A Question for the New School Year
I got around to reading The Speed of Trust this summer. It’s one of those books that I’ve heard people reference for years, but for some reason, I never picked it up. I’m glad I did. The basic premise is simple: when people trust each other, everything moves faster. When they don’t, everything slows down.…
Lab Girl Made Me Want to Plant an Oak
I picked up a book called Lab Girl by Hope Jahren this summer. It’s an option on Del Oro’s AP Language summer reading list, and I try to keep up with all of these books if I can. I’m glad I did. I expected a book about science. It turned out to be a little…
Graduation Day
The morning of May 30 was one I had been looking toward for months. When I found out in March that I had blood cancer, there was one date I circled in my mind: graduation. I didn’t know if I would be healthy enough to be there. My goal quietly became, “Just make it to…
Less Than Two Weeks Left
I started the second, and final, round of infusions last Monday. This round looks a little different. Instead of five straight days, it is one day a week for four weeks. A different rhythm, a different medication, and as it turns out, a different set of experiences. About three hours into a seven-hour session last…
Recovery After Round 1
Quick update from round one, and the days that followed. Last week I made the daily drive into downtown Sacramento, five straight mornings, three hours at a time. You settle into a rhythm pretty quickly. Check in, get set up, sit, read, think, repeat. I had three different nurses over the week, and each of…
Two Days Down
I wrapped up day two of my five-day chemo stretch this morning, and so far, it has looked a lot like what the doctors, nurses, and the internet promised. Pretty manageable. The needle still isn’t my favorite part of the day, but there is something oddly peaceful about three quiet hours each morning with a…
I Didn’t Get PICC’d
Today was supposed to be PICC line day. The step before chemo. The thing the doctor said we were doing. Simple enough. But then something unexpected and, honestly, kind of wonderful happened. I walked into the infusion center and met the nurse who would be placing the PICC. She was fantastic. Calm, clear, and the…
Chemo Scheduled – Round 1
It has been a really good week. I have been feeling completely healthy, which is a strange thing to say given everything going on, but I will take it. Right now, it feels a lot like waiting. Waiting for appointments, waiting for next steps, waiting to get started. I did get a call from Kaiser…
Meeting with Adada
This morning, Morgan took the morning off work, and we went together to meet with the oncologist, Dr. Adada. I’m grateful to report that he seems wonderful. Calm, clear, and the kind of doctor who makes you feel like you’re in good hands, even when the conversation itself is not exactly light. He walked us…
My March So Far
The last eight days have been intense. A couple of weeks ago, I thought I had the flu. The kind that knocks you down for a few days and then slowly loosens its grip. Except this one didn’t. My head pounded constantly. My fever spiked to 103 and above. I wasn’t eating. I wasn’t sleeping.…
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Mr. Zerwas 