I used to love hiking as a young man. I had ample opportunity in the Boy Scouts and looked forward to every chance to take to the mountains. My favorite event was the annual 20-mile trip along the Mischa Mokwa trail in the Cumberland Mountains. After climbing four miles up the mountain, the trail wanders through Hensley Settlement and takes you from Virginia to Kentucky, eventually ending in Cumberland Gap National Park. It’s beautiful along the way, no matter the time of year. It wasn’t easy, though. Adequate preparation and sound field craft, like packing well and taking care of your feet, meant the difference between fun and misery.
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| Phtto Courtesy of the National Park Service, http://www.nps.gov/cuga/planyourvisit/things2do.htm |
The initial climb up the mountain was always the most challenging part. The trail was steep, with unending switchbacks that slowly led the hiker toward the summit. For me, the journey itself really was the destination. The experience was more important that reaching the end of the trail. You can learn much about yourself as you lean forward and force one foot in front of the other. You strengthen your mind as well as your body when the trail leads you up another false crest only to find that more climbing awaits. Eventually, though, the last switchback levels off and the walking gets a little easier. You push your arms through the tree branches and there it is: the mountain view you’ve been longing for through the sweat and agony. The climb was worth it.
This was the vision I had yesterday as I tried to nap during my photopheresis appointment. I had climbed a mountain and experienced many false crests. Finally, not knowing for sure what lay ahead of the next rise, I pushed my arms through the tree branches. I saw the verdant valley below, lush with life and activity, beautiful from my vantage point. It was exhilarating and full of promise. The steep climbing was over. I could rest and enjoy the mountain view and anticipate the descent.
This sense of excitement and promise has stayed with me since learning of my test results on Friday. It’s not just emotion—I’m not wired that way. I am certain this is a sense of peace that God has given me. We seem to be entering a period of real recovery. My overall health is very good right now considering that I’m only 40 days post-transplant. The main concern is the treatment of the graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). I have been very fortunate that my case is relatively mild and mainly consists of a light skin rash, dry mouth, and blurry eyes, which give me a headache and make it difficult to read. This is frustrating, but I have heard of patients whose GVHD is so severe that they are admitted to the burn unit. No complaining here.
I’m still on numerous medications and will take about 25 individual pills today, plus a home IV of magnesium and application of a couple creams for the GVHD. As I improve, however, these will become less. Despite my prednisone-fueled appetite, I only weighed in at 135 pounds yesterday, and that was with clothes and shoes on. I’m not really sleeping well, either, but at least I had the time to lie in bed last night and formulate this blog post during my insomnia. All of these are only minor inconveniences and I detail them only as a matter of record and points of prayer. We still expect to remain in Houston through early to mid-May. I’ll have another biopsy before leaving and my doctor will monitor me along the way, with steadily increasing intervals between appointments.
Any experienced hiker knows that reaching the mountain top isn’t the end of the challenge. Most climbers who die on Mt. Everest do so after reaching the summit. The descent is perilous. We go forward fully cognizant of the dangers—infection, severe GVHD, relapse, etc.—that may await. The destination found within this journey has been Jesus—more of him and less of me—and I have learned much in the process. The walk along the mountain top will continue to have troughs and crests, but we are hopeful that the steep climbing is over. Regardless, we know He is walking with us and will even carry us if the load again becomes too heavy.