This Machine Killed Cancer

I have to apologize for not writing on here in so long.  It’s mostly because I’ve been busy living life again, instead of being stuck in hospital rooms where I have all the time in the world to blog.  Plus the fact that most of my online time is spent on my phone, which is not an ideal blogging platform.  Anyway, excuses…

In early January, I finished my radiation treatment.  I lost all my hair again and have been pretty wiped out for the rest of the month, but it’s good to be done.  That was my last cancer treatment, hopefully forever!!!  One of the best things to come out of the radiation treatment was that my doctor (Dr. Morris, head of radiation at UNC), looked at the scans from early December and said that he would consider it a complete response.  According to him, the spots that appeared on my brain in the MRI are just how a brain looks after lymphoma.

So that’s two great things to mark an end of this crazy saga.  I say “an end” instead of “the end” because I can’t ever really close the book on it coming back.  I’m still going to the hospital every week or two to get checked up or scanned.  It’s kind of hard to imagine that this might all be behind me.

Rebekah and I have moved out of our fancy downtown apartment and back in with her parents to try and save money while work is being completed on the house.  I’m plugging along on it when I feel well enough to work, outfitted in respirator, gloves and goggles to keep myself safe in the process.  The walls and ceiling are all torn down and the big tree that had to go in the backyard has been felled.  We have our second meeting with the architect tomorrow and should have some plans together soon.  I’m hoping that we’ll have it at least livable by this summer, even if it’s not completely finished.

I’ve also begun practicing with my band, The Future Kings of Nowhere, again.  We’re brushing off the cobwebs and preparing a bunch of new material for the upcoming album.  We’ll be playing out live again soon - first show is on May 7th at Motorco in Durham.

Sorry again about how long it has been in between posts.  I’ll try to keep putting out short updates every now and then to let you know all is well here in Durham.