Tuesdays with Amy

Yesterday was an amazing day. I made my entrance back into the world and experienced life again.

I began my day in iPOP around 9:30 am and the only news was regarding my magnesium levels being low, 1.2 after being 1.4 just yesterday. A safe range is between 1.3-2.0. I also had my stitches removed from my catheter site today. It completely skeeved me out. When they remove the actual catheter, which I hear they just pull out from my chest(OMG!) I am requesting a Xanax. My charge nurse told me I won't have to receive the bone marrow aspiration I was having anxiety about in the beginning of the process, the one that my brother had pre-transplant that is quite painful, so I have been getting off pretty easy without experiencing uncomfortable procedures and I'd like to keep it that way. After staying an extra hour in iPOP to receive magnesium intravenously, we left around 12:30.

Next we went to Whole Foods. Amy is addicted to Whole Foods. She goes everyday and it's become an inside joke that I find amusing. However she's so healthy, with the body of a goddess, you can't help but think the classic "Harry met Sally" quote: "I'll have whatever she's having." In keeping with my ungoddess-like physique, I of course indulged in one of my BMT cravings: rocky road ice cream on a waffle cone, but at least it was organic. Ha, that's funny - organic. I always seem to completely get it and fall short on execution BUT this time I think it's not completely in my control and I'll explain my theory.

The thing is, I not only received my appetite back, I have the oddest cravings for things I would never have eaten before. I'm crediting it to my brother's marrow. It's bizarre having someone else's concentrated blood flowing through your arteries and reacting to foods you never did previously or craving others like never before. I'm starting to receive complications or indications of graft versus host disease which my charge nurse explained is good. I don't want the disease but to show signs of it means my brother's marrow is attempting to graft and all signs of my own production of marrow are dissipating. If these food cravings and the symptoms of gvhd are real, then I am beginning to graft (produce) my brother's bone marrow.

After Whole Foods we returned to the house to regroup and then we decided to go out to the water, off the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. We ended up sitting on the boat and calling Amy's friend who is the captain. He decided it would be a perfect day to sail out for a couple of hours and was on his way to take us out into the Harbor. Dreams do come true! We were even courted by a fellow sailing comrade docked close to us to go out with him. He said he just couldn't resist the opportunity to have beautiful women join him on the water. Ummm I don't think he got the memo that I'm bald as a cancer patient with a catheter hanging out of my chest? Men, I just completely adore them. That made my month.

Well you can't have a sail trip without snacks so we returned to -- you guessed it: Whole Foods. Amy is also quite gregarious around these parts so after 2 lengthy conversations with comrades while snacking on 2 chocolate chip pecan cookies and other various samples from the hot bar, we decided to check out. The cashier immediately said: "Weren't you just here?" I thought that was absolutely hilarious.

We returned to the water to wait for the Captain to begin our sojourn. Unfortunately, by the time Michael arrived there was a monsoon and it was the end of our sailing trip. We did end up having the best conversation regarding my astrological and rising sign. The Captain appeared to be well informed on the subject matter because he was an "official astrologer". I can't wait to discover more of Captain Michael's predictions of my future while sailing the Chesapeake Bay.

Next we decided to surprise our friend Carlos with a visit. I haven't seen Carlos since my birthday so it was great to receive a hug from him. We chatted about his newest hobby, golf, and how Amy's finally going to start hitting the range with him like she said she would. That's two hobbies she re-committed to within the hour. Rule #1: Be a better you.

Lastly, we ended our evening in the car chatting with Ira on speakerphone about an upcoming art exhibit and her most recent trip to Puerto Rico. I ended my day as good as I began it -- filled with joy in my heart, sharing stories and laughter with good friends from both near and far.

Since this Sunday is my Day 30 post-transplant, beginning next week I will only have to go to iPOP on Monday, Wednesday and Friday while having my weekends off. I am so thankful for my Tuesdays with Amy and (sometimes Ira) and want to specifically thank Amy for helping me make it through such a tumultuous period of my life.

Thank you for reading.

Peace and blessings,

C. Madry