Moving Targets
It's been more than a few days, but it is hard to update when so much is happening.
John remains well and has tolerated Debbie and I moving into the rest of the house. He has been strong enough to research and write a 20 page paper for his major religion class on the social life of monks in the middle ages. It was a different kind of hard work for him now than it was for him in the past and for most of us now. Writing is a mental, and sometimes physical act of juggling and constructing ideas into words, sentences and a message.
Many post-chemo patients have problems with short term memory and focus, which would make things like writing papers tougher. I don't see those signs in John, but I do think he tires more easily, which means he has to start earlier and work harder than I used to see in him.
He is using the same approach in working toward graduate school. Starting early, planning and such. He will take the GRE in the next few weeks and is getting recommendations and his application together for Georgia State.
Until all this happened, I would never have encouraged John to go to graduate school, but now it is the best of all choices for him. The mental exercise and discipline will be good for him. The academic environment is a place he is comfortable in. He doesn't have the stamina for a full time job and he is still at the stage where relapse, GVHD or both are as possible as not. Fortunately, I will be able to keep John's health insurance in place for several more years, which for too many turns out to be the difference between life and not. The following was part of an AML list serv posting yesterday:
There is a 15 year old
boy in Atlanta who is in desperate need of a bone
marrow transplant, they have a match, however he has
no insurance and Medicaid has refused coverage of
the treatment. He has been told he needs to raise
$500,000. We have been working very diligently to
raise the money for him and to date have collected
$185,000. They have told him that once he reaches
$250,000 they will begin surgery and then give the
family 6 months to pay the rest. The donations have
been going through the www.childrenscancercenter.org
and can be made online at
www.active.com/donate/childrenscc for non profit or
to www.active.com/donate/danyal - At this rate, we
are about $70,000 short for Danyal right now and he
needs help or one more child will die from this
terrible disease. Ultimately, the family will have
to pay the entire amount. They are giving him two -
three weeks without the transplant.
Amid all the moving into our new house, Courtney made her way back home from Peru. There were conflicts in her flight reservations, but we got her home and mostly in one piece. The scar above her eye is healing cleanly, and we will see how it settles over time. The immediate problem though was that she came back suffering again from stomach problems. They were bad enough that she spend part of her first day back in the hospital getting fluids. By Tuesday, the tests showed a bacterial parasite, which she is not getting treatment for. She is still a bit week and needs to get some strength back. Courtney is working for a few weeks in the afternoon with the children of a family from work, covering the after school hours. It is not "heavy lifting" and she seems to like it.
I am with Debbie at the Greenbriar where her firm is meeting for several days. With so much going on, it was hard to get away, but the distance may help me recover from all that is swirling about.
John remains well and has tolerated Debbie and I moving into the rest of the house. He has been strong enough to research and write a 20 page paper for his major religion class on the social life of monks in the middle ages. It was a different kind of hard work for him now than it was for him in the past and for most of us now. Writing is a mental, and sometimes physical act of juggling and constructing ideas into words, sentences and a message.
Many post-chemo patients have problems with short term memory and focus, which would make things like writing papers tougher. I don't see those signs in John, but I do think he tires more easily, which means he has to start earlier and work harder than I used to see in him.
He is using the same approach in working toward graduate school. Starting early, planning and such. He will take the GRE in the next few weeks and is getting recommendations and his application together for Georgia State.
Until all this happened, I would never have encouraged John to go to graduate school, but now it is the best of all choices for him. The mental exercise and discipline will be good for him. The academic environment is a place he is comfortable in. He doesn't have the stamina for a full time job and he is still at the stage where relapse, GVHD or both are as possible as not. Fortunately, I will be able to keep John's health insurance in place for several more years, which for too many turns out to be the difference between life and not. The following was part of an AML list serv posting yesterday:
There is a 15 year old
boy in Atlanta who is in desperate need of a bone
marrow transplant, they have a match, however he has
no insurance and Medicaid has refused coverage of
the treatment. He has been told he needs to raise
$500,000. We have been working very diligently to
raise the money for him and to date have collected
$185,000. They have told him that once he reaches
$250,000 they will begin surgery and then give the
family 6 months to pay the rest. The donations have
been going through the www.childrenscancercenter.org
and can be made online at
www.active.com/donate/childrenscc for non profit or
to www.active.com/donate/danyal - At this rate, we
are about $70,000 short for Danyal right now and he
needs help or one more child will die from this
terrible disease. Ultimately, the family will have
to pay the entire amount. They are giving him two -
three weeks without the transplant.
Amid all the moving into our new house, Courtney made her way back home from Peru. There were conflicts in her flight reservations, but we got her home and mostly in one piece. The scar above her eye is healing cleanly, and we will see how it settles over time. The immediate problem though was that she came back suffering again from stomach problems. They were bad enough that she spend part of her first day back in the hospital getting fluids. By Tuesday, the tests showed a bacterial parasite, which she is not getting treatment for. She is still a bit week and needs to get some strength back. Courtney is working for a few weeks in the afternoon with the children of a family from work, covering the after school hours. It is not "heavy lifting" and she seems to like it.
I am with Debbie at the Greenbriar where her firm is meeting for several days. With so much going on, it was hard to get away, but the distance may help me recover from all that is swirling about.
