Sunday, July 29, 2012

Later

Oh no! This was what I was afraid of. This isn't a blog, it's a pity party!

No wonder I've stopped writing in it. I've been pretty avoidant of lots of stuff: paying bills, cleaning the things, real life.

But I avoid writing like the devil. It's literally the worst. This must be why all the writers always compare writing to bleeding and crying.

Well. I stabbed myself twice today. With actual needles! And a little actual blood. Then I ate a brownie (I'm getting really good at making brownies) and thought about all the things I could write. Like poems, and stories, and blog posts.

Maybe later I will write some things.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Superchemo

ICE chemo until my PET scan is clean: that's the plan.

But the incidence of Hodgkin's returning under my circumstances is uncomfortably high. However, there is a procedure that minimizes the return rate significantly: a megadose of chemo to more or less wipe out my entire immune system.

To shorten the recovery time of such a procedure, I will first lie in a bed for five hours while my blood is cycled out of my body and then back in. The plan is to harvest blood stem cells, which are made in the marrow and need to be tricked out with a series of shots.

Blood stem cells are more differentiated than the controversial embryonic stem cells you hear about.

My stem cells will be given back to me after superchemo to aid recovery. Still, there will be serious side effects and a longer period of neutropenia. I will be hospitalized for about a month.

If all goes well, this goes down mid-late August. It's important to have something to look forward to. Since Supervacation was a bust, this is what 2012 has to offer instead.