A day on the sunny side of the street

While I was waiting in the clinic today I read a New York Times story that deserves the over-used word "heartwarming." It is about the extraordinary friendship between a Dallas man with an aggressive form of leukemia and a German man who donated his bone marrow to the Texan. The transplant was eight years ago and the man is cancer-free, but that is just the beginning of the story.

It was a fortuitous time to come across the story. It took the edge off the anxiety that I feel, and that I'm sure most people feel, when waiting for their test results.

My counts were all up today. Platelets were 154 -- almost normal! (Normal is 155-410). Sure is an improvement over my recent low of 39 on Oct. 14. Hematocrit was 30 (normal is 34.8-43.6), and my white count was up to 2.1. That's still low (normal is 3.8-9.2), but it's going in the right direction.

When I saw Dr. Alyea, he said that the lab was backed up and that my counts weren't back yet. He said I could go home and Melissa would call me in the morning, or I could wait around a little longer if I wanted. "I feel like I went to the grocery store and I'm leaving with an empty cart," I said. "I think I'll wait." Dr. Alyea laughed and said he thought that was a fine idea.

I felt like I had expended enough nervous energy and didn't want to carry it home with me. I was glad I waited.

Earlier in the car, on the drive to Boston, I listened to a CD of sanskrit yoga chants that my friend and yoga teacher, Erin, had made for me. It's really not the kind of thing to listen to while driving. But I felt it could help keep me calm, sort of like when I listened to a meditation CD a while back while making the same trip. Also, I have to confess, I have trouble sitting quietly listening to these CDs while at home, so I take advantage of the opportunity of previewing them while driving.

I was "Om-ing" along with the narrator, Richard Freeman, when I started to get a little sleepy. Last time I had balanced the meditation CD with a cup of coffee, but this time I didn't have my coffee with me. I found a couple of miniature Tootsie rolls floating at the bottom of my bag, but it was 11 a.m. -- too early for candy.

I turned the CD off and turned on the radio, looking for something lively.

I found a jazz station playing guitarist Mimi Fox's rendition of "On the Sunny Side of the Street,"
from her CD "She's the Woman."

The sunny side of the street seemed like a great place to be.