So this is Christmas

A few weeks ago, The Smith Compound  reported on the return  of my very own accute myeloid leukemia. (TSC almost always does what I say since I’m the boss here.)

New developments:

While in the hospital for some chemo, I learned I’d come down with pneumonia.

After some  recovery in rhe hospital and more chemo at home, I woke up most mornings feeling much better.

That ended abruptly this week when my day began with coughing so bad and a throat so sore I could not speak.

Mrs. Smith was already up and in another room. I texted her.

Back to my local V.A. hospital. They told me I had RSV. Then pneumonia.

So here we are on Christmas Eve.

God bless us all.

B.J.

Related posts are tagged AML if you’re interested.

#AML #cancer

Murder won’t fix U.S. healthcare

Cheering the murder of a CEO and bitching about our crappy healthcare system on social media appears to be way more fun than fixing the system.

Okay, it may not be fun fun, but it’s for sure an easy and popular approach to accomplishing nothing. 

So who is actually working to fix the system? How can we the people help reach that goal without shooting anybody?

Seriously. I want to know.

Significant campaign finance reform is one key to fixing our healthcare system.

What activist groups, nonprofits and/or other organizations are headed in the right direction?

Don’t tell me it’s the Democratic Party. If they were competent at this or interested in a fix, they would have done whatever it took to trash Citizens United by now or kept it from happening in the first place. They could have set and enforced strict limits on all campaign contributions by everyone and made the information public.

Both major parties like big money. Smaller parties don’t hesitate to take big bucks, either.

Significant campaign finance reform is one key to fixing our healthcare system. Another is scrapping the grossly unfair practice of letting the wealthiest among us pay little if any income tax.

If we don’t have the will to stop big money and big-big corporations from buying lawmakers at every level of government, we won’t fix much of anything.

So I ask again: Who is actually working to fix the system?

Please comment if you have an answer, and don’t hesitate to share or reblog this.

B.J.

#democracy #healthCare #healthjustice

One book sold, one special day

A few days ago I was at the St. Mary’s Cancer Center in Grand Junction when the nurse managing my blood transfusion made my day.

She told me someone had bought That time I had cancer… and added it to the bookshelf in the infusion center, just a few feet from where I was sitting.

It turned out the someone is a writer who volunteers there. He also happened to be there that day.

I had the pleasure of meeting him and thanking him for being there and making the book available to others who might learn from it.

It was a moment I will never forget.

Write on, my friends. The rewards can be so much greater than the effort.

B.J.

#AML #cancer #Writing

If the devil is real

B. J. Smith, 2024

#Poetry

Cookies for life

A nurse was just telling me about the ongoing need for people to donate blood. It’s always in short supply.

She mentioned this while starting my second transfusion of the past few days. Last time it was one unit of blood; today I’m getting two, so I’ll be sitting here for a while.

Until recently I’d pretty much forgotten that I used to be a regular blood donor. At the time I had a somewhat rare type, just like my mother did. Donating just seemed to be the human thing to do (and of course I loved the free cookies after each pint).

Being on the receiving end now gives me some new perspective to go along with my new blood type. It changed because a young man I haven’t met donated stem cells last year for a transplant that saved my life.

It freed me from leukemia for months. Now that the cancer is back and I’m on chemo again, blood donors are keeping me going, as are some awesome medical professionals, family members and friends.

Giving blood saves lives. Plus, maybe you’ll get cookies.

Give if you can, my friends.

B.J.

#AML #cancer #leukemia

December after dark

#Photography

Scenes from a walk by a lake

When you can’t ride your bicycle, sometimes a walk will do.

Get outside if you can, my friends. Get outside.
B.J.

#Cycling #Outdoors #Photography