Galia Sapir, 30, a cardiac intensive care unit nurse at the Schneider Medical Center, was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer in the lymphatic system two months after her brother was diagnosed with the same cancer. When we met her, she was expecting further treatment to see if the cancer has been suppressed.
"I wasn't preoccupied with the thought that I was going to die," said Galia. "What bothered me the most was how I would inform my parents that within two months after my brother Yuval was diagnosed with cancer, I was also diagnosed with the exact same type of cancer." We met her when she had two more chemo treatments, which would reveal whether the cancer had entered remission.
Galia was drawn to nursing following her time as a medic in the army. Immediately upon her release, she enrolled in nursing studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She completed her internship in the children's department at the Kaplan Medical Center and "I realized if I want to work in the best place for children, it's the Schneider Pediatrics Center, of course."
For more than two years Galia woke up every morning in anticipation of her next shift in intensive care. "From a professional point of view I prospered, I felt at my peak, I continued to train at the gym and practice yoga as I liked, eat healthy. At the same time, I went through a divorce and it took me time to heal my soul."
At this fragile stage in her life, she was informed that her beloved little brother, Yuval, was ill. "I was on duty when Yuval called me and complained that it was difficult for him to climb the stairs and that he was short of breath," she said. "Since I know him, know he is a hypochondriac, and that we both have a history of anxiety, I told him that it must be a pulled muscle because he works out a lot and plays basketball. I thought that was the end of the matter."
A few days later she received another phone call from Yuval, in which he told her again in a panic that he was unable to climb the stairs. "He told me he thought he had cancer and I told him to stop the nonsense, but his condition kept getting worse and he went to his family doctor."
Shortly, Yuval was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), is a cancer that starts in white blood cells called lymphocytes, which are part of the body’s immune system. Lymphoma starts in the body’s lymph system (also known as the lymphatic system).
The lymph system is part of the immune system, which helps fight infections and some other diseases. It also helps fluids move through the body. When the activity of the lymphatic system goes wrong and they multiply uncontrollably, they form a lump. In general, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is not genetic, but in the event that one of the family members has it, the chances of other family members also getting the disease increase.
From the moment Yuval was diagnosed with cancer, Galia devoted herself to her brother's care, asked to be relieved of her shifts at work, and lived on the Petach Tikva-Jerusalem line because Yuval was hospitalized in Hadassah. In the midst of this period, Galia also started to feel bad. At first she had a nagging cough and attributed it to a viral disease she contracted from one of the children in the ward, or to a psychosomatic phenomenon from all the stress in her life.
"The word cancer didn't even tickle the edge of my mind," she said. "My brother and I grew up in a house with a high awareness for health, we didn't have a candy drawer and we always ate healthy and nutritious food. From a young age, our parents encouraged us to exercise. I felt so healthy that I could not imagine having cancer, and one day I even told my parents: Let me take the lump that sits in Yuval's chest and put it on me.''
How can lightning strike twice?
Her words became a prophecy that unfortunately came true. "I continued with my routine when my symptoms got worse and worse. I felt a suffocation feeling and saw that the veins on both sides of my neck were very swollen. Later on, my face also swelled. I studied nursing and knew the symptoms, but I postponed dealing with it because I wanted to stand by my brother."
With the encouragement of her friends from from Schneider, who saw that she was postponing the tests, they said "What can happen, Galia, lightning doesn't strike twice." After she went through with the examination, her family doctor, who heard from her about the suspicious symptoms, chose to ignore them. Only after she was diagnosed did he call her and apologized.
In the meantime, Galia continued with her life, and one evening she went to a salsa dance club with her former partner. When they reached the dancefloor, Galia felt that she was going to collapse and they returned home. In the morning, Galia woke up feeling she was choking, and they both went to the emergency room in Ichilov. She was diagnosed with the same cancer as Yuval.
"When the doctor showed me the photo, my vision turned dark. I saw a huge lump but I denied reality. I argued with her, I didn't believe that the lump in the photo was in my chest. Only when I came to my senses did I think about how to tell my parents the second hard news that would befall on them in such a short time."
She was admitted to the intensive care unit, called her friends and aunts to come, and only then mustered up the courage to call her father and tell him about her condition. He hurried to get to her while her mother stayed with her brother at home. Galia assigned her aunt with the task of telling her sister, Galia's mother. Her mother fell apart while her brother Yuval was in complete shock. "I have a strong family that knows how to recuperate from crises, like lions. My parents immediately started fighting for their two children's lives," she said proudly.
Galia's disease was discovered at an aggressive stage, which raised the need to quickly start chemotherapy, even before she had time to freeze eggs. As an alternative, one of her ovaries was cut off for preservation to return to her body when the time came. Since she was diagnosed, Galia has gone on sick leave, and she longs for her job and her department at the Schneider Medical Center. She has two more chemo treatments ahead of her, at the end of which she will find whether the disease has been suppressed.
One day she received a message from Schneider about a photoshoot as part of a campaign to raise awareness for children with heart disease in collaboration with the fashion chain Factory 54. Despite her weakness, she overcame it and attended the photoshoot. "I was so excited when she saw me because I came to the photoshoot just for her," said Galia. "She hugged me so tightly that I couldn't tear her away from me. Her sincere love strengthened me more than anything else."
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