Father’s love: Diary of his son's fight against cancer

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48-year-old Song Jieshu never thought a happy childhood diary about his beloved baby boy would turn into a heartbreaking journal of his battle with cancer.

The twist of fate all happened three years ago, when the feelings of joy to have another son were still lingering – 17-month-old Xiaofeng was diagnosed with leukemia.

Yangtse Evening News Photo

The Jiangsu Province dad began to take notes of when Xiaofeng took medicine and what he ate for his meals everyday. Song said his journal was even more detailed than the professional record from the medical practitioners, just so he could provide basic information for them to help with further treatment and medication.

The details of donations from Song’s college friends and kind people from all across the country also can be found in the diary.

CFP Photo

“Baby, I just got 28,503 yuan of donations from some twenty classmates of my college. It’s such a big amount of money!” Song wrote in a piece back in the year of 2014. “The love and blessings of them will bring courage and strength for us to face the challenge and fight against the disease together.”

So far, Song has written 1,000 entries with almost one million words. First they are handwritten in a notebook, and then he types them on a computer to publish on his social media accounts.

CFP Photo

Song said the reason to keep the diary is for his son to read in the future that how suffering as well as fortunate when growing up with cancer but receiving helps from others. He said he never considered the diary as an exit to let off the negative emotions or meltdowns.

Song once ran into a family member of another patient, who’s been so absent-minded and indifferent to food or water, that he suggested “try to find something else to do as it already happened.” That family member started following Song’s diary post every day and now they always share their experiences.

Xiaofeng with his mom/CFP Photo

“As long as the diary’s updating, it’s a sign that my son’s still alive,” said Song. “I’ll keep on writing.”

The best treatment in Xiaofeng’s case would be stem-cell transplants, but there was no match among the family. Luckily, however, his condition has been significantly controlled based on the latest result from the hospital, according to local media.

The battle against cancer might be lengthy, but no matter what the father's love will last longer.