Christmas Letter 2017
Christmas Letter 2017
Dear Friends,
It is my custom at this time of year to celebrate with my friends by giving them the gift of self — to share with you some of what the last year(s) have brought for me.
I don’t mean to make skipping a year a habit, but shortly after Thanksgiving last year something happened that I do not want to go into here. Suffice it to say, I did not feel up to writing this letter, so I missed an update for 2016. I hope to make up for that now.
Most of what has happened during the last two years has been medical, so I will report on that at the end.
When I last wrote, my father had passed away. So in January of 2016, I went back down to LA for the funeral (with Phoenix). These were her first two airplane flights, and she was a trooper.
The rest of 2016 was rather boring. I made a couple of trips to Seattle and the coast, went to work most days, and lived the boring life of an adult.
2017 was a little more eventful. We started the year off with a big snowstorm, and Phoenix and I had a ball.
This has been a year for big-ticket purchases. Instead of going to Maui, I got a new couch, a new computer, a new washing machine (after the old one started falling apart), and a new car. I bought the new Toyota Prius Prime (plug-in), and I love it — candy-apple red with a black-and-white interior. I filled up in early September and drove until mid-November on just over half a tank of gas. I was getting 150 miles per gallon.
In the spring, an old friend of mine (who shall remain nameless) called and told me she had decided to break up with her husband and asked if she could live here while figuring out her next steps. I, of course, said yes — and now I have a housemate. Well, my doctors have been after me for years to not live alone.
During the summer I took a small trip to Rochester, Minnesota, but that was mainly a doctor visit at the Mayo Clinic.
As to my medical conditions — well, what a story.
First, the cancer: my Thyroglobulin (TG) levels have dropped to undetectable. This is the first time since this whole cancer nightmare began that the reading has been undetectable. It may mean I’m cancer-free — or more likely that the cancer has gone so dormant that it’s no longer producing TG. Either way, I hope it’s a good sign.
As to the neurological symptoms:
The last time I wrote, my symptoms were getting worse and I was about to start a new treatment called Rituximab (Rituxan), a super-powerful immunosuppressant. It was difficult finding a dose they could give me without killing me, but once the medication was on board, almost all my symptoms got better. Medically speaking, 2016 was the best year I’ve had in over ten years.
Unfortunately, at the end of the year my doctor left practice and I got a new doctor — who refused to continue the treatments. Instead, she tried me on oral meds that put me in the emergency room thinking I was having a heart attack. They ran every test in the book (still finding nothing) and finally sent me back to the Mayo Clinic, where they said, “Why not continue the treatments?”
So now I’m back on Rituximab and recovering from being off it for nearly a year — most of which I needed a cane to walk.
And that, my friends, is the last two years.
As Tiny Tim said: “God bless us, everyone!”
Love,
Odell
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