Jost a bunch of stuff...
After excessive battles with Comcast, I finally got my e-mail back - but not without a price! I don't have any e-mails from October 13th through the 19th. According to them the account did not even exist even though I have been using it for over 4 years! Go figure!
I'm now all set to make my third "First Connection" call although I think that I have mentioned it before.
Most importantly, the ball is now rolling toward the second anniversary of my diagnosis. Two years ago we were on our cruise whereby my perceived breathing problems convinced everyone but me that I should go see a doctor upon my return home. Pretty good advice since I have come to learn that if I had not I probably would not have survived another two months. As I said before, once they diagnose the disease, without treatment you only have weeks to live. Quite a bullet to dodge!
Our den floor went in today. Tomorrow starts the molding although I have three hours of meetings to attend to first. Everything is basically cut and ready to go so I am not assuming that it will take long. I have to get the TV hooked up so that I can finish the room while I'm watching the football game on Sunday.
Out to dinner with friends tonight. We haven't seen them for two months so it was nice to touch base.
Not much else that I can think of other than Wednesday is my next eye doctor visit. I that it will be interesting to see what, if any, progress has been made and what lies in store for me.
Meanwhile, my eyes seem to be holding their own - not yet back to normal and no longer at their worst...
Bob
October 14, 2010 12:15 AM
What a wonderful, emotional day!
Not for me, but for those 33 miners in Chile, their families and friends, the country of Chile, and the entire globe. To see God perform another miracle in such a fashion that it brought the entire world together to follow this most human of human interest stories. To have us all put aside our lives in order to focus on the plight of these men and their steadfast resolve to live and to return to us once again. Yes, they are forever changed but so are we and we are all so much better for it.
It appears to make my situation seem miniscule in comparison, But until these miners became trapped they literally lived undergraound lives of which most of us are unaware. That holds true for all those suffering from cancer as well as they seek treatment and only suffer from its side effects if they are fortunate. It is figuratively an underground world of activity that none of you should ever wish to be a part of. It will never capture the attention of the world as this incident because it is an individual story for each of us that we live out daily as we go about our daily lives.
But let me tell you the story of the man that I called on Sunday as part of my "First Connection" volunteer program. They are having problems controlling his red blood cell counts so they have told him that he is not allowed to do anything for the next NINE MONTHS. The seventy days that the miners spent underground is still 30 short of the 100 days of house arrest that each of us transplant recipients must undrgo. Is it easier? - Of course it is! But, we still don't know if we'll survive (there is a 5% death rate). Like the miners, we pray to accept God's will for us and hope for the best - always keeping a positive attitude and always striving to survive.
This may sound like it, but it is not sour grapes. For I have been truly moved by this marvelous story and seeing the joy on the faces of the miners, their families, and their rescuers is just overwhelming. The President of Chile seems like such a wonderful, compassionate man that it brought tears to my eyes. Well, I tried. I'm still niot so sure that I am able to make tears as yet.
Today, again, I have been asked to make a third "First Connection" telephone call. Many people never get asked - but I've been tapped three times in the past few weeks. I enjoy the opportunity to help where I can but being limited to empathizing and serving as a sounding board seems so superficial to me. Yet, it's all that we can do. I cannot offer advice - I'm no doctor nor am I familiar with their cases. I can only hope that God has me provide them with something to take away from our conversations.
I've gone on much too long...
Bob
Not for me, but for those 33 miners in Chile, their families and friends, the country of Chile, and the entire globe. To see God perform another miracle in such a fashion that it brought the entire world together to follow this most human of human interest stories. To have us all put aside our lives in order to focus on the plight of these men and their steadfast resolve to live and to return to us once again. Yes, they are forever changed but so are we and we are all so much better for it.
It appears to make my situation seem miniscule in comparison, But until these miners became trapped they literally lived undergraound lives of which most of us are unaware. That holds true for all those suffering from cancer as well as they seek treatment and only suffer from its side effects if they are fortunate. It is figuratively an underground world of activity that none of you should ever wish to be a part of. It will never capture the attention of the world as this incident because it is an individual story for each of us that we live out daily as we go about our daily lives.
But let me tell you the story of the man that I called on Sunday as part of my "First Connection" volunteer program. They are having problems controlling his red blood cell counts so they have told him that he is not allowed to do anything for the next NINE MONTHS. The seventy days that the miners spent underground is still 30 short of the 100 days of house arrest that each of us transplant recipients must undrgo. Is it easier? - Of course it is! But, we still don't know if we'll survive (there is a 5% death rate). Like the miners, we pray to accept God's will for us and hope for the best - always keeping a positive attitude and always striving to survive.
This may sound like it, but it is not sour grapes. For I have been truly moved by this marvelous story and seeing the joy on the faces of the miners, their families, and their rescuers is just overwhelming. The President of Chile seems like such a wonderful, compassionate man that it brought tears to my eyes. Well, I tried. I'm still niot so sure that I am able to make tears as yet.
Today, again, I have been asked to make a third "First Connection" telephone call. Many people never get asked - but I've been tapped three times in the past few weeks. I enjoy the opportunity to help where I can but being limited to empathizing and serving as a sounding board seems so superficial to me. Yet, it's all that we can do. I cannot offer advice - I'm no doctor nor am I familiar with their cases. I can only hope that God has me provide them with something to take away from our conversations.
I've gone on much too long...
Bob
October 11, 2010 10:45 PM
A reunion!
Tonight I went to my leukemia support group meeting. The guest speaker was the first doctor that I had who diagnosed my disease. She had not seen me since the beginning of last year so she was delighted to see that I was doing so well.
A couple of things emerged from her talk. One was that I was lucky enough to be one of the 7,000 to 9,000 people who contract AML each year. I can't win the lottery but I can buck the odds to get leukemia! Another interesting comment was that no one really knows why people get the disease!
As for getting a bone marrow transplant, back in 1990 the death rate was 40% while today it has decreased to 5% - we've come a long way!
She talked about drug trials of which I have not had any and about the difference between lymphoma and leukemia and what it means regarding the type of transplant that you can have - autologous for lymphoma(you) and allogenic for leukemia(someone else) because lymphoma does not affaect the blood like leukemia does. Another interesting tidbit is that lyphoma and leukemia are the most curable cancers. So I guess that I can consider myself "lucky" in that regard.
It was a little more fun in the afternoon when I played bridge with some people at our church. My cards were so good that we outscored them by 4320 to 470. That's almost unheard of! But, when you have all the cards all the time, such a result is to be expected.
Not much else going on as we await the arrival of the flooring for our den which is to be installed on Monday.
Tomorrow is bridge(couples this time) and dinner at a friend's house.
Life is good...
Bob
Tonight I went to my leukemia support group meeting. The guest speaker was the first doctor that I had who diagnosed my disease. She had not seen me since the beginning of last year so she was delighted to see that I was doing so well.
A couple of things emerged from her talk. One was that I was lucky enough to be one of the 7,000 to 9,000 people who contract AML each year. I can't win the lottery but I can buck the odds to get leukemia! Another interesting comment was that no one really knows why people get the disease!
As for getting a bone marrow transplant, back in 1990 the death rate was 40% while today it has decreased to 5% - we've come a long way!
She talked about drug trials of which I have not had any and about the difference between lymphoma and leukemia and what it means regarding the type of transplant that you can have - autologous for lymphoma(you) and allogenic for leukemia(someone else) because lymphoma does not affaect the blood like leukemia does. Another interesting tidbit is that lyphoma and leukemia are the most curable cancers. So I guess that I can consider myself "lucky" in that regard.
It was a little more fun in the afternoon when I played bridge with some people at our church. My cards were so good that we outscored them by 4320 to 470. That's almost unheard of! But, when you have all the cards all the time, such a result is to be expected.
Not much else going on as we await the arrival of the flooring for our den which is to be installed on Monday.
Tomorrow is bridge(couples this time) and dinner at a friend's house.
Life is good...
Bob
October 10, 2010 11:35 PM
The eyes have it!
Today, my eyes have probably felt the best that they have for quite a while. Progress seems to be underway and it feels great. I also made my second "First Connection" call to an AMLpatient right here in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He's having a tougher time than man me but the real issue is that he's been told to stay home for the next nine months and do nothing. It's driving him crazy! I can fully understand that. But, unfortunately, ther's not much that you can suggest for him to d to occupy his time. If all you do are diversions - jigsaw puzzles, work on your hobby, etc., then they cease to be diversions and you don't enjoy doing them anymore.
I suppose that I should comment at this time to anyone who might be trying to e-mail me that my e-mail mysteriously went down on Wednesday and no one has been able to fix it yet. Not that I get a lot of e-mails, but it does hurt not to have it. I'll work on it tomorrow in the morning but I'm busy in the afternoon and evening so it will have to wait until Tuesday for a second shot if it neeeds it.
We've been looking for projects for me and it appears that, if we can order doors for our kitchen cabinets off the web, right after the holidays I'll be replacing all of the doors. It's a lot cheaper to order off the web and it wil be work(but still fun) to drill all the holes for the hinges and knobs and it will keep me busy for a while longer. We've been itching to do this for quite awhile but had never found the right place to go. Now I think we've got it. We ordered a small door on Saturday and if it arives to our liking then we'll go for it.
So, we never stop looking to improve this place and I'm still busy with a raft full of activities.
My mother-in-law is now here for a few days as well and we all went out for some super Chinese food tonight.
Life continues to be good...
Bob
Today, my eyes have probably felt the best that they have for quite a while. Progress seems to be underway and it feels great. I also made my second "First Connection" call to an AMLpatient right here in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He's having a tougher time than man me but the real issue is that he's been told to stay home for the next nine months and do nothing. It's driving him crazy! I can fully understand that. But, unfortunately, ther's not much that you can suggest for him to d to occupy his time. If all you do are diversions - jigsaw puzzles, work on your hobby, etc., then they cease to be diversions and you don't enjoy doing them anymore.
I suppose that I should comment at this time to anyone who might be trying to e-mail me that my e-mail mysteriously went down on Wednesday and no one has been able to fix it yet. Not that I get a lot of e-mails, but it does hurt not to have it. I'll work on it tomorrow in the morning but I'm busy in the afternoon and evening so it will have to wait until Tuesday for a second shot if it neeeds it.
We've been looking for projects for me and it appears that, if we can order doors for our kitchen cabinets off the web, right after the holidays I'll be replacing all of the doors. It's a lot cheaper to order off the web and it wil be work(but still fun) to drill all the holes for the hinges and knobs and it will keep me busy for a while longer. We've been itching to do this for quite awhile but had never found the right place to go. Now I think we've got it. We ordered a small door on Saturday and if it arives to our liking then we'll go for it.
So, we never stop looking to improve this place and I'm still busy with a raft full of activities.
My mother-in-law is now here for a few days as well and we all went out for some super Chinese food tonight.
Life continues to be good...
Bob
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