I went with my wife yesterday to a local retirement home to visit two of her paintings she’d hung on one of the walls just outside the dining area. We took an elevator marked #1 to the second floor, took a sharp right and began our walk through one of the many cavernous hallways. Read More
Another Perspective
Hope...Frustration...Hope
October 8, 2014
Since my last blog I’ve been preoccupied with treating my CLL and writing Hangtown, an historical novel.
In March I began taking Ibrutinib, the current “wonder” drug for CLL. Three pills a day and the disease is contained and managed. The cost for the first month alone was just over $2700, with additional months Read More
In March I began taking Ibrutinib, the current “wonder” drug for CLL. Three pills a day and the disease is contained and managed. The cost for the first month alone was just over $2700, with additional months Read More
Watch and Wait Ending
March 17, 2014
Over the past three-and-a-half months I have been in a watch and wait phase. This is a period when treatment is not indicated but the progression of the disease is closely monitored. For a couple of those months the leukemia has been progressing negatively, slowly and steadily, while the preferred treatment wasn’t F. Read More
Connecting to the Holy
January 26, 2014
Life is Holy.
I have felt the presence of the Holy many times throughout my life. This is probably one of the main reasons I became a priest, though at the time of my ordination I didn’t know it. What follows are some of the ways the Holy has used to touch my Read More
I have felt the presence of the Holy many times throughout my life. This is probably one of the main reasons I became a priest, though at the time of my ordination I didn’t know it. What follows are some of the ways the Holy has used to touch my Read More
Watch and Wait
January 3, 2014
I saw my oncologist yesterday. He said I am finished with the Chlorambucil. It has accomplished what it can. The long-term risk of damaging my body outweighs the short-term benefits continuing on the drug might provide. I am again in a “watch and wait” period.
It is unclear at this moment if my body Read More
It is unclear at this moment if my body Read More
Time Out: Chlorambucil
December 15, 2013
The only decision made on December 3rd was for me to stop taking Chlorambucil for a while. All indications from the blood tests are that it is working at bringing my CLL under control. However, my red blood cells are also decreasing. My hematologist/oncologist said it is unclear whether Chlorambucil is responsible for Read More
The Infusion Center
November 26, 2013
The check-in for the infusion cancer center is in the main lobby of the Moores building on the UCSD campus. I don’t know about you, but I’d never been to an infusion center before I needed to go myself. It is the room where cancer patients receive their chemotherapy.
It is a Read More
It is a Read More
December Decision
November 8, 2013
After meeting with my oncologist last Tuesday there is some good news and some disappointing news.
The good news is my white blood cell count continues to decline. From a high of 161.5, it is now 42 (normal is 4-10). The Chlorambucil is clearly doing its job. I have more energy and on occasion recall what Read More
The good news is my white blood cell count continues to decline. From a high of 161.5, it is now 42 (normal is 4-10). The Chlorambucil is clearly doing its job. I have more energy and on occasion recall what Read More
In Honor of All Saints' Day
November 1, 2013
Growing up in the Episcopal Church I’d participated in more than a dozen All Saints’ Day activities by the time I was a teenager. It never meant much to me but I loved the music, especially “For all the saints who from their labors rest.” Not only did I participate in All Saints’ Read More
Initiation by Fire
October 4, 2013
Throughout our lives each of us experiences a series of initiations. These are rites of passage whereby we move from one level of awareness and understanding into a new, more expansive and profound one. The church calls these sacraments. Often these initiations involve pain, suffering, an enduring of fear, humiliation and loss of social Read More