Still Moving Forward.

Just when you thought it was safe to circle a date on your calendar, my dates have changed. We are now planning to start on Friday, March 10. We'll start with the good news: the dates moved based on confirmation with the donor. So we have a donor. They are a full match. They have agreed to donate their stem cells; and they have dates on their calendar for donation. 

The last part is the key, of course. While the actual collection of the stem cells takes place over a day, there is work to do prior to that - a series of shots to stimulate stem cell production. So the fact that we have all that lined up is pretty good news and pretty inspiring, too. That's a word I've heard a few people use in recent weeks. People have commented to me with variations on the theme that I'm inspiring them, simply by how I'm "handling this" or how positive I remain. I do get that people are being kind and compassionate when they offer up these compliments. To be honest, it makes me scratch my head a bit as it feels like I'm doing nothing but waiting.

Sure, I continue to work, to see people (carefully), to be myself. But what's the alternative? Even if I weren't angry at the things that I am missing or will have to miss in 2023; even if there are many times when I look back with nostalgia at how simple life seemed pre-lymphoma;  times when I just wish that this wasn't part of who I am and who I have to be; most of the time, I can find the positives.

I fall back to the great response I had to R-CHOP; to the science that discovered the mutations that would have likely made an auto-SCT a futile effort; to the advances that has made this possible; and to the hope that a successful allo-SCT offers. 

That to me is inspiring.