Tag Archives: cancer

Quick Update

It has been about 6 weeks since my second stem transplant. All test results indicate successful engraftment of the new stem cells. I have put back on the weight I lost due to the gastrointestinal GVHD; I bottomed out at about 125 lbs.

Over the past few months my medical team has started to wean me off the various medications, both preventative and curative (for the GVHD). Over the past few weeks, some of my gastrointestinal symptoms have returned. I am wondering whether they weaned me off one of my GVHD medications too early. I have an appointment with my team next week and will discuss the matter with them.

I have now entered the same time period post transplant that I was at when my cancer recurred after the first transplant. For the most part I remain optimistic but, some days, it is hard to ignore the statistics for second transplants:

  • Chance of cancer recurring within two years of transplant: 50%
  • Overall 5 year survival rate: 25%. Note that even if the cancer doesn’t return, I am susceptible to other cancers as well as complications due to the toxic crap I have dumped into my body to battle the cancer.

My sister (a nurse) tells me that my bloodwork looks different this time and that I should expect different results. I figure that someone has to be in the 25% who survive, why not me?

Thanks for listening. Also, thanks for your continued prayers and good thoughts. As “touchy feely” as it might seem for an engineer to say, I can feel your good vibes and appreciate them more than I can adequately express in words.

It’s been a while …

I was out for dinner last night with friends, one of whom is an avid reader of this blog. She told me how much she enjoyed and learned from my blog posts. Her comments got me to thinking about why I haven’t posted in so long.

I have always had a love/hate relationship with writing. When I graduated high school I received both the math award and the English award for highest marks, an unusual combination. Having only recently been bitten by the writing bug (I had just started to feel comfortable writing in grade 10), I decided to pursue an English degree.

While I enjoyed my first year courses, a summer job in CBC’s engineering labs ignited what has become a lifelong interest in technology. A programming course solidified that interest and I changed career paths, pursuing instead an engineering degree.

Although I was a good software engineer and was particularly adept at debugging, it didn’t take long for people to discover that I excelled in an area that many engineers do not … the ability to pitch ideas, to tell a story, and to articulate my thoughts in various written forms.

Throughout my career I have had many opportunities to prepare written documents, from lengthly proposals to articles in trade journals. I often joke that I am a semi-professional writer … I have been published but never paid.

Writing makes me anxious. I worry about what people will think about what I have written. I imagine all sorts of negative reactions. I fear that people will be unmoved or unconvinced by what I have written.

Despite my anxiety, I enjoy the process of using words to tell a story. I love the feeling I get when I come up with a particularly clever turn of phrase. I almost always derive great satisfaction when I put the finishing touches on an article or blog post. I just dread the process.

My friend’s feedback at dinner last night has encouraged me. I still have much I want to say about my cancer journey … indeed, I have written / rewritten a number of blog posts in my head over the past few months. I just need to type them and publish them

Thanks for listening. Special thanks to those of you who have offered positive feedback.