Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

This "scary" story might have been better told last week during Humor Blogger Dot Com's Halloween Carnival. But last week was for frighteningly funny tales, not ones that bring you down.

The shock and "awe, shit" has passed...somewhat. My hematologist called me in to his office two-and-half weeks ago and it wasn't for a game of dominoes. Two years ago, almost to the day, I underwent a bone marrow transplant. It was the termination of a long six months of chemotherapy and was intended to rid my body of the cancerous multiple myeloma. Well, it's back.

This development is not uncommon and I shouldn't be surprised. As the doctors explained it to me, I'll always have multiple myeloma - it's just a matter of degree of severity. That's the bad news. The good news is that while multiple myeloma isn't curable it is containable. Nevertheless it's a bummer. Ironically, with all the twists and turns this blog has taken over the last two and-a-half years - it started out as a vehicle to keep my family up to date about my trials and tribulations on the state of my health - it looks like both the blog and I have come full circle. If you want a quick tour of my first encounter, the posts I wrote back then are collected here. I restarted chemo two weeks ago. My third session's today. Looks like I'll undergo another bone marrow transplant some time in the new year.

I intend to do periodic updates about my bout with the big C but I hope it won't overtake my usual blog content. Like they say: humour is the best medicine! I may miss a day or two here and there because the side effects of multiple myeloma and the chemo drugs I'm on to treat it - from past experience - tend to knock a fella out from time to time.

For now, though, for those of you without first-hand experience in these kinds of things, I've made a helpful little list.

Cons of chemo:

- anemia, fatigue

- pain

- insomnia

- nausea

- loss of weight

- loss of appetite

- loss of hair

Pros of chemo:

- I can sleep anywhere in the house, anytime!

- I can spend the day immobile on the couch, with an excuse!

- now I can spend 5 more hours a day on the computer...on the couch!

- if I throw up on the couch, I can move to the recliner. I was spending too much time on that couch anyway.

- I can wear all those pants I bought 2 years ago when I lost 70 pounds!

- hey, I can lose those 70 pounds I gained back over the last two years! And we'll save a bundle on grocery bills!

- oh boy, I won't have to get a haircut for 7 months!

Ya see, there is an upside to all this *he tried to say convincingly*.

;)