The Secret Life of Bloggers #3 – Where I’ve Been

Secret Life of BloggersI’ve been away. Most of the time I was away I took a picture or two each day. Now that I am back, I’ve been forgetting to take pictures. šŸ™

I’ve been away having a stem cell transplant. I had a nasty rare lymphoma that doesn’t like to stay away even after you have had chemo, so a stem cell transplant was the way to increase my chances of long term survival. It wasn’t as harrowing as I anticipated, thank goodness, but it wasn’t a day at the spa either.

Now that I am transplanted and home again, I hope to get my blogging mojo back. I’ll start by catching up with where I’ve been and what I’ve seen the past few weeks. So, as per The Secret Life of Bloggers, here are my daily photos. I was going to do all of them in one post, but I see that I am wearing out, so I’ll catch up one by one, I guess.

1-24-2014

2014.01.24 transplant delay

I know it doesn’t look like much if you live where it really snows – but this is sleet and ice – and who can drive on ice, especially if there isn’t much in the way of equipment to handle it? Anyway, it was enough to make the roads very slick and cause lots of accidents and so we couldn’t make it to San Antonio for my pre-transplant appointment on time. Had to delay two days.

1-25-2014

2014.01.25 gift box

In my last Secret Life of Bloggers post, this box was still wrapped in a big colorful plastic bag. Gifts from church family and ESL studentsĀ for every day that I’ll be away/in treatment . I took out a few to take with me to San Antonio for my short stay for stem cell harvesting.

1-26-2014

2014.01.26

Arriving at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio for first shot.

1-27-2014

Hmmm… exotic shoes
2014.01.27

And this was posted on my Facebook page by a friend:

I found this prayer and wanted to shareā€¦

Let us pray to our Lord:

Lord, look upon Kathy with eyes of mercy,
may Your healing hand rest upon her,
may Your lifegiving powers flow into every cell of her body
and into the depths of her soul,
cleansing, purifying, restoring her
to wholeness and strength for service in Your Kingdom.

Amen

1-28-2014

2014.01.28Lunch

1-29-2014

2014.01.29 waitingĀ Ā 2014.01.29 gifts

 

Waiting for Quinn’s Venous Catheter to be put in my neck. Not a fan. Back at the hotel – time for chocolate and opening my first gifts from church family.

1-30-2014

2014.01.30 apheresis

Apheresis – otherwise known as harvesting stem cells. I was one of the lucky few who harvest enough cells in only one day. Yay! I am sure it was because of the persistent cheering by my friends and family, “Go stem cells go!”

2 thoughts on “The Secret Life of Bloggers #3 – Where I’ve Been

  1. Oh, Kathy, glad to see you back, and that whole experience behind you. Thankfully, you were able to have enough of those cells harvested in one day. You are right: the support of the ones who love you makes a difference.

    • Getting back to it slowly but surely. I don’t think I could have done it without all of the support I received. Humbles me!

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