Interrelativity

Category: Health

  • A Lion in the House, Tears in my Eyes: On Cancer, Courage, Honesty and Generosity

    Leukemia. Children. Families. Doctors. Nurses. I just watched the second half of A Lion in the House. I don’t think I have ever had tears in my eyes for as long a stretch as during the last two hours. I feel sadness, gratitude and awe at the inspiring stories that unfolded in this episode of…

  • Cancer be Gone: All Quiet on the Southern Front

    Amy had a biopsy on Wednesday to search for traces of the anal cancer that was detected last May and treated last fall.  Much to our delight — and more to our relief than we expected — the results were negative, i.e., there was no evidence of carcinoma in any of the samples taken.   There…

  • Clean Bills of Health

    Thanks to the gentle prodding by my cousin, Tricia, I realize I’ve been remiss in posting updates on Amy’s health condition.  This is actually a good sign ("no news is good news") — I was posting most frequently when her condition was worse, and have been tapering off as her health continues to improve. We…

  • Further Along the Road to Recovery

    Amy has been showing continuing signs of improvement.  Yesterday, she felt up to getting out of the house for a few hours to watch both Meg’s and Evan’s soccer games (and both of them scored goals at their respective games (!)), and do a little pumpkin shopping at a nearby farm.  She has been eating…

  • Signs of Improvement

    While it is sometimes difficult to discern improvement on a day-to-day basis, Amy is definitely doing better this week than last.  She has been spending more time out of bed than in bed during the day, is joining us more regularly for meals, is taking phone calls again and is gradually getting more involved in…

  • Delicious Ambiguity

    A scheduling mistake at the hospital today resulted in an extra long wait before seeing the phlebotomist for a CBC test, but there was, as so often happens, a silver lining: Amy and I used the time to stroll through the courtyard and see the Red Doors created by various local artists to support Gilda’s…

  • A Boost

    Amy was feeling extremely weak yesterday, one might almost say anemic.  We went into the hospital for her bloodwork armed with plenty of reading and listening material, expecting that she would need a blood transfusion.  Her hermatocrit count had actually gone up, from 26% to 28%, since she’d been in the hospital, and so a…

  • Home Again

    Amy was discharged from the hospital today, and is resting relatively comfortably in her own bed.  Last night was particularly trying for her, with little or no sleep, but her blood counts are holding steady, her fever has not returned, and her doctor was willing to let her come home.  Before leaving, she went to…

  • A Ray of Sunshine

    Just as I was leaving Amy’s room tonight, a ray of sunshine broke through the mostly cloudy and rainy skies we’ve been having for the past several days, lighting up the nearby hillside.  There was very little sunshine inside at the time, as Amy’s ordeal drags on for yet another day, but she called us…

  • Too Blessed to be Stressed

    On the way to the hospital this afternoon, I passed a church whose marquis broadcast the message "Too blessed to be stressed".  While I can’t say I wasn’t feeling stressed when I read this message, I was feeling very blessed, and I took a mini stress vacation as I continued the drive, pondering the wisdom…