This hermeneutic study analyzes a case of one family who chose to undergo two hematopoietic stem cell transplants for two of their four children affected with sickle cell disease with full knowledge of the risks involved with curative therapy. This case had a life-changing impact on the family and on the medical practice of the physician who worked with them. As a result of this family, international treatment of early transplant for SCD has adopted different protocols. In this study, interviewing (...) the mother in the family, the physician, and the transplant nurse, and analyzing the data hermeneutically brings us to a deeper understanding of how change occurs and its profound effect on lives and medical treatment. (shrink)

This article is an introduction to the subsequent one by Jodi Latremouille's "My Treasured Relation." It demonstrates that hermeneutic work is always about the application of particular cases to universals, demanding of universals to listen to the difference that the case portends.