Entry #3: big life update
Hello, it's been a busy week. I've been in Seattle for a friend's bachelor party. I was scheduled to fly back to LA this morning but pushed my flight back.
Last week my dad was diagnosed with leukemia. He flew to Seattle from Alaska on Sunday and will be here for the next 6 months undergoing a bone marrow transplant. I wanted to let you know before I posted on socials.
How'd we get here?
My dad is meticulous and that extends to his health (thank you Dad 🙏🏻). We've known for over a decade that he's had a mutation (myleo dysplastic syndrome, MDS) in his bone marrow that sometimes leads to leukemia. To complicate things, he also has another form of blood cancer called multiple myeloma. In 2021 he underwent chemotherapy, and the chemo drove the multiple myeloma down to undetectable levels. For 18 months, his health was relatively stable. Stable enough for him to fly me up to our family cabin in the spring of 2023.
We spent last Christmas together as a family. Soon after his health started to decline. By March it was clear the leukemia was growing so he started a new round of chemo. Two weeks ago he flew to Seattle for a bone marrow biopsy to assess the progress of the leukemia and the effectiveness of the chemo. His doctor scheduled a call the morning after the results came back: the MDS had progressed rather quickly to leukemia. His doctors agreed he needed to come to Seattle ASAP to prepare for a bone marrow transplant. That was last Tuesday.
So what's next?
A bone marrow transplant is a high-risk, high-reward procedure. Doctors will kill his bone marrow (and therefore his immune system), transplant donor bone marrow cells via a blood transfusion, and then wait for the new bone marrow cells to settle into his bones. While the actual transplant only takes a few hours, the process takes months, and recovery takes one to two years. There are potential complications at each step.
Now the good news: if the transplant goes well it is literally a cure for (blood) cancer. The hope is he would never have to worry about the cancer again. My dad has a lot he enjoys doing and work he wants to finish. He's a private pilot and enjoys flying. He's a social scientist, photographer, and writer. He is working on a series of books, the first of which is undergoing community review. But, as he says, having cancer is a full time job and getting the cancer behind him would allow him to return his attention to the people, activities, and work he loves.
What can you expect?
At the core of it, nothing I'm doing will change: I plan to keep sharing my life, thoughts, feelings and progress. Going forward, part of what I share will be about my dad's journey as well as my own. I will be splitting time between LA and Seattle for the next few months. My dad has a support system of family and friends who love him and will be rotating through to help out as needed. I will be part of that rotation.
I will continue to work on Let Me Cook and other apps (and a few friends are going to test it out this week!). I do not plan to put the business on pause. Having said that, my dad and grandma take priority so progress will likely be slower.
What do I feel?
Scared, hopeful, and grateful.
I'm still processing and haven't had the time (or really maybe courage) to sit with the feelings. I'm scared to lose my dad. I love him. Many of my interests are his as well (flying, reading, art), and we connect over them. We talked regularly, and he's taught me so much. At the same time, I'm hopeful this transplant will go well and he will return to a relatively normal life. There is a lot in his favor: he's relatively healthy otherwise, he has a great care team, he has the time to focus on the treatment, and understands how to mitigate the risks. I'm incredibly grateful to have the freedom to spend time with him and help out. It adds to the pile of evidence that losing my job in November was a blessing in disguise.
Thank you for reading, yet again, a long update and to anyone who is going through cancer or has a family member or friend going through it, I have so much respect for you.
- Grant