September 17, 2001: New Hospital

Vol. 12.2

Hi friends. I've settled into the Hospital at University of Pennsylvania cancer center, and thought I'd drop you a short note.

First, thanks so much for the notes that have come in the last few hours, saying you'll pray for Brian. I knew you were a good bunch.

The hospital here is huge, but quite lovely. I'm on the cancer floor--about half the patients are here getting some kind of chemo, and half are getting some sort of bone marrow or stem cell transplant. The rooms are huge and, for the ones getting bone marrow transplants, nearly apartment like. I'm in a single room, which affords me some level of privacy--plus they try not to mix us up too much, as our immune systems are compromised by the protocols.

The atmosphere is at once up beat and dreary--a little like the NYSE today--everyone's trying hard to be brave, there's an air of fear and hesitation, but also a sense that things aren't nearly as bad as they might be. There are definitely some very, very sick people around here. Sheri and I were walking around tonight and were a tad overcome by the neediness. And very, very grateful for how well I've been feeling lately.

Seeing the large transplant rooms also makes me grateful that the stem cell option is available to me. I've outlined the protocol I'm going through--in total I'll spend 5 or 6 nights in hospital over the next three weeks, with a week of outpatient therapy in the middle. If I was doing the bone marrow transplant, I'd be in the hospital for @ 6 weeks, with much of it in isolation, only able to see one person and visiting the rest through video phone. In the stem cell protocol, I'll have a recovery time of 6 weeks to 3 months, and 100 days from the transplant (day 1), they'll know if it's taken. With the bone marrow option, the recovery time is 3-12 months. So, you can see why, despite my general anxiety, we're giving thanks this week.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) I'll be kept pretty busy with testing and the dual dose of chemotherapy and a drug to keep my bladder from failing, then on Wednesday morning, I'll be released. They tell me that I'll probably feel lousy for a few days, but it won't be too bad. I'll have 10 days after that to give myself needles (Nuprigen helps my blood produce stem cells and inceases my white count), then the harvesting starting on Oct 1, followed on the 8th by the big guns of chemo and the transplant. Please keep it all in prayer.

And, of course, please remember those who suffer silently around the world. There are so many, and they cry out from all sides of every issue. Those who perished this week in NYC and DC and PA were loved, children of God all. The hard part, however, is that so too were the terrorists who perpetrated it. And so too those we may soon be at war with. I'm quite sure I have no idea what justice looks like in this kind of situation, but I know that we are compelled are to love our enemies and to pray for those who "despitefully use us."

So please, please pray for everyone, from President Bush to Osama bin Laden and everyone inbetween, especially those whose names no one will ever know. (I've been wondering about the ones no one even knew was in the WTC--especially, perhaps, the homeless bumming coffee in the mall?)

Thank you so much for your kind support and prayers.

love,

Dwight

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