Dear BPL friends,
Here’s a link to an 8-minute video documenting a short trip to Emigrant Wilderness in August 2022. If I goofed the link copy/paste this:
Regarding the text below, it’s related to the last minute of the video and I recommend watching that first.
———- Note: Watch the video (link above) before reading the following text. ———-
At 7:45 am on September 27th, 2022 the kids performed a drum-roll and Em presented me with a single 500-mg capsule of Hydroxyurea. After swallowing the pill the kids went to school, Em headed down the peninsula to work and I hopped on the Vespa and scooted to the Little Farm for a run up to Wildcat Peak. We didn’t initiate the fight, but now we are striking back.
My bone marrow is producing too many white blood cells (myeloproliferative disorder); I have blood cancer. This was discovered by accident in mid-August during my annual checkup via a routine blood test. Actually, it was almost not discovered as I have no symptoms, am in excellent health and under 50 so these tests are generally not given annually. If I had not wanted to see my cholesterol levels relative to last year’s values…
That doctor’s visit was on a Thursday afternoon and that evening I met an old friend and we headed up into the Sierra Nevada mountains for a backpacking trip to Iceland Lake in Emigrant Wilderness. Upon arriving home Sunday evening my doctor had left a phone message and email; “Your white blood cell count (WBC) is a bit high, please come in for another test”. Monday I gave another sample and learned that my WBC from Thursday was 101.5 K/uL while the standard range is 3.7 to 11.1 K/uL.
An assistant from the Kaiser Oncology department called the next day and scheduled a bone marrow biopsy for me on Friday. Early on in the conversation the assistant mentioned that the doctor thought I had CML. Before hanging up I asked “What is CML?” “Chronic myeloid leukemia,” she replied quietly.
Now, a month later. More blood samples have been given and genetic tests have been run. I do not have CML, which is unfortunate, as it is “the blood cancer you want to have”. Kaiser has gone as far as they can and referred my case to Stanford. A bone marrow transplant, which if successful would be a complete cure, may be in my future. We anxiously await their call.
Casey Bowden [47], Emily Su-Bowden [47], William (PJ) Bowden [14] and Sydney (Meimei) Bowden [11]
You, my BPL friends, have received this because you are significant to me. Although I rarely post I’ve been here for over 20 years, met some of you at GGG’s and usually spend a few minutes each morning looking at the recent forum posts. Know that I am physically and mentally strong and unequivocally expect to beat this. You may now return your regularly scheduled programming of dyneema vs. hail and iPhone satellite communication.
