Dan's First Blog Entry

I have finally reached a point when I can actually sit and concentrate on any one thing long enough to form coherent sentences. And adding to this blog has been a high priority of mine since Ali started it, and I am happy to finally now have an opportunity. Unfortunately, Ali has covered most topics, but I will try to cover a few areas from a personal side that may be missing.

I would like to start off by thanking all of you who have shown such incredible support for Allison and I during our time of need. Everytime I hear about how many, either quietly in your homes, or even in your church groups and friendship circles, are thinking and praying of us, it simply makes me speechless. I had no idea so many people cared, and this is something that serves as a tremendous source of strength for both Allison and I. Goodness knows, we both need it...on our first day to the hospital, not only did Ali drive, but we got lost on the way (two things that never happen, and a sign of the stress we're under).

Ali has been doing a great job keeping everything up to date, and so I don't have a lot of new information or pictures to present. However, I would like to share a prayer sent to us by Mr. Moynihan (Ali's father), that I find especially touching and truly reaches my heart. This prayer was sent to us on Day 2, entitled "Live Strong!" and is one that Mr. Moynihan and many of his friends know by heart and say for us each day:

Thy name is healing, O my God, and remembrance of Thee is my remedy. Nearness to Thee is my hope, and love for Thee is my companion. Thy mercy to me is my healing and my succor in both this world and the world to come. Thou, verify, art the All-Bountiful, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. (Baha'u'llah, Prayers Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 262).

Each day in chemotherapy lasts about four hours, with two hours of normal saline hydration, and the rest full of chemotherapy drugs and a balancing act of anti-nausea drugs. The nurses have been very good at helping to find the right combination of drugs to minimize my side effects, and I am extremely greatful to them for that. Even still, there is simply no way around the lousy feeling, and I find myself going stir crazy sitting in a chair being pumped full of poison for hours on end. However, it is a means to an end, and necessary to recovery.

Most mornings now I find myself waking up at about 0330-0400 due to an unraveling of my stomach, and I try to figure out what my stomach is able to tolerate. Lately it has been crackers (saltines, which help to an extent), and Mom's favorite chicken noodle soup. While they work reasonably well, they are intended for a different type of sickness. The good news is that the side effects with my stomach are apparently resilient to more varied and complex foods...like PIZZA! One of the world's small miracles I suppose :)

Ali has been posting mostly the pictures with meaning and that tell a story, so here I will post some of the others :) Here is the morning of Day 2, when I wasn't feeling so well (call it morning sickness). Luckily the dogs were there for comforting.



And here is me all doped out getting ready for going to treatment one cold morning. As it turns out, this is about how I look most mornings.

Here is a picture of me fighting down something simple like a glass of water (which makes my entire esophagus burn):


Regardless of all this mess, Ali and I are getting through, thanks to the terrific support of our friends and family. We are truly blessed to have so many of you thinking of us in our time of need, and cannot possibly express how much it helps us or ever hope to repay you for your generosity and good will. God speed to you all. Through it all we are relying on friends and family to keep us sane, as well as the decades of mental and physical training that makes us who we are...yes, that means when we have time and can concentrate enough to do so, we play video games :) It helps to bring back a little bit of normal life, even if for a very brief amount of time.

Thank you all.