supporting the surviving sister as she moves through the valley of grief.
Our faith reminds us that death, even tragic and sudden death, is not the end of the story. There is more than the crash of the vehicles to the stories of the lives of these people.
Even in the darkest night the sunrise is just beyond the horizon. We humans have the search for hope deeply engrained in our nature.
The difference between 100% fatal and 99.99% fatal is dramatic. Before we understand the complex medical processes of survival, we know that there are a few survivors of rabies. We can wait for the data and deeper understanding of what has occurred. Before we know the details of life after death, we can find hope in the midst of death because we understand that love never dies. The end that seems to us to be so final isn’t really the end at all.
The powerful 11th chapter of the letter to the Hebrews begins with “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” There are many things in this life that are not seen. The old adage, “seeing is believing” simply does not describe the way things are. We believe in things that are unseen. We discover hope when all seems hopeless.
The search is now on for others who have survived rabies. Many medical researchers believe that they can learn more from those who have survived than from studying those who have died. I’m with the researchers. I am not unaware that 99.99% are overwhelming odds. But knowing that the other .01% exists is sufficient to keep hope alive and move us on the road to fuller understanding.