I wanted to take a minute to say that I am deeply grateful for all the support that I (and Denise) have received over the past few months. I have read every comment here, every e-mail, every post card that came via US post. I am so far behind in the showing of gratitude, that…

My poor tablet sits, alone on the window sill. Each day it seems to be saying, “remember me?” I honestly can’t remember ignoring my tablet and it’s portal to the online world the way I have in the past two weeks. It has literally collected dust. I picked it up today with the sole intent…

My stem cell transplant (SCT) was June 13th so now I am officially SCT + 17. I was discharged from the University of Washington almost 48 hours ago. I had a out-patient follow up visit yesterday. I am happy to say, as I was reminded during my visit yesterday, my course has been “uneventful.” In other…

I can now, fully appreciate those Multiple Myeloma patients who have chosen to die rather enter than this arduous process. I am coming out of ten days of the most suffering I’ve ever endured. It is like they have to take you to the edge of death, in order to save you. There members of…

In review, I had Melphalan (strong chemotherapy) on June 9-10. Then my stem cells were re infused on the 12th and 13th. Typically, this means that this week and next are the hardest. Everything is going according to the plan. That doesn’t make me feel any better as I feel bad, very bad. I’ve had…

I am day + 3 of the stem cell transplant. Things have gone relatively well, although I am now descending, as expected, into the most difficult time, where my old bone marrow is burning out and the new hasn’t started. This time of the deepest misery should last 10 days. My kidneys did take a…

First two bags of stem cells infused. Tomorrow, we will infuse two more. Things have gone well except I (typically) developed side effects from the melphanin, chemo. So, I’m feeling a little rough with the typicals of nausea, diarrhea and general feeling like chemo-shit. This may get a lot worse of the next week before…

Finished my two rounds of harsh chemo at the University of Washington Medical Center. Doing okay (the real side effects from it does not typically kick in for about 5 days). Had to have a blood transfusion during the middle of the night because my blood counts got so low. First time I’ve ever had…

I sat in the waiting room of the lab, surrounded by at least 15 other people, each of us waiting our turns, sitting in soft, brown chairs. They call the last names, one at a time. Being a cancer center, means that we were all there for the same reason, to check on some aspect…

This is a saying that is used in Christian circles. Its roots are in several Bible verses, mostly in the King James version of the Bible, where someone is told to “gird up their loins.” The most famous of these verses are in the book of Job, where Job is told several times by God…