Plans are just plans... subject to changes

Since my last update, a plan was in he making and I was set for a stem cell transplant in May. Everything was contingent on one “minor fact” which is my 5-days treatment sessions working well. Three weeks after treatment-2 (the one I reported about in my last update), I went for tests and got the not so good news: it isn’t working as well as I wanted. The bad numbers go down too slowly, which complicates matters. I will need a few more 5-days treatment sessions before we can consider the stem cell transplant. As we speak I am in the Brig – the hospital (BWH) where I stay for 5 days with 24hours/day chemo treatment for treatment-3. Within a one month interval, I will need treatment-4 and probably also treatment-5. Then we’ll see…This is rather unusual to have so many of these tough treatments. My doctors and myself are very confident that as a “very healthy sick person” I can do it! Now I am sure you agree with the title of this blog update! Lucky for me, I am used to the ups and downs and take them in stride. It is funny how it is possible to get used to a challenging routine. I have my stuff ready for the Brig: backpack, family photo and a photo collage poster, artificial flowers from Shoshi, Kefir and Maitake. This is like “battle stations” on a short notice. In addition, I am at the floor that I like most with the most experienced staff. I can ask them to be more proactive with some of my medications, based on experience and not just the daily test results. The chemo is tough but I manage it well. I feel OK, eat as I should and work, make phone calls and most important host Shoshi every day and enjoy her company and the gourmet lunch of her home cooking. The real challenge is a week after my planned release. My immune system goes to zero (as expected and as it happened after the last two treatments), I get fever and back to the Brig for a week. I hope to avoid this high fever stunt this time. The drill for the next few months is simple: get the treatments, recover at home, avoid getting in trouble and hopefully see the bad numbers go down, enabling the stem cell transplant in this coming summer. In parallel the race to find a donor is on. My perfect match donor which I reported about last time, has a medical issue so he is out. I hope that in a few months a new perfect donor will be found for my stem cell transplant.
Remember my saying that out of every bad situation - a new one emerges? This is another good example. The fact that I now need a few more months of treatments, provide the adequate time to find a match!
A week ago Orbotech US participated in the major annual US trade show in Las Vegas. Sadly I couldn’t join and be part of our great team and also meet our many customers, something which is important in my work to keep in touch with. Thanks to Rick, our resourceful engineer who placed an internet web-cam, I could see everyone remotely from my home.
Last week Lindsey ran again the Boston Marathon on my behalf. Thank you all who have contributed. Donations go to Dana Farber Cancer Institute, where I am being treated for the past 3.5 years. Lindsey web page is still open for last minute donations: www.RunDFMC.org/2011/LindseyW
On the Marathon day I waited at the half point which is very close to our home. Thanks to a chip in Lindsey’s shoe, I got live updates to my BlackBerry about her progress as she crossed the several milestones. Technology my friends! By wearing a shiny yellow shirt, Lindsey easily found me. I was able to take a few nice photos of her running towards me with her great smile (see below).
On a nice weekend in early April Shoshi and I drove to Keen NH to visit Lior. We love the visit routine: see Lior, go for a good walk in nature, do some shopping for her, eat lunch at our favorite and delicious Thai restaurant in town, go back to her place and meet her friends, drive home tired and happy. This visit was no different, except that the weather was on the cool side and in the afternoon we soaked the sun on the black roof top along with Lior’s friends and her cat!
My doctors told ne that exercise is important. Therefore I try to walk as much as I can and thanks to Shoshi and a few friends I mage to do just that. You can see some of the adventures in the photos below. Weather in the Boston area was still cool during the day, requiring be to bungle-up. Now it is getting warmer. Spring is in full swing and I go crazy with the camera after the blooming flowers and trees. In a few days when I am out, for sure the scenery will be much nicer than a few weeks ago. As you can see in the photos, by now I am bald, something I am not used to.
Overall I am doing well. I need a little luck to get my numbers ready for the stem cell transplant.
Very optimistic, still in the Brig for a few more days…
Yours
Guy