Jump from the Burning Building?

As I attempt to process the NIH recommendation for me to be transplanted, this analogy appeared on The New York Times website. Theresa Brown, RN posts a blog entitled, "When Cancer Treatment Might Kill You". After reading this, you might better understand the dilemma I am facing.


“I compare his choice with deciding whether to jump from a burning building. Staying in the building means certain death. But if you jump, you might break both legs and take months to heal or sustain injuries serious enough that the complications eventually kill you. But you would be alive when you hit the ground. Maybe it will only buy you a few more rough years. But you might just walk away and live."

“When it comes down to cancer patients making the choice, a few decide to stay in the building. They opt for the quicker, surer death of cancer. Others, for different reasons, don’t have the option of a transplant. But even knowing the risks, I’m pretty sure I would make the leap, endure the free-fall, feel the impact, and hope to be one of the lucky ones who survives to walk back into the life that is waiting for me.”