Tuesday, May 5, 2009


Dear all, It's so nice to have Steve home! We got back to the house around 9:30 pm on Thursday night, after Steve gave a great speech to 250+ people at the Youth Advocacy Project gala, via webcam (It's a little scary that I was responsible for the technology set up; am proud to say that it worked!)
Wanted to share a photo of that evening, below, and one from today, right - in true Steve form, he biked 16 miles in the basement, and I took a nap.
Given the outfits, I think I'm going to propose to the Lance Armstrong Foundation that they take him on as a model for their apparel.
We saw Dr. Spitzer today, who was very pleased with both Steve's mental and physical state. He mentioned that the folks on Ellison 14 really miss him, that they've rarely had so many laughs with a transplant patient.
His counts are inching up, the precautions are still quite stringent, but after IVs and isolation, hand-washing and clorox seem like a really easy deal...
Big hugs to all, and thank you for the prayers and thoughts - it is our hope and prayer that you all enjoy health, and that we can start socializing soon... we've decided that "boring and middle aged" is a fine goal!
Kathleen


6 comments:

Wendy S. Harpham, MD said...

Congratulations! Great pix.
And I'm right there with you on the "boring and middle-aged" as a wonderful place to be.

Wishing you strength, patience, wisdom, and healing as you enter this next phase of survivorship: recovery from treatment.
With hope, Wendy

Mary F. C. Pratt said...

Whew. You folks are more than inspirational. And here's a poem by Wendy Cope that came to mind when I read this post:

BEING BORING
“May you live in interesting times.”
--Chinese curse

If you ask me “What’s new?” I have nothing to say
Except that the garden is growing.
I had a slight cold but it’s better today.
I’m content with the way things are going.
Yes, he is the same as he usually is,
Still eating and sleeping and snoring.
I get on with my work. He gets on with his.
I know this is all very boring.

There was drama enough in my turbulent past:
Tears and passion--I’ve used up a tankful.
No news is good news, and long may it last,
If nothing much happens, I’m thankful.
A happier cabbage you never did see,
My vegetable spirits are soaring.
If you’re after excitement, steer well clear of me.
I want to go on being boring.

I don’t go to parties. Well, what are they for,
If you don’t need to find a new lover?
You drink and you listen and drink a bit more
And you take the next day to recover.
Someone to stay home with was all my desire
And, now that I’ve found a safe mooring,
I’ve just one ambition in life: I aspire
To go on and on being boring.

Wendy Cope

Kieran said...

YAY! You're home. Check out that website now.

Trish said...

hello my dears
welcome home steve
my god you look good in that gear!
thinking of you on this quiet and sunny parisian
morning.
our prayers were with you yesterday at tanguy's confirmation
so rare to see us all in a church at the same time!
much love, as always
Trish, Tim, Tanguy, Victoire and Corentin
xxxxxx
ps new email chocolatebytrish@orange.fr and i'm on twitter

Dara said...

You are both quite inspiring and thank you for your updates on this blog - I've also so enjoyed Steve's poetry - both from a literary and human perspective. So glad you all seem to have rounded a big turn and Steve is home and already biking more than I could even fathom myself and speaking to hundreds with I'm sure the insight and humor we've all benefited from in the past. Please, send him my best.
Dara

Blaze said...

Hi ho, Stevarino!

My friend Dave has had two hip replacements and plays full-court basketball with me Friday nights.

He is the All-Time Winner of Second Place for the Come-Back Award from the Inches From Glory Basketball Guys, which is the official name of my going-more-than-30-years Friday night game.

(The only reason he is in Second Place, all-time, is that we have another player, Gary, who once went in for some routine surgery, his heart stopped on the operating table, he was gone for almost a minute, and then they revived him, and he later came back to play. We figured we had to retire the All-Time First Place Come-Back Award for him, because was dead, and still came to play. It's pretty hard to beat that.)

Anyway, Dave's girlfriend Dori organized a bunch of us to chip in and give him a $500 certificate for a brand-new bike of his choice for his birthday, which was yesterday, since he bikes everywhere, and has been riding this old hoopdee of a bike that is rusted, skips gears, etc.

He was thrilled with the gift, and selected a Jamis, very nice, and today he is riding a Century in the Merrimack Valley.

I am telling you all of this because I fully expect to be able to say, sometime soon, "I can top that! My friend, Steve, just completed his third Century of the year, and just last year..." You get the picture.

You are truly a remarkably strong, dedicated, disciplined, determined person. Congratulations on how far you've come, and how much further you're going to go; you've earned it.

And huge kudos to Kathleen for being so strong, and steadfast, and unwilling to accept substandard treatment and care, and able to successfully balance everything over the past 9 months, it's amazing and inspirational.

We hope to see you both very soon, as soon as Steve is able to walk the dog with company.

Continue to take good care.

Bruce & Helene