better today!

After getting a much needed night of sleep (as much as you can get in a hospital!), I am feeling better today and have had no fever since yesterday morning. The docs determined today that I have human metapneumovirus, which is in the same family as RSV, and can cause bronchitis and/or pneumonia. There is now disagreement as to whether I actually have (or had?) pneumonia, but with my sinus symptoms and the cough, they needed to check things out. My reading on this particular virus says that almost all infants have it at some point, most without symptoms, and others with cold or flu-like symptoms, and their body fights it off naturally. Not so for me, who is still building a functioning immune system. Well, as they say, Rome wasn't built in a day, either, and the docs have told me it would be at least a full year before I had even a minimally functioning immune system. So, we will pray for no fever tonight, and then they should let me out of "Hotel Hitchcock" tomorrow - on Lisa's birthday. They have already asked us, if I am released tomorrow to stay in Claremont until Monday to make sure nothing else pops up. I'll gladly do it if it means being out of here!

what a way to start the New Year!

I sit and write tonight from the friendly confines of Dartmouth...again. After celebrating Christmas with Lisa's family on Monday, I came here for a regularly scheduled doctor's visit yesterday, and with a cough that had not gotten better in 2 weeks, they ordered a chest x-ray, which revealed a case of double pneumonia (both lungs). I was somewhat surprised because I had not had any fevers and felt pretty good, but all of that changed after getting checked in here yesterday afternoon. I spiked a high fever last night and vomited, and slept very little all night. I felt a little better earlier today, but am now feeling like the fever is returning, and I have been unable to eat anything all day. Please pray that the docs can figure out what's going on, treat it properly, and get me out of here quickly.

a long overdue update

Has it really been 6 weeks since my last update? Wow! God is good and continues to give healing and steadily increasing endurance. I had a hiccup with a bad sinus infection a few weeks ago, which went through the family, but we have all come out the other side of that, and all are pretty healthy right now. My energy has been increasing, and was even able to be outside and put up Christmas lights on the house this weekend, for which I am so grateful - our house was the last one on the road to be "in the dark"! I put up our (fake) tree tonight, and we'll finish decorating it tomorrow - no real tre this year as I am not yet 1 full year out from my transplant, and live trees carry bring a potential source of fungal infection into the living quarters, so we will do the plastic thing this year. I am working pretty much full time now, except for the time I am taking off for medical appointments, which are becoming less frequent the closer we get to one year out (Feb. 29th - approahing quickly!) I realized this morning just before our Sunday church service began that today is the 3rd anniversary of my diagnosis - God is so good, and He has brought me so far I just can't say enough about this journey I've been on.
We enjoyed a good time in NJ with my family for Thanksgiving. It was different without Mom - we went out to eat, among other things - but it was good to be together. Our van broke down on the way south (A/C compressor seized up just 1 exit before the Tappan Zee Bridge!), so we rented a vehicle to complete the trip and picked up our van on the way back north. We stopped in NH on the way home for appts. at Dartmouth this past Tue., where I got all clear reports to each of the tests and scans I had done. I will visit again on Dec. 31, as we'll be down in NH tha week to celebrate Christmas with Lisa's folks earlier that week.
What a great time of year to be getting better and "becoming more alive" - this season when we remember the gift of God's Son becoming one of us and bringing peace to the world. Peace to "those who were far away, and to those who were near" (Eph. 2:17), and this peace is ours through our acceptance of the gift of Hos Son. Peace with God, peace with others, and peace with ourselves - all ours because God chose to condescend to us, become like us, live a perfect life, and die in our place. What a wonderful God - what a wonderful Gospel - what a wonderful opportunity to share this message with so many this time of year.
Pray for me as I train the next 2 weeks for a new role as a volunteer with the Amerian Cancer Society as a "patient navigator" - a friend for those who are just beginning their own unexpected journey with cancer. Pray that I will be able to "be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the Reason for the hope that I have", and that my words and actions would show that Hope. It's my hope and prayer that I can use this volunteer opportunity to share the Gospel with many who are confused and hopeless, and realize how numbered their days on this earth really are (they are for every one of us - cancer or not, but sometimes we're forced to admit it!). Keep in touch, and use the opportunities God puts in your path to share the purpose of His gift to you this Christmas season!

no news is good news!

Since it's now been a month since I updated, just thought I'd let you all know that everything is going well, and I have enjoyed good health for solid month now. I am working close to full-time again, and it's going pretty well. I am enjoying once again living in my "new normal", but am still working to find the line of balance between doing what I want to when I want to and being sure I don't overdo it. Continue to pray in this area...If someone had told me I'd be in this place 1 year ago, I'd have jumped up and down for joy, and I am grateful for where I am, but there are different struggles here that I hadn't imagined. On a positive note, I was able to get out and o golfing this past Thursday with some men from the church, for the first time in about 18 months! It was more like football weather than golf weather - about 30 when we teed off, bright and clear with a nice breeze. I lost count of how many layers I was wearing! I have no idea what my score was - I was just happy to be able to make it through 18 holes swinging the club and being outside. Praise God for blessings like that that remind me just how far He's brought me.

all tests clear

All of my 6 month tests and scans came back and are clean, clear, & free from any and all signs of cancer! I also received back results from my skin biopsy done this past Monday, and the symptoms I've been experiencing are NOT graft vs. host disease. It is now assumed that they must be some sort of medication allergy reaction or interaction. Those symptoms are beginning to subside, as are some of the symptoms of this awful cold I've had for the better part of a week already. I am hoping and praying that a rainy weekend of more rest and fluids will help bring this chapter to a close. Thanks for checking in, and continuing to pray. Dad, Kevin, Brian, & Jenn are on their way to Penn State for the Illinois game tomorrow night, hoping for the rain to hold off...Go Lions!

Monday happenings

A long day after a long weekend. I began having severe itching and a spreading rash at the end of next week. Over the weekend, the rash began drying and peeling, leading the docs to wonder whether the cause was a drug allergy/interaction or the start of graft-vs.-host-disease. I had a skin biopsy today that should rule in or out GVHD - results will hopefully be available Friday. I also visited the local oncologist, who wasn't as concerned as I was about it all, and said I did not need to be admitted, for which I thankful, although a bit surprised. I also had a chest xray today, since my cough has gotten worse since last week.
I hope & pray that the results of all of last week's tests, as well as the biopsy today, will be available by Friday morning, when I see the dr. at Dartmouth. Pray that I will also have enough energy and relief from pain & itching to make the flight over & back on Friday. As such, I will laying low at home this week, trying to make sure I'm rested enough to make the trip on Friday.

Friday night at home

It's been a while since I blogged, so I thought I'd give an update while I'm thinking about it. I rescheduled all of my 6 month checkups and scans from the day of Mom's funeral to this past Mon. 9/15 and Tue. 9/16. I won't get any results until next Fri. 9/26, when I will travel down for an appointment with Dr. Hill to get the results and map out the frequency of my future visits. All the tests went off OK, although I do have a rash that seems to have developed either from drug interactions or as a first sign of graft-vs-host disease. Obviously, I hope its the former, rather than the latter. I will be having a skin biopsy done in Brunswick on Mon. afternoon. Please continue to keep these matters in prayer, as well as Dad, Brian & Jenn, Kevin, and Lisa & I as we continue to grieve & process Mom's passing away.