Round 6, Part 1 Done

I apologize for the lack of updates on the medical front as often on the blog — I have been spending a lot of my time *living* rather than writing as much.

This is a really short entry, because I think I’m developing a slight onset of mucositis once again with high-dosage chemotherapy from Lt. General Methotrexate. Unfortunately, most of this needs to be self-resolved and it’s my intuition from carefully attempting to “listen” to my body that there’s a lot of discomfort in this area. I wouldn’t say necessarily pain, but just annoying discomfort and difficulty swallowing whole foods. Oh well, it’s okay, it’s honestly not that bad and I would “take” this any day over some other side effects. Everything becomes highly relative these days. So some action I took against mucositis: medical advice sought from physicians? Check! Looking up health articles on how to tackle this? Check! Plenty of fluids to stay hydrated? Check! Being good to myself? Check!

I’m also experiencing a lot of writing blocks and all I have is the insatiable desire to read a ton of books. Thanks to friends, I have a huge reading list built up. Lately, one of my favorite magazine publications is the Stanford Social Innovation Review… so there you have it for a glimpse on what I do during my free time —  I am a huge nerd. I really enjoy reading TIME magazine too. I’m very selective about the television I watch and prescribe to four shows: The Office, Modern Family, Glee and Scrubs. I prefer natural medicine in the following forms over pills any day: humor, laughter, music, meditation, yoga, etc.

So here’s a brief overview of the game plan: We’d really like to pursue chemotherapy to rescue me first and if you’ve taken statistics before, I would lean towards a high confidence interval. I’m slowly counting down to the finish line, because I am going to be done very soon. We’re talking less than 2 months time roughly. Once we conduct the bone marrow biopsy, if signs of leukemia continue to linger then we’ll head to Plan B: a bone marrow transplant with a successful match and if not then Plan C: a cord blood transplant with a successful match. Plans always change though with the hospital team … we’re constantly revising, adapting, making room for flexibility. And when I mean team I would say not just my physicians, but everyone: physical therapy, nutrition … even the janitorial staff needs to be acknowledged for the work they do. (I only highlight them because I think they are often under appreciated…)

Sorry, oh dear, there isn’t a constant flow or thought process pattern to this entry except some random commentary. I am resting as much as I can to build up the stamina and strength to continue following through on the physical front. It truly is a marathon.

More than anything, I’m sort of humbled and at peace with a lot that has been going on in my life. It’s very nice of a lot of people to admire this fight and believe I am courageous, but I honestly think that if you were put in the same shoes, you’d be very strong too.