Do Not Hug

Today is getaway day. We expect to arrive home this afternoon. I am tired and bored. There’s little desire to read or write. I lost my strength to explore Seattle. Television’s meaningless braying insults my intelligence, in fact, our collective intelligence. You need only be stuck in front of it for a period of time [...]

Hold On Tight

Today is the fifth day since treatment. I’m done with the chemo and dex. Now, each morning, for several days, I meet with the team nurse. She gives me two injections of neupogen, or G-CSF. The acronym stands for granulocyte-colony stimulating factor hormone. It is a growth factor produced by a number of different tissues [...]

First Chemo

I’m sure that many of you reading this blog have experience with cancer as either a patient or family member, and the scenes we describe are old news. Let me just say that I have the greatest respect for all who travel this road. We see courage displayed on a daily basis at the Seattle [...]

The Hickman Catheter

Tuesday night I scrubbed my chest and neck and shoulders with a bacterial soap. I did the same thing Wednesday morning. This prepped me for a minor surgical procedure: the installation of a Hickman double lumen catheter. I now have a hockey puck sized dressing sitting on the right side of my chest. It has [...]

Tests & Classes

I thought I would update the page while John is enjoying his full-body MRI. These first two weeks of diagnostic testing have examined every organ and orifice and testify to SCCA’s attention to detail. So far John is passing all of his tests and is on track for the transplant procedure. We spent 6 hours [...]