Well, I promised Erica I would blog on her behalf... so since I am sitting home with a little cold, I thought, no time like the present!
Many new developments here in Boston, so I will give a brief rundown of everything:
Erica and I attended Aaron and Shoshana Resnick's wedding in DC which was soooooo lovely. It was the first Jewish wedding for both of us and we're considering converting! Ok, we're not, but it was still great! The ceremony was in both English and Hebrew under a chuppah made by the bride's late-mother with singing, readings, and so much love. The reception was just FUN with circle dancing and great food... I think that seeing Aaron after so much time was a gift for Erica that was clearly displayed in her amazing level of energy that weekend.
Anyone a Red Sox fan?? Erica, David, Melissa, and Matt scored tickets to a BoSox /Yankees game! Poor BoSox... it turned out to be the longest 9-inning game in history and it was the Jimmy Fund Night where nearly $2 million was raised. Jimmy Fund is an amazing children's cancer center at Dana Faber... http://jimmyfund.com
Erica and I have recently joined a gym here which may surprise some of you. Since E has a bit of a difficult time walking up the stairs, one may think a gym is ridiculous. However, when you put her in a pool, she turns into a fish! I was so impressed with her stamina and strength! But no worries: when her counts are low or she feels tired, I don't let her push it. But for me, I'm enjoying her company there! We're still taking baby steps (with no rush) to lead her to workout on machines and build her muscles.
Luke has recently decided to move to Boston and has acquired a really great flat near Copley Square. Both our places are conveniently near T stops (Boston's metro system) which makes Erica excited for a little independence traveling between us. I'm looking forward to having a teammate here to help me when I need a little suport. As Switzerland, I'm hoping for the best!!!
As for me, I am taking a class starting September 18th and applying for fall 07 admissions to a variety of schools here in Boston. I'm looking forward to both meeting new people as well as welcoming back all the Fletcher friends for a new semester... NOT looking forward to the Boston winter though...!! :)
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Sunday, August 13, 2006
a milestone passed
I am half way through the third phase of my treatment. The 30-weeks of hell one, you remember. The crazy part is that there are weeks or days when I have energy and hope and then equal parts when I am crippled and depressed. Well, whether or not it is really hell, I'm glad to say that 15 weeks have passed and I'm looking down the hill on the other side.
The past few days have been especially pleasant, as the weather here cools and my body and I played a trick on my doctors last Wednesday. You see, I made it so my blood counts were pretty low and awful so they couldn't shoot me up with chemo and steroids, BUT the numbers were only a smidgen below what the protocol allows for. In other words, I feel pretty good AND I only had to have the L-aspariganase (sp?) chemo this week. (Alright, the truth is I have no control over my counts whatsoever. Usually, in fact, I feel the exact opposite of what the test results show. I'll be happy and hyper and the nurses will rush in with a blood transfusion wondering how on earth I even walked myself in there. Sometimes I wonder about modern medicine, ya know?)
A lot of people have raised eyebrows at my severe reaction to certain drugs I am on (most likely 6-mercaptopurine), so they ran a test to see if I might have a gene mutation that makes me allergic. Apparently, since ALL is most often a children's disease, they run this test before treating any of those lucky kids. What a good idea! For adults, they wait until symptoms show. Anyway, I hereby declare that I am in fact a mutant. For now, my powers are latent but I'm sure that they will reveal themselves soon. Maybe telekinesis? Extreme speed? Spaghetti out of my fingertips? Who knows. But here's a free tip: now's the time to make amends if you have ever wronged me...
What else is up? Jaci and I have joined our local Brighton YMCA and go every day. (we joined two days ago and have gone twice- yeah!) I am so so so happy to discover that I can swim pretty much as well as ever and I love the refreshing healing feeling of the water. If it weren't for all the screaming children and the cavernous warehouse feeling of the indoor pool, I might even experience some kind of womb-like regression therapy. Does that exist? If it did, I would try it.
I tried reiki the other day. The wonderful woman at the hospital basically put her soothing but firm hands on my head, shoulders, stomach, and legs and used her energy to try and build my own healing energies and alleviate pain. We invited my Mom and sister to be in the room too and they closed their eyes and tried to send me visions and memories of when I was well and happy. I enjoyed the experience very much and hope to learn so much more about the incredible and undeniable mind-body connection.
As for the Murray Inn Registry: Jaci had some QT in Florida with her friend, Anita, Jamie has returned back to LA, Luke flew off to Berlin for the month, Mom spent a lovely weekend with us, Jaci bussed to NYC and fell in love with it, Jaci's back, Jaci and I plan to go to DC on the 19th so we can attend Aaron Resnick's wedding and see some sights. Will anyone who reads this be there that weekend? Lemme know.
That's all for now. Oh! Except my new favorite song is Easy Silence by the Dixie Chicks, who we saw from 4th row seats a few Saturdays ago.
Yeah, who's sick, who?
The past few days have been especially pleasant, as the weather here cools and my body and I played a trick on my doctors last Wednesday. You see, I made it so my blood counts were pretty low and awful so they couldn't shoot me up with chemo and steroids, BUT the numbers were only a smidgen below what the protocol allows for. In other words, I feel pretty good AND I only had to have the L-aspariganase (sp?) chemo this week. (Alright, the truth is I have no control over my counts whatsoever. Usually, in fact, I feel the exact opposite of what the test results show. I'll be happy and hyper and the nurses will rush in with a blood transfusion wondering how on earth I even walked myself in there. Sometimes I wonder about modern medicine, ya know?)
A lot of people have raised eyebrows at my severe reaction to certain drugs I am on (most likely 6-mercaptopurine), so they ran a test to see if I might have a gene mutation that makes me allergic. Apparently, since ALL is most often a children's disease, they run this test before treating any of those lucky kids. What a good idea! For adults, they wait until symptoms show. Anyway, I hereby declare that I am in fact a mutant. For now, my powers are latent but I'm sure that they will reveal themselves soon. Maybe telekinesis? Extreme speed? Spaghetti out of my fingertips? Who knows. But here's a free tip: now's the time to make amends if you have ever wronged me...
What else is up? Jaci and I have joined our local Brighton YMCA and go every day. (we joined two days ago and have gone twice- yeah!) I am so so so happy to discover that I can swim pretty much as well as ever and I love the refreshing healing feeling of the water. If it weren't for all the screaming children and the cavernous warehouse feeling of the indoor pool, I might even experience some kind of womb-like regression therapy. Does that exist? If it did, I would try it.
I tried reiki the other day. The wonderful woman at the hospital basically put her soothing but firm hands on my head, shoulders, stomach, and legs and used her energy to try and build my own healing energies and alleviate pain. We invited my Mom and sister to be in the room too and they closed their eyes and tried to send me visions and memories of when I was well and happy. I enjoyed the experience very much and hope to learn so much more about the incredible and undeniable mind-body connection.
As for the Murray Inn Registry: Jaci had some QT in Florida with her friend, Anita, Jamie has returned back to LA, Luke flew off to Berlin for the month, Mom spent a lovely weekend with us, Jaci bussed to NYC and fell in love with it, Jaci's back, Jaci and I plan to go to DC on the 19th so we can attend Aaron Resnick's wedding and see some sights. Will anyone who reads this be there that weekend? Lemme know.
That's all for now. Oh! Except my new favorite song is Easy Silence by the Dixie Chicks, who we saw from 4th row seats a few Saturdays ago.
Yeah, who's sick, who?
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Monday, August 07, 2006
stupid ode
Ode to a New England Vacation
(Or But Why)
But why? When the water’s warm
Just a few degrees latitude south
Sure the Council on Aging doesn’t
Appreciate one’s 20’s and 30’s
But that doesn’t mean we can’t put
At least one good nightclub on the
Gulf side of Florida.
And when you go to the lake in
Maine, I say, But why?
You pretend like it’s fun
To splash and bump to ski and fall
Into glaciers and ice burgs
Competing with caribou and grizzlies
For frozen trout. But why?
Who wants to be a minimalist
But the nautical décor in every summer cottage
From Arcadia to Newport makes me
Want to go into the shell drying business.
Lucrative, yes. But why?
Over the Appalachians and over those Rockies
There’s another place, but it’s a secret.
The lake water there is welcoming and clean
Even your puppy will learn to swim I swear!
The oceans are warm and you can get
A tattoo, a bodypiercing, AND authentic Italian food
A few blocks away with the sea still in your ears. Ahhh.
I wonder why anyone would vacation away from the
Alta y baja costas del California.
What is a vacation anyway and should we go every week?
To the Cape, to the Vineyard, to Rockport?
I like Boston but from my air-conditioned aloneness,
Jaci begs me the question, but why?
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