July 19th

Finally! Yes, finally I have some good news to report about my white blod cell count. It has risen enough over the last week to indicate that my body is able to protect itself without chemical assistance. So Dr. Thai has given me some more freedom. It's OK to be out in public, but stay away from people who are obviously sick. I don't need to wear a face mask any. I can eat fresh foods! So I celebrate with a salad. Soon I'll get a pineapple, and later today I'll eat a banana. It's funny to be excited about eating fruit.

Dr. Thai believes that the blood work indicates that the treatment and cure is working. Of course, the only sure-fire way to know that I'm cured (and will probably remain so the rest of my life) is to have another bone marrow extraction. Under the microscope it will be seen if any hairy cells remain. But that test will be performed in the future, some weeks. For now though, I can begin to work and exercise more. I'm only on one medication, an antibiotic for the surgical incision area on my left arm. I have a litle infection right at the place where one of the sutures was placed. It's not bad and I expect in a couple days that it will be just fine.

Am I rejoicing? Not really. It'll be a while before I know conclusively that I'm free of disease. Strangely though I don't feel any great relief either. Perhaps it's that I've felt all along that I would be fine anyway. Perhaps I'm drained emotionally from this thing. Perhaps I'm an ignoramus, who should be jumping up and down shouting, "Hey! I'm going to be just fine, I'm getting my health back. I've got a new lease on life and I'm going to make the most of it!"

July 26th