Hey Friends! It’s been a long time since I’ve written a blog post! Here’s what’s happening with my health and here’s what I’m planning in terms of more consistent communication:
In January of 2021 I made a commitment to myself (and to you) to write a post for Notes From My Journey every week for the year. Little did I know that three months into the year I’d be diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma blood cancer!
I began treatment in March and continued treatment through the year with the hope that I’d make enough progress against the cancer with the oral meds and infusions to be able to have a Stem Cell Transplant (aka Bone Marrow Transplant) at OHSU in September or October. I made good progress and we planned the SCT for October, but as I was undergoing the final preparations for the Stem Cell Harvest everything slid to a halt because there were no beds available due to COVID cases.
Four months of waiting, then in mid-January we spun up the process again and Jean and I moved in with our daughter and her family in Portland to finalize all the tests and get ready for the killer chemo. On February 2, 2022 we did the transplant at OHSU. I stayed in the hospital for about two weeks. Then I was released to stay with our kids in Portland for another month until I finished the almost daily checkups and infusions that would allow me to come back home to Bend and resume treatment by the oncology team at St Charles Medical Center. It was during this process that my resolve to write a blog post every week failed! Sorry!
Because the Stem Cell Transplant destroys the body’s immune system along with the cancer cells, I had to isolate almost completely from that point onward. I had to wear an N95 mask everytime I left the house. I had to get all my childhood vaccines done again and now have to be careful of most any kind of potential viral or bacterial infection. I was hospitalized for a couple of days with an intestinal infection in 2023 but I’m doing well and being careful!
I’m getting stronger! The maintenance treatment I have now consists of an infusion every two weeks, blood draws twice monthly, and monthly visits with my oncologist. I’m in remission right now and most of the physical challenges I face are due to the side-effects of the maintenance treatment. And possibly the fact that I’m an old geezer! I’m only a month away from my 82nd birthday!
I’m walking in the desert nearly every day with my dog Jake, but still isolating a lot and being infectious-disease conscious. Life is Good!
This is going a little longer than I’d planned, but here’s what I’m going to be doing: I’ve experienced some things through my years of life on the planet and life in relationship with God that I need to tell you about. Some of these experiences are “God Encounters” in which I believe God communicated something very specific to me and some of them are “God Interventions” in which God provided or protected in an unnatural or above-natural way. I hope they are meaningful for you.
I’ll plan to get something posted each week until I get the stories told! They’ll go out by email to the “Notes From My Journey” mailing list and I’ll post them to my blog at https://www.jimastephens.com.
Grace to you!
Jim Stephens