February 28, 2013

Blogging about the minute details of my health challenge is not on the top of my urgent “to do list” for two reasons:

I get distracted (adult on-set ADD, perhaps?).
People need to read to escape the trials of everyday life as much as possible.

When I don’t blog, I have a watchdog ( and he knows who he is) who jacks me up! So, I will save him the effort, this time! I am planning on returning home Friday evening and feel compelled to get this entry done, anyway.

The super chemo treatment in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Emory University Hospital has been preparing me for the transplant process that begins on March 11th. I am planning on returning home tomorrow evening and I am happy about that, even though I have fallen in love with the doctors, nurses and staff here at Emory. After that week of outpatient collection (harvesting!) of my stem cells, the cells are frozen and stored for my return in April for the two week transplant and recovery. This is the time when the old immune system takes a high dive. After that…monitoring and maintenance takes over. There will be a quiz tomorrow on this process for my readers. The old teacher in me does surface.

I’ll keep this blog entry short (I have to call in my dinner order). I must thank some folks.

The posting of messages on Facebook by friends and family have been inspiring and heartwarming. Saying a simple thank-you seems trite, but is often the most effective way to say what one feels deeply. Thank you, friends and family, for your prayers and messages. They sustain me. Thank you, Mary, for the wonderful love and care you give me. Finally, I have enjoyed the cracked humor that so many of you have demonstrated, as well!

Oh, a last note for this entry… I have been making a movie on my iPad for the last three weeks. I have been ecstatic and, at times, frustrated by the process. The iMovie is the culmination of a project that has entertained me for years since I was a young kiddo. It is about my family history with some connections to the early history of Atlanta and Gwinnett County. It’s for my boys. Also, the old teacher in me also has to tie up his genealogical research with a project to show. I plan to post some excerpts on Facebook and YouTube. Just no grading permitted, folks!

Thanks for reading!

Mike Green
February 28, 2013

(1st photo: Liddell Homestead, Gwinnett County, c. 1900; 2nd photo: “The Battle of Atlanta” in the Cyclorama; 3rd photo: Grandmother Nellie Mae Mills Liddell and Mike, early 1980s, Gwinnett Daily News)