The breakdowns continue unabated in my house. One of the air conditioning condensers literally suffered a meltdown and had to be repaired yesterday. Last week, I took the high road regarding these it's-only-money problems. Health is all that matters, right?
Whine time. It's dispiriting to wake up every day and know you'll be writing a check or signing a credit card slip for yet another mechanical failure by day's end. Makes me want to go live in a yurt. I had a friend who did that once. Our pre-Civil War house in Brooklyn didn't give us this much grief. My first toaster oven lasted 15 years. Now I have to buy a new one every year. Blah blah blah.
Okay, I feel better. So what I'm tossing money into a bottomless pit.
Maybe I'm just a little crabby today. I have zero energy and I can't believe I have to figure out what's for dinner again. I just did that last night! Maybe the stove will stop working.
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Adirondack Mountains, Feb. 2007
Tale of a Cord Blood Transplantee Who Relapses and Goes on to Have a Matched Unrelated-Donor Transplant
The Weight
Adirondack Mountains, Feb. 2007
ABOUT ME
In March 2006, I was diagnosed with a blood cancer called Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML). Life as I knew it came to a crashing halt. After enduring a month in the hospital where I received intense chemotherapy, I was declared "in remission." I had three additional treatments and remained cancer-free until May 2007, when I relapsed.
My only shot at survival was to have a stem cell transplant. However, my brothers' immune markers didn't match mine, and an international search of bone marrow registries found no perfect matches. A transplant using the blood from two umbilical cords was recommended. I grasped at this straw in September 2007. It seemed to work.
This blog tells the story of my transplant and recovery, replete with outrageous slings and arrows. The expression "blood is thicker than water" has new meaning for me. I remained alive due to the blood of strangers, two of them, both male. Thanks guys.
The plot thickened when I relapsed 19 months into my new remission and had to go through the same rigamarole once more. This time, I received stem cells from a matched adult donor who was identified last go round but didn't fit into the necessary time frame. Charles Dickens could have fun with this, the stuff of pulp fiction.
I remain in remission 4 years later. My donor keeps leukemic cells in check but finds interesting ways to attack my body. Chronic graft versus host disease keeps me firmly entrenched in the medical world. And so it goes.
My only shot at survival was to have a stem cell transplant. However, my brothers' immune markers didn't match mine, and an international search of bone marrow registries found no perfect matches. A transplant using the blood from two umbilical cords was recommended. I grasped at this straw in September 2007. It seemed to work.
This blog tells the story of my transplant and recovery, replete with outrageous slings and arrows. The expression "blood is thicker than water" has new meaning for me. I remained alive due to the blood of strangers, two of them, both male. Thanks guys.
The plot thickened when I relapsed 19 months into my new remission and had to go through the same rigamarole once more. This time, I received stem cells from a matched adult donor who was identified last go round but didn't fit into the necessary time frame. Charles Dickens could have fun with this, the stuff of pulp fiction.
I remain in remission 4 years later. My donor keeps leukemic cells in check but finds interesting ways to attack my body. Chronic graft versus host disease keeps me firmly entrenched in the medical world. And so it goes.
1 comment:
Good grief! Could you have a gremlin infestation a la Tex Avery? I'm really sorry about all of the breakdowns. Having to constantly sign your life over can be disheartening to say the least.
As for dinner, may I suggest something from the delivery menu? Take the day off and spoil yourself. What the hell, you definitely deserve it. :)
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