1 year since being admitted to the hospital.

Realized that today is the "anniversary" of being admitted to the hospital. It has been a full year in this battle with lymphoma. I figure I have spent something like 6050 (out of 8544) hours in the hospital this year. For people that don't do math, that is about 71% of the year. I am glad that we have good insurance.

I learned and did a lot of new things this past year. I rode in an ambulance for the first time; I learned that my community loves me; I saw my insides via CAT, PET, and MRI scans; I learned that if you don't have enough platelets, blood can just leak out of your skin; I learned that the chef at Midcoast Hospital was the head chef at the Muddy Rudder, and if you ask for chef's choice, he will cook you amazingly good food. I learned a lot about biology and pharmaceuticals. I had my first surgeries. I gained a lot of sympathy for other people who have to go through any hospital stay. I gained a number of new friends. I deeply appreciate the kindness and skill of the 220+ nurses and the 80+ doctors who helped me through this. I got to know my mom's cousin and his wife, who are great people. I deeply appreciate all the strangers that donate blood and platelets. At one point I was going through 3 bags of blood and 2 bags of platelets a day. I learned what "10" on the hospital pain scale represents. I admire my amazing wife even more than I did going into this.

Despite the good stuff (and there was some), I would not recommend this to a friend. If you are considering lymphoma, there are easier ways to get on disability.

So, a hard year for me, but I am definitely on my way up. I see good gains in my strength and bloodwork numbers every week. I have more energy and less pain and fatigue. Nausea has become very rare, and even when I have some, it is pretty mild. I have started putting on a little muscle even. My brain is coming back on line. I am enjoying my daily walks around the island. Watching the sea is so restful and calming just in of itself. So things are looking pretty good.

But wait! In an evil plot twist, Becky has been diagnosed with a serious health problem. We are hoping that it is stress related, and she will have spontaneous remission. She certainly has been under incredible stress this past year. I know that people are probably curious about her diagnosis, but not everyone is as forward with their health issues as I am. She tends to be a much more private person than I am, so I hope that you will respect her privacy about it until she decides to let people know or not.

Anyway, this means that Becky and I still have quite a haul in front of us. I still have 4-8 months to go before I am off my immune suppressants and can start interacting with people again, and I am still in no shape to care for another person. I am not yet quite capable of taking care of myself. We have no idea about how Becky's health issues may progress. Living here with my mom has helped take some of that stress off, I think. We are also re-united with our stinky dog, so that is nice. She is stinky, but sweet, and somehow having her around is soothing. Once we get back up to Belfast, we are going to have to rely on our amazing community to help us out again. A lot depends on how well I am doing and whether I continue to thread the gauntlet without getting any infections or viruses.

2012 was not my favorite year. I am not sure that 2013 is looking all that much better. Perhaps we can count the year from May 21st to May 21st, and it will all be easier from here.