A blog about faith and fighting leukemia.
Yesterday, July 22, 2014, was the six-month anniversary of my stem cell transplant. The first six-months post-transplant is the most perilous time. Chances for relapse and life-threatening GVHD are highest; at the same time, patients are at their weakest. It’s…
Read more
It’s 5 am and time to start the day again. He rolls out of bed and wipes the sleep from his eyes. Groggily he shuffles to the bathroom to brush his teeth and a sense of dread comes over him…
Read more
I was feeling pretty good about myself one day last week. I had done a minor good deed that morning, admittedly something that was thoughtful. Plus, I’ve been feeling so well lately, with good lab results and working nearly full…
Read more
The headlines are filled these days with celebrities falling from grace. Repeat offenders include Miley Cyrus, Charlie Sheen, sports stars, and a whole host of others. Sometimes it’s comical. Other times it’s tragic. Always, it’s sad. In just one week…
Read more
In 2005-2006 I had the experience of a lifetime: I deployed to Iraq as an Infantry company commander. There is no more ultimate test of a man’s mettle than how he will perform in combat, and I had the opportunity…
Read more
I felt like I was so close to getting over the hump, so close to getting back to the “old me.” I’ve been feeling well most of the time. The headaches are fewer and less intense. My skin and eye…
Read more
It’s been nearly seven years now since I lost my dad to lung cancer. When I left for Iraq in March 2005, he was seemingly fine. He had surgery about a year later and the doctors thought he was cured. …
Read more
I’m not a “cup is half empty” kind of guy. I’m generally not pessimistic and tend to approach things from a measured position. I wrote about “Cautious Optimism” once before and concluded that this wasn’t the right approach for me,…
Read more
I started off the week with a visit to the Emergency Room in Berea. My headaches have eased a little, but I had some new symptoms that concerned my doctor. So, about dinnertime on Sunday evening she told me to…
Read more
I have always been a planner. I first learned this in the Boy Scouts, whose motto is “Be Prepared.” I was fully immersed in the Scouts during my entire adolescence, so I had several years of planning for hiking and…
Read more