For now I've eluded Death; taxes is another story. The last scrap of financial data I needed to complete our 2007 taxes arrived yesterday. I had already added up all the medical expenses for the year that was, a tidy sum. I gathered up the forms this morning and carted them off to my accountant, only to find I was missing some obscure 1099 from an UGMA I'd rolled into a CollegeBound fund. One form. That's not too bad considering my brain is still recovering from considerable chemo strafing. Augmenting the financial migraine is the notice Swarthmore sent informing us that tuition is rising 4 point something percent next year. I wonder if we get a discount if we pay in gold. Or oil. Speaking of oil, our most recent home heating bill was higher than our monthly mortgage payment. My stimulus check is going straight into the furnace.
I think Ben Franklin's remark ennumerating the only certain things in life needs to be modified:
In this world, nothing is certain but death, taxes, tuition increases and freezing our butts off.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
All Boy
The results are in. My bone marrow shows 100% XY cells which means they are not mine. I should soon know whether I still have mixed chimerism (meaning cells from both donors) or whether one of them has muscled out the other. This is excellent news by the way, because my blood and bone marrow (XX), with its potentially leukemic properties, has been effectively banished.
Maybe this explains why I can suddenly do push-ups. In the past, I was only able to do one or two "real" push-ups, the manly kind where you don't bend your knees. My daily calisthenic routine has always included 20 bent-knee push-ups. Having read an article recently about push-ups being a measure of overall body strength, which unfortunately decreases as we age, I decided to see how many straight-leg push-ups I could do. Last night, I did 6. This almost killed me. My goal is to work up to 10. This boy blood's the best.
Maybe this explains why I can suddenly do push-ups. In the past, I was only able to do one or two "real" push-ups, the manly kind where you don't bend your knees. My daily calisthenic routine has always included 20 bent-knee push-ups. Having read an article recently about push-ups being a measure of overall body strength, which unfortunately decreases as we age, I decided to see how many straight-leg push-ups I could do. Last night, I did 6. This almost killed me. My goal is to work up to 10. This boy blood's the best.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
One Down, Two to Go
Happy 20th Birthday Mariel! Today I'm the parent of just two teenagers since you are now in your 20's. Of course, this milestone reminds me that tempus fugit and I grow old. Shall I wear the bottom of my trousers rolled? Sorry, couldn't resist.
Twenty years ago, I noted the first crocus blooming in the garden as I left for the hospital to birth you. Twenty years later, you are in Ecuador immersing yourself in the language, culture and social issues of its people. Feliz cumpleanos a ti mi hija.
It has been worth it, after all.
Twenty years ago, I noted the first crocus blooming in the garden as I left for the hospital to birth you. Twenty years later, you are in Ecuador immersing yourself in the language, culture and social issues of its people. Feliz cumpleanos a ti mi hija.
It has been worth it, after all.
Monday, March 10, 2008
A Plug for Knowledge
Recently, Marty's been bemoaning the fact that the people he works with don't place much value in knowledge for the sake of knowledge. As a matter of fact, they ridicule him, saying he knows too much. They keep telling him to purge. We thought maybe this was a function of the nature of his business, manufacturing. You have to know certain things to make and sell stuff; beyond that, what's the point? But a friend from New York writes that he's sometimes belittled for the breadth of his knowledge, and he works for a publishing company. They call what he knows "trivia," because they see it as worthless.
Give me a minute to climb on my soapbox. I'm a little rickety these days.
Okay. It seems that it's no longer cool to know that a quotation comes from a play written by a guy named Shakespeare, or that 1066 was the year William the Conqueror had his way with England. I guess if all you know are the quotes and dates, that you've never actually read the play in question or understand the impact of the Normandy invasion, then what you know are facts, and I can see an argument for them being trivial. Rhode Island was recently shocked by the news that 80% of its 11th graders aren't proficient in math. Oh, the obligatory hands were wrung, but not too many people seemed overly concerned with this. In fact, there's an essay on the editorial page of today's Providence Journal that refers to the woeful test scores, written by a member of the governor's task force on urban education. Incredibly, he argues against learning algebra and geometry, noting that he hasn't had need of these disciplines in the last 50 years, and that a "prominent RI businessman" learned all the math he needed to know in elementary school. Did these gentlemen (apparently not scholars) ever try to figure out the area of a round baking pan to see if it could be substituted for the square pan called for in a recipe? I'm pretty sure you need to use geometry.
Can't we just learn something because it's interesting or fun, something we can perhaps discuss with fellow human beings when we're hanging around? Does everything we learn or know have to add to our bank account or improve the gross national product? Maybe this explains why there are so many dullards walking around scraping their knuckles on the ground. Why bother to read a book or an article when it will just add to that useless heap of knowledge? Did you ever try to read something one of these non-readers writes? Its you're life. Myself will shut up know so you can wach American Idle.
Had enough? Here's a little more you don't need to read, but I hope you'll want to. My son participated in the RI Academic Decathlon yesterday. It's not really his thing, but he was persuaded by his mother and his physics teacher that it would be fun. Mark won two bronze medals, one in math and one in science. He thinks he could have done even better in math if he'd remembered to bring his calculator. He said it was exhausting, but incredibly fun. His school placed fourth overall.
I'm done.
Give me a minute to climb on my soapbox. I'm a little rickety these days.
Okay. It seems that it's no longer cool to know that a quotation comes from a play written by a guy named Shakespeare, or that 1066 was the year William the Conqueror had his way with England. I guess if all you know are the quotes and dates, that you've never actually read the play in question or understand the impact of the Normandy invasion, then what you know are facts, and I can see an argument for them being trivial. Rhode Island was recently shocked by the news that 80% of its 11th graders aren't proficient in math. Oh, the obligatory hands were wrung, but not too many people seemed overly concerned with this. In fact, there's an essay on the editorial page of today's Providence Journal that refers to the woeful test scores, written by a member of the governor's task force on urban education. Incredibly, he argues against learning algebra and geometry, noting that he hasn't had need of these disciplines in the last 50 years, and that a "prominent RI businessman" learned all the math he needed to know in elementary school. Did these gentlemen (apparently not scholars) ever try to figure out the area of a round baking pan to see if it could be substituted for the square pan called for in a recipe? I'm pretty sure you need to use geometry.
Can't we just learn something because it's interesting or fun, something we can perhaps discuss with fellow human beings when we're hanging around? Does everything we learn or know have to add to our bank account or improve the gross national product? Maybe this explains why there are so many dullards walking around scraping their knuckles on the ground. Why bother to read a book or an article when it will just add to that useless heap of knowledge? Did you ever try to read something one of these non-readers writes? Its you're life. Myself will shut up know so you can wach American Idle.
Had enough? Here's a little more you don't need to read, but I hope you'll want to. My son participated in the RI Academic Decathlon yesterday. It's not really his thing, but he was persuaded by his mother and his physics teacher that it would be fun. Mark won two bronze medals, one in math and one in science. He thinks he could have done even better in math if he'd remembered to bring his calculator. He said it was exhausting, but incredibly fun. His school placed fourth overall.
I'm done.
Friday, March 7, 2008
A Half Year Later ...
... and I'm still ticking. Like that relentless rabbit, with whom I've shared more than I care to admit or remember, I just won't quit. Was that really me who had a transplant 6 months ago? Oh yes it was. Since I've forgotten some of the nasty bits from those days of whine and no roses, I decided to revisit earlier blog entries to jog my memory. I read them and wept.
What I learned: I felt like Sigourney Weaver in Alien, and I was bored out of my mind. The fact that I actually recorded the nightmare is testament to the latter. What provoked tears is that my words, although accurate and descriptive and sometimes amusing, don't do justice to the experience. I guess you had to be there.
I'm happy to be here, not there.
Serves me right. Last week, I poked fun at Marty when he told me he'd read some of those posts recently, and they'd made him misty.
What I learned: I felt like Sigourney Weaver in Alien, and I was bored out of my mind. The fact that I actually recorded the nightmare is testament to the latter. What provoked tears is that my words, although accurate and descriptive and sometimes amusing, don't do justice to the experience. I guess you had to be there.
I'm happy to be here, not there.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Jiffy Biopsy
Today I had my 13th bone marrow biopsy, a baker's dozen. One can only hope it's tossed in for free. Usually, my doctor's assistant does it, but she had a baby recently and is not yet back at work. So the transplant doctor himself performed the necessary but somewhat barbaric procedure, the doctor who's called all the shots regarding my care (recommending an experimental chemo cocktail when I failed first induction, rejecting the 10/10 donor match as not quite perfect, choosing the umbilical cords that came closest to matching each other and me, orchestrating post-transplant drug therapy) but who's never actually touched me except for listening to my ticker once or twice. The man is incredibly cerebral, focused and wastes no words, no time, no emotion.
Have you ever done one of these? I quipped as I lay face-down on the procedure table. I admit, I was a little worried that his technique was possibly rusty. You have to trust the person who's piercing your hip bone with a 6-inch needle. I didn't have much time to worry though; it was the quickest biopsy I've ever had. Numb the area with novacaine, insert needle, 3 quick plunges (ouch!) and it was done. Did you get the bone chip? Yes, a nice one. It was over so fast, the pain was so short-lived, I wasn't sure I'd actually had the procedure. But I had. A 20-minute bone marrow biopsy in 5 minutes. Nothing wasted. No words, no time, no tears.
Have you ever done one of these? I quipped as I lay face-down on the procedure table. I admit, I was a little worried that his technique was possibly rusty. You have to trust the person who's piercing your hip bone with a 6-inch needle. I didn't have much time to worry though; it was the quickest biopsy I've ever had. Numb the area with novacaine, insert needle, 3 quick plunges (ouch!) and it was done. Did you get the bone chip? Yes, a nice one. It was over so fast, the pain was so short-lived, I wasn't sure I'd actually had the procedure. But I had. A 20-minute bone marrow biopsy in 5 minutes. Nothing wasted. No words, no time, no tears.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
The 3-Minute Democrat
Rhode Island is holding primary elections today, March 4th (aka Command Day in some circles). More than half of RI voters are registered as Independents (including this blogger), meaning they can vote in either party's primary. So this afternoon, I marched forth and became a Democrat for 3 minutes. I went to my polling place, an elementary school, at 3:30, thinking I'd avoid direct contact with all the little germ incubators. No such luck. An afterschool program was in full swing when I arrived. Fortunately, I was wearing a heavy-duty surgical mask, as well as latex gloves. Voting takes place in the gym, which had maybe 15-20 people in it when I arrived. After becoming a Democrat and voting, I filled out a form to disaffiliate from the party and become an Independent again. Neither hell, high water nor a stem cell transplant can prevent me from doing my civic duty. Now let's hope I didn't get infected.
Unrelated political news: I spoke with Mariel last night who just returned from a trip to the Amazon. I knew she'd been in a border region, but had no idea if the park she visited was anywhere near the scene of the weekend FARC murders, which occured in Ecuadorian territory, close to the Colombian border. Since Venezuelan President Loco Chavez claimed he was sending troops to the area, as was Ecuador, I asked myself: why did we think studying in Ecuador was a good idea? Mariel had not been anywhere near the site of the massacre. According to Mariel's Ecuador Mom, whom I chatted with briefly, everyone's hoping for a peaceful resolution to the problema. Next weekend, Mariel's taking a trip to Banos, a town situated near an active volcano that just last month had been erupting violently. Fortunately, I have a bit of active volcano experience under my belt and therefore am not an alarmist. Volcanoes are fairly predictable, whereas political eruptions are much more difficult to gauge.
Unrelated political news: I spoke with Mariel last night who just returned from a trip to the Amazon. I knew she'd been in a border region, but had no idea if the park she visited was anywhere near the scene of the weekend FARC murders, which occured in Ecuadorian territory, close to the Colombian border. Since Venezuelan President Loco Chavez claimed he was sending troops to the area, as was Ecuador, I asked myself: why did we think studying in Ecuador was a good idea? Mariel had not been anywhere near the site of the massacre. According to Mariel's Ecuador Mom, whom I chatted with briefly, everyone's hoping for a peaceful resolution to the problema. Next weekend, Mariel's taking a trip to Banos, a town situated near an active volcano that just last month had been erupting violently. Fortunately, I have a bit of active volcano experience under my belt and therefore am not an alarmist. Volcanoes are fairly predictable, whereas political eruptions are much more difficult to gauge.
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