Dave and Marv

   So I am officially now nine days away from my next round of chemo.  It is strange how nine days used to feel like a long time, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.  Physically I feel decent, even though eating and drinking never seems to be predicated on hunger or thirst.  I have to make myself do these basic things that have never been a problem for me before.  But food is just now starting to taste good again so it is time to eat as much as I can.  Sleep is still a commodity that gets tricky.  That good deep sleep that was once an unrecognized blessing of who I was never really arrives.  It has been replaced by a lighter version that tends to be more like a daze than a sleep.  I wake up frequently each night and then find it hard to get back to sleep.  Ah, it is what it is.  I need to remind myself that this is a temporary season of life.
   My friend Dave has reached out to me a couple of times during this episode I am going through.  When we were in high school together, Dave lost his father to cancer.  I remember going to the funeral and really confronting death for the first time.  It was surreal at the time to have such a good friend go through such a great loss.  But what Dave told me recently reminded me of God's grace all over again.  Back then, I just remember that Marv had "cancer." Dave recently told me that his dad had a large-cell, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, very similar to the variety of the illness I have.  Back then his dad could only be treated with experimental  drugs and protocols that very likely taught the medical community more about this disease.  Science has advanced to a place where now this very same disease that took Marv's life forty years ago is being treated with confidence by my doctors today.  Marv was a pioneer in this regard, setting the stage for the recovery that I will be and have been experiencing.  This was a humbling realization, but also one I am thankful to be aware of.  God's timing is once again a blessing to me.
   Onward.  I have nine days.  I have to eat, drink, and sleep.  Oh yes, and I have to get better.  Marv would have wanted that for me.