Today is the first day of the rest of your life.
I’ve always thought that was a clever quote, for somebody else.
For years, today has always been an extension of yesterday, which started on Monday, the day that I had to go back to work or school. If I am to be honest, I never saw it as anything more than that. Today that quote defines my heart.
I received an email from Alexa on Tuesday. She told me that insurance has approved the cost of care for the clinical trial drug called Ponatinib. Katie and I are scheduled to go back to Houston today so that I can meet with Dr. Cortes in the morning and begin my new treatment. I’m excited, but snake bitten. Although 75% of patients with CML (who have the t315i mutation) have responded really well to this new drug, I’m fully aware of how unpredictable trial medicine can be. If I ever forget, all I have to do is open my eyes.
Next week, we are also scheduled to meet with Dr. Ciurea, my transplant doctor. I’m eager to find out how everything is going with the unrelated donor search. If you’ve ever thought about signing up for the national bone marrow donor registry, then you’re at the right place. This is what it’s like to hope that somebody, somewhere followed through with that decision and that, like me, they have a unique allele.
Moving forward, I know that I still have a mountain to climb. With oncology, stem cell, ophthalmology, and eventual neuro-ophthalmology appointments stacked up around the corner, my rest and recovery time is over.
Today is the first day of the rest of my life. As cheesy as that sounds, it’s all that I have. I’m excited and thankful for that.