First day at the new hospital ward, day like every other day . I wake up too late, no time to finish off my tea, not even trying to prepare breakfast.I flush my face with cold water to erase remains of sleep, dear sleep. I grab my backpack leaving home. Heading to Children's Hospital I check my watch 5 minutes since class begins, walk should take me up to 3, easy I have time.Medical report always last a bit longer. I'm in locker room, wearing doctor's gown and medical shoes (thats funny I've got more then 20 years and still need to change my boots like in primary school). Now its time to say hello to fellows "What do we have today? Hematology doesn't sound welcoming. I know i've seen a lot already, I dont feel patient's pain and I shouldn't take other's illnesses personally, thats the best way to deal with that. Although children and neoplasms aren't things you can brush past without any emotions. Plan is simple we got 15 minutes to get familiar with ward and then Proffesor starts discourse. Full of concerns I cross ward door. Department looks nice, all walls are painted. "Winnie-the-Pooh " is main theme, feels cosy. Going through I look inside hospital rooms, children are laying down in beds or staying near their parents. It's noisy, some kids are playing. Proffesional nursing approach and reactions of relatives give a feeling thats its not just "sore tummy ", but without ominous foreboding. Wierd ? Leukemia is a neoplasm it can cause death, I expected it differently. Time for lecture and time for story i would like to share with all of you. A history of progress in medicine:

Long night- a title of first chapter in Jürgen Thorwald book called "The Century of the Surgeon" defining a time before anesthetics. A night for Leucemia were years up to 1948. War ended, new time begins to flow, new discoveries and challenges occured. Medicine started soaring and one of the fathers of this succes was Sidney Farber main character of this story.

American doctor Sidney Farber as a young medic got interested in Lucy Wills surveillance. She was from England, but decided to start her medical practise abroad in Indie. Especially focusing on pregent woman, hussling with third world problems day after day. Her name became well known by dint of discovery she made in 1930. "Wills factor" made of yeast and livers, after administration to patients was alleviating anemia and leukopenia (reduction of white blood cells). Although its lack in ape's diet induce that symptoms."Wills factor" was nothing more then just well known folic acid.

This marvelous medicament became at it's peek of popularity in 40s, of course after purification as a drug accessible in pharmacy. Folic acid was "cure to all evil". That time it picked Farber's attention. As a young pediatric pathologist working in Boston, He had to pass by corridors full of Leucemia patients everyday. Leucemia was considered as an uncurable disease. Sick kids were only waiting till the end, there was no cure. It was a death sentence. He decided to give folid acid a try and have started medicating some patients. Unfortunatelly disease accelerated, it was killing children much faster then it should. This tragedy, however gave Farber a conclusion: "If folic acid expidiate disease it's lack can supress disease proggresion". Medical world started searching for it's antagonist*. First who achieved it was Yellapragada Subbarow receiving substance called aminopterin.

Drug was distrubing white cells metabolism, inhibiting uncontrolled growth. The new light started to smolder. Farber began new experiments picking terminally ill children. One of textualized patient was 8 year old boy with high fever (107°F). After four months of medication disease completly step aside. Boy's condition afterwards was described as "perfectly fine" Sidney Farber published his survey in 3 july 1948. Outcome was so hard to belive that the medical community wasn't ready to accept that discovery for months. Nowadays Sidney Farber is regarded as “ father of moder chemioteraphy”. Outcome was so hard to belive that the medical community wasn't ready to accept that discovery for months.

Nowadays Sidney Farber is regarded as “ father of moder chemioteraphy”.

It wasn't ideal drug, have a lots of side effects, and it efficiency was up to 60%. However that became a fundation for a further development.