In the trenches......

Thought I'd give an update on my health battles as I sit looking over a pine and spruce forest from my room at Dartmouth Hitchcock in Hanover NH. Im currently receiving a very new treatment for Multiple Myleloma called Bi-specific T Cell engagement. They genetically engineer a protein into an injectable drug that both attaches to healthy T cells in your immune system and your cancer cells. The protein is cytotoxic to the bad lightchains. This type of treatment is the wave of the future. My cancer had spiked and refracted and relapsed past all the drugs I could currently take. This treatment is , so far, been miraculous. It's been months and months of battling, and numerous life impediments that have made my stress level off the charts. Just for a sample: I was due for a stem cell transplant on 12/18, however my wife and I were given Covid by a hospital employee coughing on us the week before the transplant. Due to Covid, I was cancelled 4 days before, and my cancer spiked and I was removed from eligibility, even though I went through hell to get my stem cells collected back in Sept.  Lets see, We were coming home from the dacks just before Christmas and  someone lost a large white pine off their vehicle and it took out the front of our Prius, destroying the grill and all the coolers, fans and radiators.  I had it towed home and I tore  it apart and fixed it, but it took a bit to get the parts. My wife got sepsis on Thanksgiving and went in the hospital for 5 days. They never diagnosed the cause. Numerous other things have happened, too many to mention, but perhaps the coup de gras was on New Years day. We bikepacked into the wilderness in Vt. for NY's eve and had an incredible night camped  near a gorgeous trout stream on the backside of a mountain the AT goes over. In the morning  at 8:30 we were 7 miles from our truck on an ice rutted gravel forest road when my wife caught the edge of a rut, went down breaking her hip and shoulder. No cell service, I employed every mtb skill I've ever acquired, biked out after ascertaining she had sustained no head injuries and no protruding bones or ruptures with internal bleeding. I did dirt track racer back with the truck and loaded her in and drove her to the nearest hospital 40 miles away. It worked out very, very, well as she got a full hip replacement by 5:30 . The shoulder is still healing and it will be several more months until its healed.  She did get an embolism in her lung from the hip surgery, but I got her to an emergency clinic and by ambulance to the hospital quickly and they addressed it. We've taken quite a few hikes with my wife as a gingerly stepping one arm with a trekking pole  and microspikes if there was the least chance of slipping. I'm all in on getting better, even though prostate cancer still has to be dealt with and some other minor issues. We bought a Copper Spur HV UL2 bikepacking tent in REI in Williston Vt. this past Sat. as a carrot for both of us. I'm currently planning a float plane adventure in May  into the last 5,000 acres of old growth forest in Maine to fish for an extremely rare trout, and  a trip next fall back into the  Gila.  I've been knocked down, but I'm back up and swinging HARD.  Happy Trails to all, your adventures inspire me.