Another Quick Update On My Health
For the most part, we try to keep this blog focused on the baseball, and more specifically, on the Mariners. But, I also know that there’s something of a community here, and a lot of you are interested in how my recovery is going. So, since I haven’t been up to writing about baseball this week, I thought I’d give you guys a quick update on how I’m feeling.
I checked back into the hospital on Tuesday for my second round (of three) consolidation chemotherapy regimens. I’m still in remission, and there’s no evidence the leukemia has returned, but tests have shown over time that giving multiple rounds of chemotherapy even after a patient is already in remission lowers the chances of recurrence. So, even though there’s no cancer to be nuked out of my body at the moment, we’re not done with chemo just yet.
These treatments aren’t as intensive as the induction treatment I got when initially diagnosed, but they still aren’t that much fun. Over the course of six days, I get six doses of chemo, each lasting for three hours. They take a pretty big toll on my energy level, and while the side effects are mostly limited to just nausea and fatigue, it’s not exactly a fun week.
I get released on Sunday, and will then get approximately six weeks at home before my next treatment begins. Of that, I’ll likely be restricted to my house for 3-4 of those weeks while my immune system is at it’s nadir and I need to be kept away from potential sicklies wandering in the real world. It’s not complete house arrest, but it’s not too terribly far from it – thankfully, I like my house.
My final treatment will come right after Thanksgiving, and if all continues to go well, I should hopefully be done by the end of the year, and hopefully 2012 will be mostly normal. I’ll still need to go into the clinic twice-a-week for blood tests to confirm that the leukemia has not returned, but as long as it doesn’t return, then it will just be maintenance more than therapy.
Leukemia is the kind of disease that isn’t just cured overnight, so we’ve got about five years of having it not return before I’ll get a clean bill of health, but we’re encouraged that we’re about three months in and it still hasn’t returned. This journey is far from being over, but so far, so good. I’d had hoped that I’d been able to write more during treatment, but it is what it is – hopefully next year I’ll be able to return to a more full writing schedule here.
To everyone here who has been so supportive, a sincere thanks – my friends and family who have found the posts with your well wishes were truly touched, and your kind words meant a lot. Thanks for bearing with us through this time. I look forward to having another USSM gathering next year and getting to hang out with all of you again in person.