After a difficult night on Friday, Terrell Starks was able to stay awake long enough on Saturday afternoon to watch the movie "The Blind Side" with his family from his bed.
He was able to talk with them, and to express hope that he would feel better as he lives through the final stages of sickle cell disease. And I got to clasp his hand in mine, and know that he realized I was there.
This brief reprieve came after a night when his body was wracked by spasms thought to be caused by his medications combined with his organs gradually shutting down. "Honestly, I didn't think he would make it through the night," his mother Valicia said.
On Wednesday, his father Carl said, doctors and nurses gave him two days to live at most. "Now," he said, "we're at Saturday."
But though he seems better than last night, Carl can't help recalling how much better he looked weeks and months ago, when he could walk around the house, eat full meals and carry on long conversations with them.
"That's the disease progression at its utmost," Carl said. "It has gone full circle."
Laura Ungar has been the Courier-Journal's medical writer since 2004. Major projects have examined Kentucky's poor health, black lung disease, cervical cancer in India and the health insurance crisis among America's middle class. You can follow her series on 
Sam Upshaw, 46, of Louisville, has been a photographer with The Courier-Journal for 22 years. In addition to covering the community on a daily basis, he has visually documented Muhammad Ali, Kentucky's poor health, the University of Louisville's win at the Orange Bowl in Miami and Hurricane Ivan in Florida. Spending time with Terrell, he is inspired by the young man's strength and wisdom, which helps put life's little inconveniences in perspective.
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