Baseball, hot dogs, and the American Flag symbolize our country’s national holiday. My sons will be together in California attending a game between the Giants and their arch rival, the Dodgers. My wife plans to do Hood River’s annual Fourth of July run/walk, a 7.2 mile event from mid-valley to downtown. Years ago, when I … More Flags
I have two remarkable sons. In previous posts, I wrote about them here and here. They do so much for my wife, Marilyn, and I. Noah, the oldest, contributes to our lives on the macro-level. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. There, he works as an associate attorney with the Environmental Protection Agency … More Fatherhood
We bought our home in 1979. At that time, it was a one-story 600 sq. ft. cottage. There was a carport, a woodshed, and four acres of pasture. We moved into the house the following spring. My wife was pregnant with our first child. In the 70s and 80s, two of our closest friends were … More This Old House
Trees “Keep a green tree in your heart and a singing bird will come.” Chinese Proverb In November, the deciduous trees on our property cover the lawn with a radiant multi-colored blanket of leaves. Each fall, I spend several hours raking them into piles. Then, I haul them to my flowerbeds where they act as … More Trees
We just returned from the SCCA’s Long Term Follow-Up Class for transplant patients. The class is a requirement before a patient can be discharged, and we have only more day of appointments to keep here, concluding with tomorrow afternoon’s Exit Conference. We plan to drive back to Hood River on Friday, one day early! John … More Long Term Follow Up Care
LISTLESS is the word of the day, and an apt description for John’s demeanor of the last few days. Suddenly the walk to the clinic is a challenge. With his white blood cells hovering around zero while his reds and platelets continue to drop, the question becomes, “What exactly IS circulating around my system?” While … More Bone Pain
I’m sure that many of you reading this blog have experience with cancer as either a patient or family member, and the scenes we describe are old news. Let me just say that I have the greatest respect for all who travel this road. We see courage displayed on a daily basis at the Seattle … More First Chemo
It’s HOT in Seattle, as I guess it is everywhere else on the West Coast. Not much air conditioning in these parts, as the sweltering days are few and far between. After the winter and spring we’ve had, the warm weather feels great. On Friday & Saturday we attended a Patient & Family Seminar hosted … More Bring It On & The IMF
I thought I would update the page while John is enjoying his full-body MRI. These first two weeks of diagnostic testing have examined every organ and orifice and testify to SCCA’s attention to detail. So far John is passing all of his tests and is on track for the transplant procedure. We spent 6 hours … More Tests & Classes
I’m going to jump in here and say a big “thank you” to some of the people who have helped to make this journey possible. Our families, of course, where it all starts. Especially Ike and Noah, who have risen to some pretty incredible challenges these last few years – more than I ever knew … More Thank You
Good Blood, Bad Blood 