Growing up with a sibling comes with the typical bickering that you would expect siblings to have. Fighting over stupid things, arguing, just being siblings. Over the years my relationship with my sister has evolved dramatically. My sister is an amazing woman, and strong. Does she have her faults? Yes. As do I. Nobody is perfect by any measure. I remember growing up with my sister. She hated me, I hated her. Blah blah blah. But then, she hit college. A void was created, and thus the evolution of our sibling relationship changed. I was sad to see her go. I was the only one left in the house. Things were awkwardly quiet. Nobody to argue with. It was pure nothingness.
I started to visit my sister while she was studying at college in Mankato Minnesota (once I got my license). It felt different. We both started to understand our roles as siblings. I guess you could say our mother raised us well. She instilled a lot of values within us, which show very brightly today. Mom would always have a saying, or a quip that would help us learn from.
Fast forwarding to 2012, our common bond was very strong. We both had to bare witness to something that nobody should ever have to go through, the death of your best friend. Mom fought a valiant battle with lung cancer. Diagnosed in 2010, she did several rounds of chemo, radiation. But in the end. Cancer won. Fuck cancer.
When I had returned back to Chicago after mom’s funeral I was crushed. I became a recluse. Both at work, home, friends, and family. A few days after my return, I started getting some concerning text messages from my sister. She was having trouble walking. Motor functions weren’t working. It progressively got worse within the week.
She was hospitalized to the point of couldn’t move. Doctors scrambled, yet one of my sisters friends was doing research for her at the time, and found a condition known as (GBS) Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Doctors immediately started treating her with funny enough IVIg. Over several days, she received 7-8 doses of IVIg and she started to regain function again. Having the ability to move, and start being mobile again with the aid of a wheelchair. My sister was in rehab for quite awhile. She had to learn to walk again. It’s funny how you find commonality within a sibling rivalry. GBS is no joke. It’s where your peripheral nervous system comes under attack from your immune system. Your body thinks that your motor functions are basically an infection that needs to be removed.
The beginning of 2014, my sister texted me “I have breast cancer”. Fuck here comes that word again. Cancer. However, it was caught very quickly, and she was barely even stage 1 at the time. As our bond as siblings grew closer, I told her to just yard sale the goods. It’s not worth having it come back. My sister underwent a double mastectomy. She had genetic testing done at the time for BRCA, which came back negative. After her surgery that was it. No chemo or radiation needed. “They got it all”.
Then 2017 comes. My sister texts me again. “It’s come back”. She found a lump in her right armpit. Back to oncology she goes. Which by the way her oncologist is an AMAZING woman. Very smart, and supportive. My sister undergoes removal of the lump, the pathology that returned back was breast tissue. Which is odd, how can breast tissue be in the armpit? From the first surgery, they must not have gotten all of the cancerous tissues out. Then my sister made the decision to go through both chemo, and radiation.
I was scared. That fucking word coming back. Cancer.
In 2018, when dad had his stint in the hospital, that’s when I saw my sister with no hair. No weight. Tiny. But what scared me the most, was she looked exactly like our mother, it was surreal. My sister later that year transitioned into radiation and completed her treatments. Cancer free. Fuck me.
Where you find commonality within a sibling rivalry can happen in the strangest of ways. My sister’s GBS wasn’t something that you just randomly get. It is a genetic thing. You can be predisposed of certain things due to basically just bad genes.
Well, it looks like we both hit the same lottery, but we both won different prizes, she presented with GBS, my condition is CVID (Common Variable Immunodeficiency Disorder). The common thing that is between both our conditions is genetics.
Specifically TNFRSF13B. The TNFRSF13B gene provides instructions for making a protein called TACI. The TACI protein is found on the surface of immune system cells called B cells. These specialized white blood cells help protect the body against infection from foreign invaders such as bacteria and viruses. When B cells mature, they produce special proteins called antibodies (also known as immunoglobulins).
Antibodies attach to specific foreign invaders, marking them for destruction. Through interactions with other proteins, TACI promotes cell signaling, plays a role in B cell survival and maturation, and is involved in the production of antibodies.
There are over 200 PID’s (Primary Immunodeficiency Disorders), an it seems that this gene mutation plays a huge role in it. I’ve spent nights just staying up and researching the gene, immunity, scholarly literature, no not WebMD. I was blown away by the commonality that this gene plays with the immune system. I won’t go into an endless ramble about my research (I’ll spare you the read).
Here’s hoping the IVIg gets me back right again. My turn I guess. But like I said, its strange how you find a commonality within a sibling rivalry.
Denver, CO, USA
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