Leukemia is one of the most terrifying diseases out there, for many reasons. The prognosis is different for every patient, though generally very poor -- it swept off one of my old teachers at the age of 25 within weeks of his diagnosis, while another friend made it through okay but only after vicious rounds of chemotherapy. An immediate family member has been dealing with a related hematological cancer, and although it has been more treatable than most forms of leukemia, anything blood-related is hard to isolate and treat. Another reason it's so terrifying is that the causes are unknown. There is so much research that needs to be done into this illness. Many of the world's other diseases at least have a clear cause and treatment regimen, whereas this one seems to have remained elusive.
I wish I wasn't rating this. Maybe one good effect would be that people would consider giving to one of
the leukemia support societies.