Before we get started, just a quick bit of housekeeping. A few readers of this blog requested a way (other than RSS) to subscribe to new posts. If you click the Subscribe link above, you can get posts delivered automatically to your email.

It’s been a while since my last update. For one, our beloved golden doodle, Jade, had serious complications from a surgery she had in April. She’s well again now—our miracle girl!—and we are so relieved. I also found a way to start writing fiction again for the first time in more than two and a half years. Depending on how everything plays out, I hope to have a new novel published this summer, and its sequel not far behind.

But in terms of my Stem Cell Transplant, a tremendous amount has happened over the last eight weeks or so as well. I have been the subject of quite a few medical tests to rule out as many potential complications that could arise during the transplant as possible. Those tests have, in the end, all gone as well as I could have hoped for. My heart and lungs are in good shape, I’ve grown out of an allergy thatcould’ve proven problematic, and I have been deemed fit to proceed.

I do have one more test, scheduled for tomorrow. It’s an ultrasound to measure the size of my spleen. (That’s such a funny word, “spleen”; I can’t quite hear it without translating it into an absurd Monty Python voice). It seems my spleen is enlarged, which is very common for those with MDS. As it was explained to me, if it is above a certain size, a step will be added to the transplant procedure to compensate for that.

My sister appears set to be my donor. She turned out to be a perfect match for me. I wish she didn’t have to go through this with me, but I’m so incredibly grateful at the same time. She’s an amazing human being. She and my brother-in-law are uprooting their lives (and the lives of their two adorable dogs) on the other side of the country to stay near me and my wife as the transplant and the initial stages of my recovery proceed. I am so lucky to have an incredible family across the board.

Although final scheduling is pending, the transplant is likely to begin in mid June or so. It’s scary, but also a relief to see some light at the end of the tunnel. My recovery will be long—about a year in total—with three distinct phases. The SCT phase will be about 30 days in the hospital. For two months after that, I will be discharged but required to stay in close proximity to the medical center, which means I won’t get to go home for three months or so. Finally, the last nine months consist of routine checkups and procedures to make sure the covery is on track.

My hope is to continue updating this blog as everything unfolds.

Thank you all for your love and support.