I have been thinking about the WWII analogy that I used the other day. I like it. It helps me visualize what is going on and I think that it helps me use visualization to help out my little hard-pressed cells. What I have been wondering about, in this analogy, is: Who is Russia? I decided that Russia represents my own unwavering tenacity. My ability to be knocked down, stomped on, hurt like no one should hurt, and get back up again and take another step forward. Zombie Nazis hate that type of tenacity.
Italy represent all the other incidental illnesses. The abscess that I had, the pneumonia, that sort of thing. Things that would be no problem if I weren't already dealing with Zombie Nazis. Irritations and illnesses that are dangerous, only because I am fighting a much more dangerous threat.
On another note: I had my 2nd round of Chemo out of 4 today. This round was Velcade and Bendamustine - both are poisons that are taken up by quick-growing cells, like the lymphoma. So my good B cells and T cells, which don't divide are completely untouched by these drugs, and the lymphoma is seriously weakened. We do 2 more rounds and then throw in 5 million T cells from my super-human donor. They will act like the D-Day invasion force and start destroying the lymphoma in winning numbers. The only down-side to the chemo is that it may be hurting my bone-marrow stem cells. They are relatively fast-dividing cells, so they are going to take a bit of collateral damage. This is why we are shoring them up with the T-Cell infusion. After the chemo, they will have to take some time before they are back up to full force and health. The infusion will cover for that period. Then, if my Chimerism stays high, I should be good to go.
We hope that the fluid in my lungs will clear up when the lymphoma starts get beaten back and is pushed into remission. We are not certain of the cause of the fluid though, so it is one of the things that we just have to wait and see how it goes.
Ending on a good note, my Graft vs Host Disease has almost completely cleared up in my skin, and does not seem to be coming up in my liver or kidney numbers. I have been having good conversations with my new blood cells, and I think that we are all on the same page now. :)
Leif
Italy represent all the other incidental illnesses. The abscess that I had, the pneumonia, that sort of thing. Things that would be no problem if I weren't already dealing with Zombie Nazis. Irritations and illnesses that are dangerous, only because I am fighting a much more dangerous threat.
On another note: I had my 2nd round of Chemo out of 4 today. This round was Velcade and Bendamustine - both are poisons that are taken up by quick-growing cells, like the lymphoma. So my good B cells and T cells, which don't divide are completely untouched by these drugs, and the lymphoma is seriously weakened. We do 2 more rounds and then throw in 5 million T cells from my super-human donor. They will act like the D-Day invasion force and start destroying the lymphoma in winning numbers. The only down-side to the chemo is that it may be hurting my bone-marrow stem cells. They are relatively fast-dividing cells, so they are going to take a bit of collateral damage. This is why we are shoring them up with the T-Cell infusion. After the chemo, they will have to take some time before they are back up to full force and health. The infusion will cover for that period. Then, if my Chimerism stays high, I should be good to go.
We hope that the fluid in my lungs will clear up when the lymphoma starts get beaten back and is pushed into remission. We are not certain of the cause of the fluid though, so it is one of the things that we just have to wait and see how it goes.
Ending on a good note, my Graft vs Host Disease has almost completely cleared up in my skin, and does not seem to be coming up in my liver or kidney numbers. I have been having good conversations with my new blood cells, and I think that we are all on the same page now. :)
Leif
I know we're in France (not Berlin), and not far along enough in our analagous history, but Yay! For the Berlin Air Lift (aka Pam)!
ReplyDeleteI think a more contemporaneous analogy for Mom would be the US convoys carrying supplies to the Allies. Her grandfather was actually a captain of one of those ships, which makes it an even better analogy!
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone will argue with your claim to Russian-style tenacity. The Nazis brutalized them unbelievably but in the end they gave enough back to make the US ground war look like a sideshow. I think your attitude and spirit through all this has been similarly heroic. Good zombie hunting, Tovarisch!