It has been over three months since my last stem cell transplantation and I thought it was time that I put down some of my thoughts. First of all the clinical trial I was on to treat my mulitiple myeloma did not go as planned. According to my instruction sheet, I was to take 100 mm of Revlimid for ten days, five days before entering the hospital and the balance after I was admitted. After taking 700 mm, I was told that I should have been taking only 75 mm a day. Now I was told that I was off the original “study.” As it turned out I will have a separated clinical trial based on what I had taken. After seventeen days in the hospital, I was released on March 2, 2011. For the next month, I had no appetite and suffering with C-diff. The day before Avis and I traveled to Alabama for two reunions, I got my appetite back and was able to have some BBQ from our favorite restaurant in Decatur. We also enjoyed seeing the first blooming redbud and dogwood trees.
The days in the hospital were mixed with highs and lows. First the lows: After about the tenth day, I was looking in the mirror and became very depressed. This is not typical for me, but the disturbing thought came to me that “I was trapped in this body.” The disease that ravages my body is not clinical curable. I must rely on experimental drugs to keep it in check. But then what have I been taught all my life about divine healing? The old question keeps creeping in, do I have enough faith?
The highs: I was able to complete one drawing a day for the first nine days. These drawings will be used in my next book that features singers of the 1950s and 1960s. One of the night nurses became so helpful in looking up biographical information.
Today the count for my disease is at an “insignificant” level. After a hundred days, from my stem cell transplantation, I will be given Revlimid on a daily bases. I do have some side effects with hives and the cause could come from this medicine.
So I'm still on this journey with some fears and some blessings. Whatever happens, I know that I am loved by God, family, and many friends. What else could matter.
