Day -13

Hmm. Maybe one's brain gets used to radiation. No headache, mild fatigue. I took a nap; I feel great.

Well, that's a really short blog post.

So, let's see ...

We're having Jerry and Rayetta over for dinner. We're looking forward to that. His Graft-vs-Host symptoms—he got his transplant Nov. 30—are being well-handled by the treatments they're giving him. All good news there.

The Hickman Catheter

There's another fellow he's met, named Jonathon, that was looking awful yesterday. That's probably Graft-vs-Host, too. I think Jerry's a little worried he's going to end up feeling that way and end up in the hospital for a while. I'm still praying that he gets to avoid being hospitalized through this whole process, which would be awesome.

This morning, before the radiation, I went in to get the dressing checked on my new Hickman catheter. I met a couple new nurses, and something came up that made me say, "See, that's another benefit of having leukemia."

They laughed and said I was showing a good attitude, so I took the opportunity to explain that I really meant it. My wife told them I'm a writer, and I told them that leukemia is the best staging I could ever have hoped for. I could never have done something like that on my own.

So we passed out cards to them for this web site, and I promised the one nurse, Mary, that I would give her a copy of my book.

The hospital really is like my other home. We meet people, and almost all of them are really nice. Most of the time, it's really pretty fun.

Again, aren't we on this earth to have new experiences?

Well, no, we aren't. We're on this earth to fulfill whatever purpose God made us for, to do good, and to keep his commandments. However, why should doing the same 'ol, same 'ol be better than than this course I'm on. So far, it's been well worth it. I know this is the rough part and that it's always possible I'll be singing a different tune in a month, but I don't think so. I think it's really true that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose.

Even if I do sputter out in a month and turn into a mere survivor (rather than a thriver), it's worth enjoying what I have now. It's easy to enjoy! It's new, full of wonderful new people without losing any of the great old people, and it provides opportunity to encourage and inspire people. It's not only good, but it doesn't get much better than that.