Day + 144

Hello everyone, let me start out by saying thank you to the family and friends that sent a message after my last entry. I really appreciate what you all wrote and I'd like you to know it goes a hell of a long way in my recovery. I know what I wrote last week drew a lot of responses, both on this message board and off. I guess I was caught at an emotional time and let it all spill out onto the keyboard. Sometimes it's good to see what is happening a layer or two deeper than just my blood counts. That is what I was hoping to convey in my last posting and based on what I heard from multiple people, that's what was done so I'm happy about that and thanks for your responses.

As difficult as it has been at times, there have been more times by a multiple of three or four where the times have been great. All of the visits to my hospital room from both friends and family, the fact that Evey stayed with me in the hospital every night she was in town, the thoughtful gifts and care packages, the mountain of books and dvd's, the dinners when I got out, I could seriously go on and on. My point is that I don't want you to think it has all been rough like I wrote last week. As terrible as this journey has been, it has also been pretty unbelievable with the outpouring of support, emotions and flat out love. I feel so lucky to have the people around me that I do. I don't want to say it was taken for granted before I came down with this disease, but I was certainly shocked as to what I experienced. I never could have thought the human spirit could shine through the way it did, and I owe everyone a huge debt of gratitude that I don't think I will ever be able to repay. From my family and friends to the people on this blog who read everyday, who I barely even know or knew a long time ago. It has just been unreal and those people have completely overshadowed the rough times I described last week. Those times are real and they are certainly not over yet, but with the support group I just described, there is no doubt I will come out on top of this thing.

As far as my current state goes, things could definitely be better. I’m not sure what it is but my muscles have seemed to grow tight and sore, especially in the morning. For the past week or so, I have been dealing with this and it seriously sucks. It’s difficult for me to get out of bed, and when I finally do it takes me over a minute to make my way down the stairs. For a guy who used to run eight miles at a time, it’s a hard pill to swallow. The worst part is I’m in too much pain to take Floyd out and that breaks my heart. If I drive somewhere he goes with me and we spend a lot of time together lying around the house, but I used to love taking him out for his/our daily walks. I can only hope this will be gone soon and things will get back to normal. I’m confident they will. I meet with my doctor tomorrow so I’ll see what he says about it.

Outside of that, on the medical side, things are going very well as always. My doctor is continuing to pull back on some of my medications which is a great sign. In fact, he has told me that as my medications go away, I should start to feel a lot better on a more consistent basis. I can’t wait for that. My blood markers all look great and are just where they need to be. No big tests on the horizon, just my weekly labs and meetings with my doctor, so all is good. And again, I read every message you guys write me so please keep them coming. I know there a lot of people who read my posting but don’t write anything in return. I’m not sure why but I’d love to hear from you...it really does help. You guys all please take good care of yourselves and make sure you spend your day smiling. If you’re not then you should question what you’re doing. Until next time…