In an earlier journal I lamented the fact that I wasn't out covering international conflict, probably as much for the verbal storytelling potential, as the visual.

This story is not about a war on another continent. It's about a slient one being fought here...and in just about every corner of the world.

One of my assignments last week was to photograph a woman and her 3 1/2 year old son, both of whom have leukemia. "Swallowing hard" is how I would describe the feeling of walking into their lives to take their picture.

Three year old Joey Costello, suffered a seizure last year after being diagnosed with leukemia 1 1/2 years ago. He has trouble standing up by himself. © 1998 Susan B. Markisz/The Riverdale Press

Gail O'Donnell shows a picture of three year old Joey, before he was diagnosed with leukemia, when he was able to walk by himself and ride around on a kid's toy. Following a seizure last year, Joey can't stand up by himself. Gail was recently diagnosed with a different form of leukemia and will undergo a bone marrow transplant within the next 2 weeks." © 1998 Susan B. Markisz/The Riverdale Press

Gail O'Donnell and her son, 3 year old Joey Costello are both fighting leukemia. Joey was diagnosed a year and a half ago and needs a bone marrow transplant before the age of five if he is to survive. But he isn't strong enough to have one now. His mother Gail is having a bone marrow transplant in the next two weeks." © 1998 Susan B. Markisz/The Riverdale Press

Three year old Joey Costello, smiles at his mom, Gail, who will be going into the hospital soon for a bone marrow transplant. She will be hospitalized for at least 2 months." © 1998 Susan B. Markisz/The Riverdale Press

I asked Gail if I could post this to the internet. A fund has been set up for Gail to help meet her expenses. Mostly, she wants to receive mail. She'll be hospitalized for over 2 months and then homebound for another 6 months to a year. If anyone out there has some encouraging thoughts and wants to send them her way, write to:

On a personal note, having had cancer doesn't make it easier to make a photograph like this. In fact, if anything, it makes it harder to be objective. But then, cancer isn't objective. It's like a war, the war on the home front.

Susan B. Markisz,

July 18, 1998

Gail O'Donnell and her son, 3 year old Joey, both suffering from leukemia, will both have to endure a lengthy separation when Gail is hospitalized for a bone marrow transplant." (c) 1998 Susan B. Markisz/The Riverdale Press

Every once in awhile we work on stories and we don't get to know the outcome, either because we're not paying attention, or because the paper doesn't do a follow up.

Last July on this website I wrote about an assignment I had had, to photograph a mother and her young son, both of whom were battling leukemia. Both Gail O'Donnell and her 3 year old son Joey needed bone marrow transplants in order to survive. Joey had been diagnosed a year and a half ago and he needed to build up strength before doctors could perform the transplant. But Gail needed a transplant within a matter of weeks because her condition had worsened.

I have called Gail's home several times over the last few months to inquire about her condition but no one returned my calls and I only assumed the worst.

I am happy to report however, that I received a Christmas card from Gail's mother today at the paper with the following note: "Thank you for the beautiful pictures of my grandson and daughter Gail. She has had the transplant and is at home recuperating. We are all very hopeful and grateful. Her mother, Maureen Browne."

Thankfully, there is reason for celebration at year's end for the O'Donnell family, even if tentative. As for me, the note was more than a "thank you." It reminded me of the power and importance of the images we make.

Susan B. Markisz
December 28, 1998