Greetings to all!  Today is the one year anniversary of my diagnosis.  To say it has been one hell of a journey is an understatement.   Since my last entry in April, quite a bit has happened.  First off, I am feeling much better.  The transplant along with the maintenance chemo regimen that I am currently on is doing the trick!   For the most part,  I have more energy and am able to participate in regular life activities with out too much trouble.  Every once in a while I still have some side effects from the chemo and will need to rest more frequently, but overall I am feeling much better now than I did a year ago at this time.  

In my last entry I mentioned the vaccinations that I would be receiving.  I had the first two COVID vaccines back in April and May and two weeks ago, I received stage one of my childhood revaccinations.  I had 6 shots that day along with my regular injections of chemotherapy.   Some of the vaccines I received many of you will remember getting as a child such as DTaP, polio, pneumonia, hepatitis etc.  An additional one given that many of you may have had as adults is called Shingrix to protect against Shingles.  There are three more stages coming  until I will be considered fully vaccinated and they are spaced two months apart.   The next one will take place in mid-August.  In the meantime, I have been told to wear a mask indoors when around others and to try to limit contact with larger groups of people.  As I get further along in the re-vaccination process, I will be able to loosen up a bit on those restrictions. 

As you know, I worked remotely through the end of the 2021-22 school year.   I started back "in-person" on June 22nd and it has been great to get back to working with others "live".     I plan to be in in-person again in the fall when students start coming back.  I'll have to mask up until the vaccination stages are done in December, but this is certainly progress!  

With my energy improving, Mary and I have been able to much more active.  While we still have had to isolate, we have been to the cabin a couple of times where we hiked, went biking and kayaked.  It felt great to have the energy to do these activities and made me appreciate even more the work my medical team at Mayo has done to help me overcome the barriers that Multiple Myeloma was placing on my life.  In that spirit, I  also need to thank all of you who have supported Mary and me over the past year.  Without your prayers, support and kindness the journey would have been much more difficult and I'm not sure I would be in the healthy situation I am in today.  I will give you an update as the school year gets underway this September.  In the meantime, may God bless all of you and thanks again for all of your support!

George