Yes, it really has been two years since our last entry on Caring Bridge. I have continued to recover from the stem cell transplant on November 19, 2021 and am flourishing. 

After the transplant I started a maintenance dose of Revlimid to keep the myeloma numbers in remission. This worked well until the Spring of 2023 when those numbers started to increase. We changed the medication to Pomalyst (oral pill I take at home) and Darzalex (injection in clinic) last summer. I seem to be responding to the new medications and I will continue to take them as long as that is the case. 

Multiple Myeloma cannot be cured (yet!), but it can be managed like a chronic disease and that is what we are doing. 

Except for some fatigue from the medications, I'm back to leading a mostly normal life—swimming in the morning, daily activities, and socializing with friends.  I've resumed my Sunday morning bike rides with my men's bike group, the CycleMen.

Of course life has not stood still in our family during this time.

Daniel and Hannah got married outdoors at the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco on a lovely September day in 2022. It was a small, beautiful wedding which Ilana officiated. 

After the wedding Ilana and her boyfriend Mike moved to Christchurch, New Zealand. Mike is doing some climate related research on specialized membranes for carbon capture.  Ilana is working as a hydrogeologist on ground water management projects for a civil engineering consulting firm.  On the weekends they are mountain-biking, kayaking, rogaining (look it up) and hiking all over the South Island. 

We visited Ilana and Mike last February (summertime in New Zealand) and had a lovely time exploring the island with them. We also went to Wellington and had a terrific visit with our friends Nancy, Devin and Abby. Nancy and Devin even got me swimming in Wellington Bay (62 degree water temperature!). 

After three years in Seattle, Daniel and Hannah moved to San Francisco last February. They have a sweet apartment in the Mission District near Dolores Park and are happy to be back in the Bay Area. And of course we are happy because we see them more often.  

We are still being very careful about Covid and we've yet to catch it! So we haven't done as much traveling as we'd like. However, we did finally go to Kentucky to visit my family in November. We picked the perfect fall weekend, leaves on the trees in blazing red and yellow colors and bright sunny days. It was so wonderful after four years to see my mother, Ned and Vickie and Anne and Brian. 

I look back on those intense days of 2021 with amazement and awe.

Amazement at our wonderful medical team with their diagnosis, their plan, and their remarkable sequence of treatments that put the Mulitple Myeloma in deep remission.

And with awe at the response to our plight from all of you, the way you jumped in with your notes, your visits, meals, and words of encouragement.

Most of all I am in awe at Kathy, the way she immediately swung into action with no hesitation when we were presented with this challenging diagnosis, used her knowledge of oncology to help me understand this disease, got me to my appointments in Palo Alto and San Francisco, and sat holding my hand in numerous waiting rooms. 

I'm grateful to be where I am as this new year begins and look forward to moments of friendship with each of you. 

Love,

David