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Princess Margaret Hospital

No I’m not there now, but this time a year ago I was being admitted for high dose chemo and a Transplant. It was a Friday the 9th of April and the following two days would be “the point of no return” as I refer to it. The purpose in simple terms is to bring the patient close to the edge and then bring you right back, better than ever. While I haven’t reached the ‘better than ever’ point yet I am on my way. This weekend last year I received high dose chemo and began the process of adaptation to my new environment, where I would spend the next 35 days. As I look back I am a little amazed that I spent almost all of those 35 days in my room, only venturing out for a walk a couple of times. I did have one day pass the day before Transplant to go to the driving range with my Dad and Brother. Other than that I didn’t leave my room. Once I had received my Dad’s marrow I was placed in Protective Isolation, and one of the ‘rules of engagement’ is that the patient is not allowed to leave their room before 8 at night. As there is much more traffic around during the day time, thus many more germs. And April 13th last year, as well as this year, is one of the first few days of the NHL playoffs, thus I wasn’t up for a walk at 8 in the night, considering the puck was dropping about half an hour before that time. That was one contributing factor in my heightened Protective Isolation, and it was a blessing for me to have had such a consistent form of entertainment all throughout my Toronto stay.

Present day, this past week has seen me continue the process of learning with respect to writing. It has always seemed logical that the process of writing a book consisted of specifics steps, the writing, editing,

publishing and distributing. While these steps are involved perhaps the most important step in relation to your success is the signing of an agent by the writer. I am at the base of the learning curve with respect to most everything involved in writing a book and am hoping the next month will see my knowledge increase dramatically.

All my meds are the same, no change in levels or new drugs. The only significant addition will be my immunizations, which are scheduled to begin this week. If you can remember the shots you received as a kid, well my new immune-system has no memory of those shots, thus I need to have them all over again. The schedule for Transplant patients starts during the 12th month post-transplant and will continue for about 12 months, as far as I can remember. Just as my immune-system has no memory of those shots, it has no memory of me having the chicken pocks either, which can be a real drag as they are a little more complicated in Transplant patients. So I’ll do my best to avoid them.

Hopefully none of you have the chicken pocks and you’ll join me Thursday night to celebrate my first Transplant Party. If you can make it for a couple of minutes I would love to see you, and everyone. Hope you had a great weekend, and you’ll hear from me again soon.

Live life. Love life.

Geoff
#4

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