Onwards and Upwards No. 37
Hello my healing team,
I hope this update finds you well.
Well straight into it……… like a boomerang, it’s back. My last results in May found that my cancer was 5% in my bone marrow and had reached a steady state with several consecutive results all being in the same range. I was hopeful. Now, just four months later, it is at 25% which is the same level as when I was diagnosed. Ouch 🙁.
So where to from here?? I had a lengthy 13 min discussion with my haematologist, the Nutty Professor, where he explained that my results had gone to poo, it was time to act now, and the best option for me was to start treatment comprising of;
– Starting in the next two weeks, complete three months of intense chemotherapy where I have to inject myself with drugs on a weekly basis that destroy the cancer cells, but also randomly destroy other cells within my body.
– In January 2017, I have to complete an autologous stem cell transplant where I receive my own stem cells back after receiving high dose chemo. This is the same process I went through in August 2014, where I spent 3 weeks in hospital, was administered with roughly 20 different drugs to help me cope with the chemo that they put in, and it took me 6 months to recover from. I also lost my hair……. I know!!
– In April 2017 (all going well), I am scheduled for a allogenic stem cell transplant. This is where I get my brothers stem cells introduced so that his immune system will replace mine. This will take me 12 months to recover from. The only thing I have to say about this is…….stats indicate that 13-20% people die from the procedure. Enough said.
I am submitting myself to all of these awful treatments so that I can live, and here is the kicker, for another 5-7 years (according to statistics). It just sucks! I reflect on all of the things I have been doing to embrace wellness, live deliberately and give. I know it is worth while, I know it is the right thing to do, I know I will keep doing it…………. But in the absence of meaningful, long term progress, it does hurt.
If that read as though I was wingeing a little. Apologies. Maybe I was. But it is a pretty shitty reality.
So here I am. I am working to get my head around the size of the mountain that my family and I have to climb. I take a deep breath and ponder how I will navigate the path. I am encouraged by the fact that I have so many supportive people around me that will rally. I am encouraged by the fact that there are many people that have walked the same path and they have faired well, so well in fact that they defy the stats and are smashing it. They live with determination and hope. I will do the same.
I will continue to embrace wellness. I will continue to live deliberately. I will continue to give. It’s just what I do.
A reality check. According to WHO stats, 50% of people will get cancer. 33% of cancers are preventable. Embrace wellness. Live deliberately. Give.
Take care
Geoff
