leukemiasurvivor.comOn leukemia, chemotherapy, and moving on with the rest of your life.Almost Home- March 29, 2004 More counts return in the days that follow. Platelets are back. Polys creep higher. Hematocrit is up. Everything is up. It couldn't be anything other than sudden, but it's still surprising, and it lightens everybody's mood. In a matter of days, we've moved from dark, ominous discussions about searching for an emergency bone marrow donation -- maybe even accepting a partial 46 match because it was looking more and more likely that my marrow would never recover on it's own -- to laying out the..http://www.leukemiasurvivor.com/3_induction/almost_home.html It's Just A Blip- March 25, 2004 It's just a blip. The tiniest of tiny blips on the chart, but there is a number, now, where for weeks there had been none. I'm all a million questions suddenly, wide awake, reaching for the controls at the side of my bed, fumbling for the little button that's like a triangle pointing up. I'd like to say that I'm sitting up in bed, like a bolt, but I'm still too tired for that. The bed adjusts. It's motorized, adjustable, and it helps me get kind of vertical without having to expend any...http://www.leukemiasurvivor.com/3_induction/its_just_a_blip.html They're Back!- March 22, 2004 Rough hands are shaking me awake. Gentle hands, roughly. One of Cindy's slight but strong hands grabs my left wrist, the other pushes repeatedly against my left shoulder. I don't know how long she's been here. Wake up! Wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up! She's obviously back from the weekend, and I'm happy to see her, but I'm sleepy, too. There is no bright morning light trying to push through my curtains. The sun isn't even up yet; Cindy starts work early. Too early. "Wake up,...http://www.leukemiasurvivor.com/3_induction/theyre_back.html Drifting- March 18, 2004 Saturday and Sunday pass without incident. These things are the same. There is a sameness in my days, a kind of perpetual deja vu, this magnetic pull from my bed that makes my limbs so heavy, my body not strong enough to want to bother with resistance. Let the heavy lids close. Let the sleep surround. Drugs arrive in the morning: benadryl to go along with the fresh blood hanging next to my bed. Are Mom and Paul here today or Dad and Jane Who is with me today I am sleepy. Sleepy sleep tempts..http://www.leukemiasurvivor.com/3_induction/drifting.html PSA- March 15, 2004 Some words from my mom, helping jog my memory about who helped donate blood and platelets during the early days:You probably don't know this but while (Laura and I donated platelets) Paul donated whole blood to the blood bank in your name to replenish what you used of their supply. He did not match you so couldn't give directly to you but gave to the blood bank as many times a month as they allowed for the entire time you were in the hospital I think it was a couple of times a month. Also I...http://www.leukemiasurvivor.com/miscellany/psa.html Easter Weekend- March 14, 2004 Cindy will be gone for the weekend. It's Easter, and she and her husband, Chris, have made some plans to spend some time with their families in Cashmere, this tiny town up along some narrow Cascade Mountain highway or another, not known for much of anything other than being the home of Aplets & Cotlets. She knows how much more worse my fevers get when I don't see her at all during the day, although we can never explain exactly WHY it happens. It just does. I'm surprised to see her on Saturday..http://www.leukemiasurvivor.com/3_induction/easter_weekend.html |