“We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled.
The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let beautiful stuff out.”
Ray Bradbury, author.
When I found that quote a few days ago, I knew I had to start documenting my journey again. I have some dates to share which are worth celebrating.
A little history
There are no dates bigger than June 16, 2022. That was an important milestone in a journey that began in October 2021 when I was diagnosed with AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia). That diagnosis had no precedent in my life. At that time, I had hardly been sick a day in my life and had never spent a day in the hospital unless I was staying with someone else in need.
I entered Novant Forsyth Medical Center for my original induction to treatment for AML on November 17, 2021. I was there because my Oncologist made it clear during our visit the day before that I had better be there. Things were not looking good, and she assured me that if I waited a week the conversation would be a lot tougher with fewer options. Although I might not be the “brightest bulb on the tree”, I was certainly able to understand what she was saying.
So, the process began. The first treatment was referred to as “7 x 24”, which is a polite way of saying I’d be married to an IV pole 24 hours a day for the next 7 days. The chemo and my reactions to it were THE conversation for the next several weeks.
Options
A bone marrow biopsy had revealed a lot to be accomplished during treatment. My body was producing 70% “blasts”. In other words, 70% of the blood cells my body was producing were junk, of no value, incapable of supporting the needs of my body. At the end of my first round of treatment that number had improved slightly but not enough to keep me alive. So, we discussed the next phase of treatment.
Not that long before I began treatment, if your body didn’t respond enough to the first treatment, you were immediately subjected to the exact same treatment again. That was the only successful protocol used for treatment at that time.
Thankfully, progress had been made, and they offered me a newer treatment which consisted of IV chemo for 5 days straight while taking daily oral chemo pills for a total of 4-weeks. I stayed on this protocol for at least 3-rounds (3, four-week cycles). Thankfully, I was able to continue this treatment as an outpatient. It required daily visits to the Novant Cancer Center in Mount Airy for the IV treatments and then twice a week for bloodwork to verify how my treatment was going for the remainder of the 4-week cycle.
Results
By about the end of January 2022, I was in full remission. My doctors proceeded to maintain me in that state for the next several months, until I could get accepted at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist for their allogenic transplant program. Allogenic refers to using cells from another human to replace your blood cells, or as my Hematology Oncologist at Atrium explained it, “we will use stem cells from a matching donor, which are essentially the seeds from which your body will grow new blood cells.”
I entered that program on June 9, 2022. The first week, my treatment involved killing my old bone marrow, so the body could replace it using the new “seeds”.
The new stem cells were “planted” into my body via IV on June 16, 2022, which is why June 16 is a very important day. It was a day of rebirth.
It actually took very little time for my body to adapt and embrace the new stem cells. Very quickly my donor’s DNA began to show as being the only DNA present.
Many times during diagnosis, treatment, and recovery, I have seen the hand of God’s provision in my life. I wrote about it then and you can read my story in a series of posts beginning here: https://thoughtsfrommtpilot.com/2021/11/16/sometimes-life-throws-you-a-curve/
Unfortunately, I haven’t been as free with my time to document and write as I was during treatment.
Over the past 4-years I have returned to church, to work, and life in general. I’ve been blessed beyond my imagination. I have been able to do almost anything that appealed to me. I’ve had no restrictions. I had planned to retire at the end of 2025, but thanks to what I refer to as my 2-year sabbatical (my 2-years of treatment for AML and my transplant), I wasn’t able to accomplish all I had planned to turn the network and IT structure I’ve managed for several years over to a successor. Since late 2024, my focus has been to complete that process, and I finally moved my retirement date to June 30, 2026.
I almost made it…
We left home on May 8, 2026 for a 10-day visit to see both the girls and their families. I had planned on being home by May 18 for an appointment and to finish some of my transition at work. Very little went according to plan, and our travel ended in me being transported to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist by a transport ambulance from Morehead City to Winston-Salem for an open heart triple bypass surgery on May 15 that neither me, nor my PCP (Primary Care Physician) had seen coming.
You didn’t see that coming? No! And, yet I’ve seen the hand of God in preparation and provision all around me. He wasn’t surprised. We’ll talk about that over the next few weeks. I suddenly seem to have more time to write. 😊
Here’s the most important thing you’ll hear me say today.
I told my daughters a few days ago that:
I’m beginning to understand that I can’t take this experience as something that happened to me.
Rather it’s something that happened FOR me.
The alternative way it happens to many people ends up with a trip to the morgue or severe impairment.
God had a better idea.
I choose to be forever thankful. ❤️
In His Love,
Wayne
