in the news

Food Stamp Use Soars, and Stigma Fades

received h1n1 vaccine

As planned, after work I went to Sloan late this afternoon where I received the inactivated H1N1 vaccine. The "inactivated" form is the injection as opposed to the "live" form which is the nasal spray vaccine.

Allogeneic stem cell survivors are not permitted to receive the live vaccine due to our suppressed immune system.

Learn more about the inactivated and live vaccines.

In other news: Happy Thanksgiving!

green light for h1n1

I received the green light from Dr. C-M's office this afternoon that the H1N1 vaccine will be available tomorrow. Their supply, I was told, is limited and it seems like it is being administered in waves. I don't know when it will be available again after tomorrow, so I told his receptionist that I'll be there.

thank you!

Thanks everyone for your thoughtful well wishes.

The cough is puttering out. The runny nose seems to be gone and my energy is quite good.

Thank goodness for modern medicine and that this will be a short work week!

feeling better, but cough still there

I returned to work on Friday after taking Wednesday and Thursday off.

I finished the Z-Pack, but still have a few days of the Tamiflu left.

The cough has weakened considerably, but it's still there. I'm feeling better.

I hope the cough will be more or less gone by Monday.

upcoming lymphoma workshop

On December 15th from 1:30-2:30 EST, CancerCare will help host Update on Lymphoma Treatment from the 2009 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting.

Click here to learn more and/or register.

at home with bronchitis

After a week of dealing with a stubborn, nasty cough, I resigned to the fact (and my parents' pressure) that it wasn't getting any better and headed to Sloan's Urgent Care Center (or emergency room) last night after work.

An x-ray of my chest and blood were taken. To my surprise, my x-xray was clean. And my blood counts were normal. Based upon my symptoms (sore throat, persistent cough, runny nose, moments of heavier breathing) and the absence of fluid on the x-ray which is associated with pneumonia, bronchitis was the diagnosis.

The attending nurse admonished me for waiting so long to get this checked. No more than three days, he told me. With my history, such a problem should be addressed much earlier.

The admonishment didn't end there. I received more of the same when I returned home at about midnight.

I'm not afraid of going to the doctor. That clearly isn't an issue for me. A mix of stubbornness and misplaced hope is where I went wrong, however. With this new job, I really didn't want to miss any work or time used to prepare for it seeing a doctor, so I rested on the stubborn hope that my body would heal itself in a reasonable time. But, with others around me getting sick with the flu or flu-like illnesses, I realized that I shouldn't play around any longer, especially since I'm still immunsuppressed.

Lying down on the hospital bed waiting for my medications to come from the pharmacy, I was disappointed in myself. Remembering how Alese and other friends suffered from pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses, I was saddened by my own hubris.

I've been advised to stay home for at least the next two days. The doctor said I should begin to feel better by Thursday or Friday.

I was given "Z-Pack" (Azithromycin), an antibiotic, and Tamiflu, a prophylactic against any potential viral infections.

harlem river photography

Every Wednesday, a faculty member gives a 6-8 minute talk on a topic of their choosing to the student body. It's my turn this week. I spent yesterday afternoon preparing a virtual tour of my photographic treks along the Harlem River using PowerPoint.

That said, I don't believe I've made a post informing you of my photography website, Harlem River Photography. It has been up for several months now. Enjoy!

lymphoma news

Lipid Screening Recommended for Radiation-Treated Hodgkin's Survivors

cancer news

Abdul-Jabbar Goes Public With Leukemia Fight

day +810

The past two weeks have been very busy. I've felt a little overwhelmed at times, but continue to press forward giving it my best.

Prior to two weeks ago, it had been my custom (more or less) to exercise in the morning before preparing to leave for work, but I've been too tired to do so. I pushed the snooze button on my alarm clock in favor of that coveted extra hour. And of course, when I returned home in the evening, there would be absolutely no desire to hop on the stationary bike.

The World Series didn't help much either. With most games ending around midnight, I felt exhausted the next day. Thankfully, the Yankees won and the Series is over, so I can get some rest.

I have wondered if I'm taking on too much right now. Aside from teaching, I try to participate in a number of activities after work. I continue to tutor adults on Monday evenings after work. On Tuesday evenings, I try to attend these great Buddhist lectures downtown, but have missed several during the past weeks because I get home so late from them.

As expected, I haven't been shooting like I had been before working. So, when I can - the weekends only so far - I try to get outside to catch something.

Volunteering at the food rescue program is one Saturday per month, so that's not bad.

When it comes to blogging (and responding to personal e-mails), it's left to the weekend. That's the only time when I'm able to catch up and even then, I tend to be brief.

The issue of time management is something I'm working on. I'm giving this job my all, but I also think it's important I continue to keep my other passions aflame when possible. How do I balance it all? Can I do it all and still feel relaxed?

In medical-related news, I was informed this past week that one of the 8 medications - Prevacid (Lansoprazole) - that I've been taking ever since my transplant is no longer needed. I was hoping that at least some of the others, notably Multivitamin and Folic Acid, would share the same fate but no. So, there are 7 now but hey, it's one less so that's really good news.

In addition to this, I'll be seeing a nurse practitioner going forward. No more appointments with Dr. C-M unless needed. Two years out, I'm at a stage now in which my care has been transferred to Sloan's new Allogeneic Transplant Survivorship Program. All my follow-ups will go through this program now and its nurse practitioner, whom I've met. She works closely with Dr. C-M and will be informed of my progress. Of course, if my health begins to go downhill, he'll be there.

The prizefighter pushes on. . . .

young adult lymphoma survey

Young Adult Lymphoma Survey

Were you diagnosed in the last 18-30 months, between the ages of 22-29, with either relapsed (your disease came back) or refractory (your disease did not respond to treatment) lymphoma?

If so, there is a qualitative dissertation research study to better understand the experiences of experiences of people who have gone through relapsed or refractory lymphoma in young adulthood for which you may be eligible. This study involves two phases:

1) one face-to-face interview and
2) email interviews with the researcher.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Jennifer Mills, LMSW, MPH, New York University School of Social Work at yaresearch@gmail.com for additional information.

continuing the tradition

At about 11:15 this morning, the elite female runners passed by my position on the northern pedestrian walkway of the Madison Avenue Bridge. For what its worth, I saw Paula Radcliffe and Derartu Tulu, the marathon's female winner, whiz by in seconds. No more than about 15-20 minutes later, the pack of elite male runners zipped by. Not having done my homework, I wasn't able to identify any of them, however.

It was quite cool and overcast. The sun struggled to peak through achieving only moments of success. Very few people watched from the bridge. The vast majority of spectators gathered just east of it on 138th Street in the Bronx.

I photographed the runners crossing the bridge for about two hours from 10:30 to 12:30 before I had become exhausted by the biting cold wind and decided to return home.



Photographing the runners has become an unexpected tradition of mine. Yet another of cancer's unexpected blessings. Three years since I was discharged from the hospital after my transplant, I continue to shoot along 138th Street.

In all the previous years, I watched the marathon from home not even aware, I don't think, that the course winded through my neighborhood just 20 blocks away. It's amazing really. . . . Discoveries are happening all the time.