June 30, 2006
With today’s fourth round of injections, I have now crossed over the half-way mark of the sixth session of chemotherapy. It has been going very well, without any new side effects. The recurring hot flashes, itching sessions, fatigue, aches and pains are familiar responses and have gone away after some days have elapsed, so they are no longer frightening. The overarching emotion is an ongoing delight about the remission; while I thank God each morning for the wonder of the single new day, a molecule of hope is dancing a happy jig in my brain and beginning to whisper about a remission that could go on for years. I got out the Vidaza booklets and read all the tiny, tiny print about the first trials and the ongoing results in hopes of finding some indications of this possibility, but it is all too new, and longterm outcomes are unknown. This last day of June is the 196th day since the appearance of the MDS.
Today it was very hot at Sanctuary, at 98 degrees with a south wind bearing air it must have summoned up from the Equator. The grass crunched underfoot when we walked and cracks are beginning to appear in the earth. One would think that the mosquitoes would be sitting the day out, panting somewhere in the heat, but alas, they were very interested in the blood bearing flesh moving past. Fortunately, my virtual bath in repellents protects me from their evil intents.