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💜 : Finding the Road “Forever is comprised of nows."—Emily Dickinson As I sit down here to write this initial post–a summary of which will appear on the About page–the …
💜 : Something to Say “And like all good men who swim too well, it takes all that I have just to cry for help”–George Michael, To Be Forgiven It’s hard to talk–or write …
💜 : Diagnosis “So I just kept breathing, my friends, Waiting for some god to choose. Saying ‘This ain’t the day that it ends, ‘Cause there’s no white light, and …
💜 : I Believe in Love “Churches and dictators, politics and papers, Everything crumbles, sooner or later, But love. I believe in love."–Elton John, Believe A week before …
💜 : History Rhymes The following story has been published elsewhere over the years, although this version has been adapted for this blog and now includes my reflections …
💜 : Living with Anemia and Other Stories “Let me tell you a secret, Put it in your heart and keep it, Something that I want you to know. Do something for me Listen to my simple story, And …
💜 : One Small Step… I recently read the novel Never Flinch by Stephen King. There’s a character who undergoes an extraction of a molar for more or less the same reason …
💜 : If You Want to Help Well, the day I have put off for about eighteen months has arrived. Our dear friend, Maren, is helping organize this GoFundMe to cover the increasing …
💜 : Lucky The tooth I wrote about previously is gone. Long live the thirteenth upper molar! I was lucky. The tooth came out easily, I had no complications, and …
💜 : The Transplant Is in Sight 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 …
💜 : It’s Starting to Feel Real We’re less than three weeks from my admission to the hospital for my stem cell transplant. I spent much of the day yesterday at the medical center, …
💜 : The Best Laid Plans It’s July 1st, and today would have been the day I was admitted to the hospital. Things have changed a little. The transplant has been delayed by at …
💜 : Day -10: Countdown to the Transplant For a Stem Cell Transplant, they call the day you receive your new stem cells—the “transplant” day—day 0. The days of preparation, chemo, radiation, …
💜 : Day -9: The Number 19 Today was a day of planning, preparing, and spending time with family. (It was also the day to have a delicious vanilla milkshake.) It was the final …
💜 : Day -8: Endure This morning, I had my pre-admission appointment. Instead of seeing my official transplant doctor—he’s on vacation for a few days—I saw someone new …
💜 : Day -7: Can You Feel the Love… “Can you feel the love tonight? It is where we are It’s enough for this wide-eyed wanderer That we’ve got this far”—Elton John/Tim Rice, Can You Feel …
💜 : Day -6: Everything, Everywhere, All At Once Wait… Did I think yesterday was a long day? “Hold my beer,” said Day -6. So…yeah. There’s one issue that took up a portion of the day that I’m not …
💜 : Day -5: Pizza Is Pizza Today was indeed a little quieter, although that’s because it started at 4:15 AM and the worst of everything was done by noon. The morning started …
💜 : Day -4: in which nurses are nerds and pianos are played Today I got my coffee and my chemo pretty early in the day. So far, I seem to have avoided the worst of the effects of the chemo, but I’m told that is …
💜 : Day -3: Honey, I Blew Up My Stem Cells Today, I got through my fourth day of chemo. One more day of chemo to go. It was a quiet day. My father-in-law visited for a while for the first time …
💜 : Day -2: Honey, I Shrunk My Spleen Yeah. I reused a joke from the same silly ‘80s comedy series. It’s just too appropriate not to. Wow. There’s finally a moment to catch my breath. So …
💜 : Day -1: Gifts Twenty years ago today, my wife Molly and I “met”. I use quotes because “meeting” consisted of opening a chat window in the old (and long defunct) MSN …
💜 : Day 0: Transplant Day (Miracle in Progress) So the day finally arrived after more than two years of waiting. It’s been a long road. It was a busy day. Doctors and nurses came in and out to see …
💜 : Day +1: The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul So some of the side effects of the chemo caught up with me today—and there will be more to follow. The first half or so of the day I spent feeling …
💜 : Day +2: The Letter K Today’s episode of SCT Street was brought to you by the letter K! The symbol for potassium is K for some inexplicable reason. Mine happens to be a tad …
💜 : Day +3: “Thank you” and “I’m sorry” The nurses here, on the whole, have been really great. They are attentive, empathetic, and thorough. But I’ve been thinking about the strange …
💜 : Day +4: Reclining I don’t have a lot to say tonight. I spent significant portions of the day asleep or so foggy with fatigue that it was hard to even think. This, they …
💜 : Day +5: The Lost Day Even if I had something really interesting to write about tonight, I wouldn’t have the energy to get it down. I slept today, and that is all. I’ve …
💜 : Days +6–+8: The Low Point “Look into the eyes of any patient man, Whether they be amber, green, or blue… There’s a piece of God staring back at you.”—George Michael, Patience …