What a week I have had! First things first, I had one last follow-up appointment with my cardiologist. I had to have an echo again because of the heart problems they detected while I was in the hospital in May. My cardiologist, Dr. Hailu, said she would give her recommendation for me to continue with the BMT, but she still wanted to look at what was going on with my heart. As was predicted, it is a slight issue -- a leaking valve, but most people, approximately 1 in 10 have this issue with their heart and it would not prove to be anything concerning.
During my time with specialists or doctors, I find myself involved in the most interesting conversations. I feel that everyone has a story to tell and maybe it's the reason why I find it so easy to socialize with people. I have a desire to know people's stories, or to share mine, and connect on an intimate level.
When I originally went to the heart specialist in November, this transplant was just an idea I read about in a magazine. When I told the heart specialist of my ambitions, she not only wished me the best of luck in my endeavors to get accepted into the trial, but ended up being one of those positive voices in my head that encouraged me to press on in my weakest moments.
This trip to the cardiology specialist was no less inspiring. I told her that, after 8 long months, I had been accepted and I begin my chemo on July 15. I also told her about my fertility experience and how I didn't have a donor -- how my faith is the only thing keeping me motivated to go through this thing knowing that I will be menopausal and infertile after. Even the feeling of saving eggs sometimes feels like I didn't do enough. I told her of the last minute scramble for a donor wasn't quite what I had expected of my experience with Hopkins, of not being armed with all the information for such an austere process, and how disappointing that was for me. I pray that I have read and researched enough so that the same kind of loophole won't find its way to my Bone Marrow Transplant.
She then shared her life story. How she married in her thirties and thanks God daily that she didn't have children with him as they divorced many years ago. She went on a blind date at 41 and knew at that moment she had met her husband. Six months later they were married and one year later she had their first and only son. They've lived a happy and loving life since. As a woman in her fifties, it was her gift to tell me that life is so unpredictably wonderful. That my life is about to change in ways I could not possibly imagine yet and everything that happened before this transplant will not only seem, but will also be, another lifetime ago.
I look forward to bringing with me, in this new life, all of the wonderful memories of the past 3 decades, but I also look forward to creating a new existence for myself. I take with me a few words of advice to live by that I've picked up from some of this centuries most amazing women:
Cathy Black: "The worst-case scenario is rarely as bad as you think."
Oprah Winfrey: "Worthiness is our birthright."
Suze Orman: "Happiness [is a quality of a wealthy woman]. When you're happy,
you don't spend your money on things you don't need."
Desiree Rogers: "Laissez le bon temps rouler!"
Carine Roitfield: "I don't know what I will do next but I cannot do the same for the next 10 years. I love to change."
Thank you for reading.
Peace and blessings,
Christina Madry
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