I Have Got A Tattoo
I just got my second "Final" tattoo. If Bob Sefer can have a second final tour - on which my wife and I will see him in Toledo in January - I can have a second final tattoo.
I have stage 4 Chronic Lymphatic Leukemia (CLL) and got into a 2-year clinical trial at the James Cancer at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio 5 years ago last month. Though the study was for 2 years, they told me from the start that, as long as I kept coming every 4th Monday and let them monitor my health, they would keep giving me the 28 pills to cover the next 4 weeks.
This was not chemi, but was a stage 3 study - to check appropriate dosage - and has worked wonderfully! I will always have some stem cancer cells - though too few to detect now, though at first 76% of my immune cells were cancerous.
All of the people at the James - MD's, RN's, PA's, CPA's, aides, etc. - have been fantastic and care deeply about my health.
But, because I have a compromised immune system, they want to put WAY too many restrictions on my activities - no going into the attic, must get rid of our chickens and goats, do not clean basement. I told them I would take reasonable precautions like wearing a respirator, but they were not convinced.
So, I told them that I had a new motto which I was going to get tattooed on my arm. They like the motto and I got the tattoo in Ypsilanti, Michigan on Tuesday on my way back to Northern Michigan from Columbus - where I had my monthly appointment on a Monday.
So, here then, is the tattoo representing how I try to approach life and my cancer - or, really, any potholes in the road/path of life.
I wrote the words, but gave the tattooist full artistic license - placement, size, color, font, capitalization or not, etc.
Tell me what you think - both of the message and if the tattoo itself!
Quakertrucker
I have stage 4 Chronic Lymphatic Leukemia (CLL) and got into a 2-year clinical trial at the James Cancer at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio 5 years ago last month. Though the study was for 2 years, they told me from the start that, as long as I kept coming every 4th Monday and let them monitor my health, they would keep giving me the 28 pills to cover the next 4 weeks.
This was not chemi, but was a stage 3 study - to check appropriate dosage - and has worked wonderfully! I will always have some stem cancer cells - though too few to detect now, though at first 76% of my immune cells were cancerous.
All of the people at the James - MD's, RN's, PA's, CPA's, aides, etc. - have been fantastic and care deeply about my health.
But, because I have a compromised immune system, they want to put WAY too many restrictions on my activities - no going into the attic, must get rid of our chickens and goats, do not clean basement. I told them I would take reasonable precautions like wearing a respirator, but they were not convinced.
So, I told them that I had a new motto which I was going to get tattooed on my arm. They like the motto and I got the tattoo in Ypsilanti, Michigan on Tuesday on my way back to Northern Michigan from Columbus - where I had my monthly appointment on a Monday.
So, here then, is the tattoo representing how I try to approach life and my cancer - or, really, any potholes in the road/path of life.
[image/video - please log in to see this content]
I wrote the words, but gave the tattooist full artistic license - placement, size, color, font, capitalization or not, etc.
Tell me what you think - both of the message and if the tattoo itself!
Quakertrucker
70-79, M