I came to do a very brief update, as people are asking, and am stunned by the massacre in El Paso. I think of how hard I’ve struggled to stay alive this year, and here are these poor people who were going to Walmart to simply to buy school supplies and were gunned down, lives ended, because of the color of their skin and nationality. This country is in need of a great and sincere repentance from the hate-talkers and bigots, especially those in high places.
With that said, I have been home for 17 days already. I wish I could say that things were going hunky-dory, but honestly, it has been a struggle. I was feeling a lot better (with 70% of my energy) when I first got home. I walked 5 miles a day for the first few days, but now . . . I couldn’t mud-wrestle a 200-year-old milquetoast. I am still trying to walk two miles a day and kayak two miles. Several have offered to be my walking partner and I appreciate that. But, I’ve also had a long list of other troublesome symptoms that is still blunting any attempts at some quality of life.
Now, if there is a silver-lining (and it is too early to tell), it is the fact that I was on very high dose steroids for three weeks (which can cause a lot of the symptoms) and now I’m on a prolonged taper. I had to do that because I developed complications from my stem cell transplant of Host Vs Graft Syndrome (which can be life-threatening without the steroids). Tomorrow, I move down to 10 MG of prednisone (after starting at 75 MG 5 weeks ago) for 5 days, then 5 MG for 5 days and then I’m off. So, both the earlier high dose can cause some of the problems I’m having as can the tapering process. We will not know until I’m off or even after I’ve been off for several weeks. That is my hope and prayer that I will feel better then.
I have strict orders to avoid crowds, especially indoor crowds, until December because of the frailty of my immune system. Tomorrow, however, my church is having an outdoor service and I will attempt to go. About half the days I’m too ill to leave the house until the afternoon, so we will see what happens in the morning. Even in the outdoor space, I can’t have physical contact (such as shaking hands or hugs) with other people, so that will be awkward. I hope to see some of you tomorrow and do a lot of waving 
. Mike
J. Michael Jones 
8 responses to “Update: 8/3/20”
Glad you shared how you’re doing as then we know what to pray for. When I think of what you walk and what you row, that sounds like a lot more strength than you give yourself credit for. Of course , when it’s yourself, you are naturally wanting more! Less than 20 days being out of the hospital with huge treatments and a lot of side effects seems like you are progressing greatly compared to the earlier days of this nasty disease. Praying that your strength returns at the end of your prednisone and you begin again taking strides towards building lots of pure clean cells, and yes, definitely, this nation needs a purifying of souls of all the hatred and murderous acts toward one another. What happened to the Christian nation this country was founded on??? Removing God out of everything let’s the evil loose and rampant! God help us, should be America’s cry!!!🙏🙏🙏🙏. Enjoy your church service today Mike and draw some more strength from other believers.
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Good luck. Thinking of you often and sending positive thoughts.
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The El Paso tragedy is so sad..how many more lives lost before something is attempted to be done about these senseless violent crimes. I don’t understand where all the hatred is coming from. Three lives lost in California Mother, daughter and Aunt who were out at the beach celebrating the Aunt’s victory in beating breast cancer. Not gun related but another reminder of how fragile life is and just another question of ‘why’ in my mind.
We need to vote someone in as president who truly cares about ALL Americans as well as ALL people! Someone who doesn’t incite violence and someone who isn’t a complete ass..insert Trump here!! That alone obviously won’t solve the violence and mental illness that is causing these mass shootings but it’s a start in rebuilding everything our country use to stand for. We need to eliminate all the corruption. Sounds so daunting but steps need to be taken. We also need to get rid of the labels Republican, Democrat, Independent and be allowed to vote for whomever we choose based on their own merit. There is hatred and name calling just among these labels..regardless of who you are as a human being.
I’m sorry you are still experiencing so many bad days and lack of sleep Mike. I’m praying for continued improvement and then many years of enjoyable life and much more writing for your future. I hope you were able to get out today for church and wave from afar to all! Keep pushing forward…
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I think you are right about the Ghost writer thing. At the end of the audio book, it said “Author James Patterson with James O. Born.” I just finished a great novel, Train Dreams, yesterday. It is a work of fiction written so well, it is like reading poetry.
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I will look into Train Dreams, thank you!
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Morning drive-time radio remarked that 15 seconds after the bullets stopped flying in El Paso and/or Dayton, “It All Got Politicized”.
Same drive-time has said before that “It’s coming to just another statistic: X number of people died in Y number of mass shootings this week; Ho Hum…’.
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You are always witty. I hope you are still writing and giving the ferrets more room to grow.
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It was good to talk with you this morning and that you and Denise cane to the outdoor service. Look forward to your daily writings. Nick and Genie Parrott
Sent from my iPhone
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