Bushwhacking and Other Firsts

LuAnn Cahn, a former local newscaster and two-time cancer survivor, was the inspirational speaker at a survivor’s event we attended last month.  She spoke about her experience of trying something new every day for a year to shake herself out of a funk.  We are having fun brainstorming potential Firsts and have started keeping a list of Firsts we have tried - including driving down the very narrow first block of Daughter Kim’s street heretofore believed to be off-limits to cars.  We had a lot of laughs and felt very, very bold.  LuAnn is on to something!

Unlike LuAnn, however, we are haphazard about our Firsts.  Thinking of something new to try every day would be far too stressful.  Some things on our To Do List are:  see a kid’s movie without the kids, have a crepe breakfast in Princeton, visit a trampoline park (okay – that one is mine alone) and take a Segway tour in good ol’ Philadelphia.

Inadvertent and unwanted firsts have cropped up, too.  For example, Jeff had a couple of issues that required reporting to his oncologist and dermatologist.  Two appointments that were scheduled for early 2016 were moved up to December – a day apart.  A very large polyp was removed from Jeff’s colon which the gastroenterologist said would have “almost certainly become cancerous.”  This means we are now waiting for the results of a biopsy (we’re not too concerned since the doctor was not).  And – Oh Joy! - Jeff will need annual colonoscopies!

On Friday, barely 24 hours after being under the influence of anesthesia, Jeff took a one-hour drive to the Radnor office of Penn Dermatology.  This was a First; he’s only ever seen Dr. Samimi in Center City Philadelphia but she wanted to see him and she was in Radnor.  A hard, new growth on his forehead, at the hairline, was frozen off.  This visit won’t replace his six-month check-up, however.  It seems April is turning out to be the next “Doctor Month.”

Polyps and skin lesions are both fairly common issues and yet we wonder to what degree the harsh pre-BMT treatments caused or sped up these growths.  We’ll never know, of course.  The diligence required feels a little like whacking back the wild – bushwhacking! 

Jeff and I check on each other frequently.  I’m not sure how he could tell I was feeling anxious last week.  He asked, “Are you worried about me?”  I was kind of worried but it passes.

A milestone – a First of sorts – was commemorating five years since diagnosis (October).  Another will be celebrating five years since transplant (in May).  Jeff has come far and he has many more Firsts ahead of him.