Hope is the thing...

It's hard to imagine in one sense and it seems like forever in another, but the time has come to schedule John's one year post-transplant evaluation. A year ago he was in Emory hospital recovering from chemotherapy and an infection and now we are looking forward toward a year's transplant anniversary.

We will be going to Seattle May 21 for five days of tests and evaluation, which will be a week after John's graduation. Quite a lot to celebrate.

The new reality is, and may always be, that any sign of illness will set off alarms. The other night, John suffered a bout of something that turned his stomach inside out. It would have been unpleasant, but in his case, it had the whole house up until it subsided.

There is progress to report though. John has been off Prednisone for a while and has now stopped taking his last anti-rejection drug. In fact, he now takes fewer medications than me, and I'm in pretty good health.

Just one other thing to note. My website at http://www.randycadenhead.com now redirects you here, in case it is an easier URL to remember.

I decided it was time for a make over of sorts and this is it. The new format seems brighter and easier to read, and it has space for links to places like John's website and his journal. Anyway, I actually did some HTML editing on the template to boot. Coolest of all is that I added a picture of me - and working no less.

While I am mentioning links, Courtney's "Perusing" journal has lots of photos and is full of funny stories. Her Blackberry works perfectly there and you can email her at cadenpiper@gmail.com. It works so well, in fact, that I just got her first month's bill and it nearly had a comma in it.

Before classes started back, John reworked the story line from his Emo webcomic and published a bound compilation called "Half a Mind". You can order one from his website. Beware though, the language is rough in places. This is actually his second "book." The first is still also on his website.

I'll save what other news there is for the moment.

Pardon my progress, but I'm working on a new format and it's not quite working yet. Stay "tooned."

One year ago tomorrow, John returned to Emory hospital with an infection that took weeks to recover from. Two days ago, he returned to Emory University for his final semester of classes. That's a marker worth celebrating, but I think the transition has also been exhausting to John.
It takes a very long time to recover from all he has been through, both physically and mentally, and yesterday, as I drove with him after leaving his car for repairs, I could sense signs of both. The moment validated the need for him to live at home and our decision to move in order to make that easier for him and all. We have no buyer for our house as yet, and we close on the Decatur house on February 15.

John published a softcover book version of his Emo comic, which you should soon find on his webpage: http://www.angelfire.com/comics/ihatethisgame/main.html. It's his second book of the type. They call them "graphic novels"and they are a growing genre unto themselves.

Courtney is now living with her local family, eating guinea pig, taking classes and will be working on the group water development project this weekend. Her website is full of funny stories and great photos. http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?go=Corchita7

Courtney asked for another photo from our sailing trip. The two above are from the day we spent sailing 12 Meter boats from the 1987 America's Cup.

This is a scene from St. Barts, one of the islands Debbie and I sailed to this past week - our first vacation of any sort in the past year and change. It looks beautiful and peaceful, and while it was all of the first, it was less of the second. We had 30 plus knot winds and 10 to 12 foot seas at times. A great trip in both respects.

John returns for his last semester at Emory this week, which is a significant step and worthy of noting. A year ago, if we had been able to see through the shock, this time would have been doubtful. Now, every day is as full of more than this picture can express.
Courtney's postings on her site are worth checking, even though she has fallen prey for the moment to those things that go "barf" in the night. So much for there; we are back to again....

Through the magic of the Internet, we have photos of Courtney's first full day in Peru. Somehow she acquired a child, at least for a photo-op. I've also included a scene of the Cusco Plaza. There are more on her travel blog at http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?go=Corchita7

John's cold seems to be passing without incident and, as of yesterday, his doctors continue positive reports. It is good to be able to say that "no news is good news", I think.

Our house in Midtown is on the market and has had a little traffic. I am still recovering from the efforts of the past several weekends of getting it ready to sell.

Debbie and I will be in the Islands sailing next week - our first break of any kind in well over a year. While it is much needed, the process of getting ready to go is exhausting. I still have a room to paint, so...

It has been a few days since my last update, but they have been busy ones. John spent several days leading up to the New Years in Dalton with his girlfriend's family. Courtney has been packing, saying her goodbyes and dating one particular guy, while Debbie and I have been manically preparing the house to go on sale. Our tasks (mostly mine) have been to paint, refinish floors, make the yard look "low maintenance" and toss or store mountains of miscellany that have filled too many corners of our home. Debbie is not a neatnik, andI am a pack rat, so we have been more than busy. John is a messy pack rat, but he has been the most dedicated of all to the process of making our hundred year home look clean and new.

John has come down with a mild cold, which we are watching with care. He is now off Prednisone comepletly again and so we are watching his stomach and such for any signs of rejection. So far, much more than good.

I took Courtney to the airport yesterday for her Peru trip. I couldn't tell who was more nervous between us, but she arrived in Lima and she was able to email me from her Blackberry that all is well thus far. She is now on a plane to Cusco where she will attend classes and live. Cusco is supposed to be one of the most scenic cities in the world and is about 45 miles along the Incan Trail to Machu Pichu.

She has set up a travel blog at http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?go=Corchita7
Her first entry is in Spanish, but there is a rough Internet translator at http://babelfish.altavista.com/ which was helpful enough for me to see that it mentions the really neat squeeze bottle portable water purifier that I bought for her. Bookmark her blog (and maybe the translator) to keep up with her on this remarkable adventure.