Déjà vu All Over Again - May 3, 2022

Yogi Berra was one of the best baseball players to ever play the game which is proven by his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. However, he may be better known for his wonderful quotes. I am sure you have heard some of them in the past, but when you have the time, I suggest you take the time to read all of them. It will bring a smile to your face.

Here are just a few of my favorites: “You can observe a lot just by watching.”, “It ain't over 'til it's over.”, “When you come to a fork in the road take it”, “The future ain't what it used to be.”, and “Nobody comes here anymore, it’s too crowded”.

Yogi Berra Quotes (Author of The Yogi Book ) (goodreads.com)

The reason that I bring up the “Déjà vu all over again” is that I will be reliving a part of my life that many of you lived with me 13 years ago. Thirteen years ago, I discovered that I had Multiple Myeloma, a cancer of the blood plasma in the bone marrow. Over that period, I have done my best to wake up the next morning no matter the cost. Some days have been easier than others especially over the last two years which have become increasingly difficult. I have utilized 15 different chemotherapies during those years in a variety of different combinations. Some have worked, the majority have not. Sadly, there are none left that work on an ongoing basis.

That brings me to today the day before I enter the hospital for my second stem cell transplant. I am not operating under the illusion that there is some miracle waiting for me on the other side of this. It is more like the tv commercials where they say it is a chance to live longer.

So, over the last few months my life has changed drastically. Since Covid, Julia and I have been very careful where we went and what we did. When eating at restaurants we almost always ate outdoors, rarely inside. As a result, we have avoided that virus, however we did not avoid another virus that you may never have heard of, Rotavirus. It is a disease typically afflicting infants and young children. Julia and I both caught it and suffered roughly 10 days of the worst diarrhea we have ever experienced. This was so bad that I spent 3 weeks in the hospital and lost 10 pounds. It basically ruined what was left of my kidneys which were compromised by my MM. Now I will be on dialysis for the rest of my life.

My cancer has also taken off. For years I worried about my light chains which is a cell that normal people never worry about. For all of you out there your number would be 1 or 2. I have fought to keep mine under 20 for years. It is now over 1,400. As a result, we have had to move up the transplant before is does even more dirty work. It is also attacking my bones as I now have about a dozen with some type of lesion on then.

Because they decided to move up the transplant, I have had a zillion tests in the last week or so. The biggie was a bone marrow biopsy. I had that scheduled for earlier this week. This is one of those tests that they want you refrain from eating and drinking because you have the option to have it done under a “twilight” anesthesia. Well, I woke up that morning and my blood pressure was low. I didn’t know it at

the time, but my hemoglobin had also crashed. So, I drank some Gatorade ate seven (for the salt to raise my pressure) potato chips completely forgetting my afternoon biopsy.

A good friend and I always tease each other about being “stupider” and for sure I won this race. When we get to the hospital, I tell them of my egregious act and the world changes. As a result, I will either have to reschedule or go with just a local and the pain associated with it. Because we didn’t have a great deal of time to pull off all these tests, I braved it out and let them do it with just a local. Since I am typing this, I obviously survived. Yet to let you know the highlight of the procedure is an electrical drill and some type of instrument that they pound into the bone with. That put a cap on any dancing for later that day.

So, I am now through all the tests and just need to meet with my oncologist Dr. Bergsagel to finalize everything for tomorrow as I will receive my high-dose chemo to get this all started. As an interesting sidenote, Dr. Bergsagel’s father invented the chemo that will be used tomorrow.

I will be miserable at times during the next two weeks so bear with me as we can only hope for a miracle.