Tim’s Story

Site created on July 5, 2018

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My name is Tim O'Connor,  currently diagnosed with Non Hodgkins Lymphoma.  I was originally diagnosed with this cancer in March 2016.  I did 6 rounds of chemo.  After being in remission for 18 months, I thought to myself "Gee, wasn't cancer fun?  I should do it again!"  I was re-diagnosed in early January 2018.  I started chemo on my 50th birthday.  Don't be jealous!  Currently at Stanford Hospital awaiting a Bone Marrow Transplant from my own stem cells.  My wife of 17 years and two boys aged 11 and 7 are spending their summer vacation to cheer me on.  The treatment plan at this stage is heavy chemo which wipes the good and the bad, then I get an infusion of my own stem cells which were collected last week.  Basically a CTRL-ALT-DEL on my immune system.  This type of treatment has been around for 30 plus years and has been very successful.  The biggest risk will be infection since my immune system will be compromised because of the chemo.  Secondary risk is death by boredom because I have to stay here @ 3-4 weeks.  I have books, movies, and my laptop to help pass the time.  The total recovery period is 6-12 months.  Successful outcomes require at least 3 things: a good team of doctors and treatment plan (I didn't pick Stanford because of the easy parking), a positive attitude (possibly too much attitude, so got that more than covered), and support from friends and family (that's where you lovely folks come in).  So here is where I will provide updates and you can comment and what-not.

Newest Update

Journal entry by Tim O'Connor

I know I have not updated in a while and many have an interest in how the story turns out.

90 days is a huge milestone!  The hospital provided a list of things you can do after 30, 60, 90, days etc up to 1 year.  The list is fairly specific which means somebody has asked the question more than once if they can for example eat raw fish (the answer is No).  According to the list, I can now safely eat at a buffet, but I guess that still depends on where the buffet is located.  I can't do carpentry or work with livestock yet (as if this was a big problem), but I can play with reptiles.  I can also sit in front of a fireplace which was verboten prior.  This is good news as the temperature has dropped rather suddenly from 105 to 77!  The fake media is ignoring this weather catastrophe and the suffering it is causing among my fellow Las Vegas area residents.  I was also cleared to play soccer again.  My doctor said I had to wait 90 days before resuming the sport.  He said you can play, but you probably won't feel like it.  There is some truth to this.  A few weeks ago I was still struggling to climb a single flight of stairs.  I still have time before the next season starts anyway.  I had labwork yesterday and my blood counts are not where they should be.  The last few weeks they seemed stuck and refused to go past 50% of normal and now they have dropped fairly low.  It is hard to say why this is happening. I feel fine at the moment.  Having low blood counts only becomes a problem if I get sick.  I was told I have the immune system of a baby - which I guess explains why I wake up crying every few hours.  I have a PET scan next week which hopefully will show no signs of cancer.  On the plus side, the PET scan uses radiation so there is still a chance I can get superpowers out of this.  Thanks for the continued prayers and support!

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