It’s hard to believe we’ve already been home over a week. Nearly five months have passed since I left for Texas and four months since the transplant itself. Time really does pass quickly, especially when helped along by busy schedules and never ending tasks.
We’ve done a lot of normal people stuff this week. From restoring the house to some semblance of order to visiting family and friends and even grocery shopping, this week has been filled with both the fun and the mundane. I even started back to work part time this week. It was just for a half day, but it was great to put on the uniform again and feel like a Soldier. I plan to start working about three days per week after Memorial Day, as long as I’m up to it.
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| Abrie at home in the yard. |
The girls are having a blast rediscovering their toys. It’s as if everything is new since they haven’t seen them in so long. We’re not sure how much Abrie even remembers of our home, but she has had no trouble exploring the entire house. It’s also a real blessing for Emmy to be able to go outside and play with her best friend who lives next door.
As normal as things have seemed this week, there are still the reminders of living with a cancer diagnosis. I saw my local hematologist on Wednesday. The visit was, thankfully, uneventful. He did schedule my next round of chemotherapy for the second week of June, right before I return to Houston. Of course, I’m still taking medicine four times a day and feeling the effects of it. Although I need it for various reasons, some of the side effects are unpleasant, like shaking caused by the tacrolimus (immunosuppressing medication) and weakness caused by the steroids. At least I’m down to only taking 24 pills of 12 different medications, plus eye drops. That’s progress.
I also wear a medical alert bracelet now. I opted against the MedicAlert plan that reminds me too much of the “I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Get Up!” commercials. Instead, I bought a Road ID wristband. Besides my name and Christi’s phone number, it is inscribed with “BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT IRRADIATED BLOOD PRODUCTS ONLY.” If I were to ever get non-irradiated blood or platelets it could kill me. It was worth the $20 to reduce that chance.
Besides these few relatively minor inconveniences, this week has been good. Normal even. It’s been reassuring that our lives don’t have to be ruled by a disease. But as good as it’s been, there is a limit to how “normal” we want to be. In this country, normal often means inwardly focused and oblivious to greater needs outside of our immediate circle of influence. Also, as Dave Ramsey says, “normal is broke.” The average American family is saddled with two car payments, a mortgage, and credit card debt. No thanks. Normal often means not exercising and eating well to be healthy. More importantly, it can mean placing our hope in ourselves, other people, or even the government. None of these characteristics of normalcy means one is a bad person necessarily. But, there is a better way.
Normal is often being conformed to this world, accepting its values rather than God’s. If there is anything I’ve learned this past year, it’s that hope can only be rightfully placed if it we put it solely in Jesus. Period. Any other human or system will ultimately fail. Rather than conforming to this world, the Apostle Paul told us to be transformed. So, I suppose seeking a transformed life rather than a normal life should be my goal. There is no doubt that my body has been transformed, but I pray that my mind is being transformed, as well, so that I can know and be part of God’s good, perfect, and pleasing will.
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:2 NLT)