One Year Ago Today

One year ago today I...

• woke up and got ready just like any other day
• knew nothing about leukemia or bone marrow transplants
• met with a doctor about persistant headaches 
• submitted a comprehensive training portfolio at work
• received a phone call from the doctor requesting I go to the emergency room
• spent nearly an hour in the bathroom because I refused to let the doctor "obtain" the fecal sample
• had a dangerously low blood count
• ate a baconator that my brother brought me from Wendy's
• did not know that over 90% of my bone marrow was packed with cancerous cells
• received my first blood transfusion
• did not know I would be diagnosed with cancer tomorrow

Today I do not wish to repeat any of those things - accept the waking up part... and maybe the baconator :) 

It's been a while since I've posted anything and I am happy to inform you its because things are going well. I have a fairly secluded work space back at Lexington to avoid germs. I aced all three online classes I took at the University of Utah. I had my central line removed just before Thanksgiving and no longer have to do 3 hour infusions of Magnesium every day. I finished physical therapy, and I was approved to skip town and visit my in-laws for the holidays.

Kez got a puppy for Christmas and that dog has kept me up more at night than Kezman ever did! It's not that the dog is terrible either - Kez has just always been a good sleeper. It is so fun to watch the two of them giggle/bark and run around the house. They like to pick on each other too. Half the time I'm hollering at the Kezman to play gently with the puppy and the other half the time I'm reprimanding Booker (the puppy) to stop playing rough with Kezman.

At the beginning of every year I sit down and write myself a letter. I do not read this letter until the first day of January the following year. It is a great exercise to help me take a personal inventory and be honest with myself of what I need to improve. Last year (just days before my diagnosis) I wrote, "Have a positive attitude. Believe in yourself and those around you. Face challenges with courage." How fitting this advice was for what I was about to undertake. I then transcribed the following quotations in my letter:

"He does not believe that does not live according to his belief." - Thomas Fuller 

"Be patient with yourself. Perfection comes not in this life, but in the next life. Don't demand things that are unreasonable, but demand of yourself improvement  As you let the Lord help you...He will make all the difference." - Russell M. Nelson

If this advice was good enough for last year, I'm sure it's good enough for this year. Here's to 2013!