From an email sent by Peter on April 8, 2009:
“Thank you for forwarding all the messages. I hand them all over to Mariangela. She appreciates a lot, to feel all the support and compassion.
A short report:
The flight was good. The main problem at the moment is the strong back ache, which is treated with morphine. This pain is caused by the expanding cells in the bones of the back. This causes pressure from the inside of the bones (this is not a correct medical explanation, it is how I understood it.) Therefore Mariangela gets regularly morphine. Unfortunately the quantity is not sufficient to avoid pain, because the amount can only be increased step by step. Eventually it will help her. Hopefully this night, because despite of being very tired, she can not sleep. On Wednesday, they will continue further exams to be 100% sure what type of leukaemia it is. On Thursday, it is planned to start the treatment. This should reduce or stop the back ache. The pain and the ongoing exams are intensives. Therefore she is longing for the treatment to start as soon as possible. Mariangela is very grateful for the messages sent to her, but for the moment she is not in a situation to answer them or to receive phone calls or visits. Thank you for your understanding.”
Liebe MariangelaEs freut mich, Dich auf diesem Wege erreichen zu können. Ich möchte Dir sagen, dass ich in Gedanken fest mit Dir verbunden bin. Ich denke täglich an Dich und lasse Dich herzlich grüssen. Hab Geduld, bitte, Glauben und vor allem Vertrauen, dass alles gut kommt. Du wirst sehen, es wird gut kommen. Deine Familie, jedoch vor allem Deine Kinder werden Dir viel viel Kraft geben, um all dies zu überstehen. Es ist ein langer, ja schmerzhafter Weg, aber es lohnt sich, ihn zu gehen… Sei herzlich umarmt – Irène M.