Reunion With a Mission

Hi blog,

I'm still waiting for the day you say "Hi" back blog, although I suspect it will unnerve me to no end.

Firstly, I saw Nick on Thursday and after hearing about my imploding shoulders he came over and gave me a bottle of Skele-Gro, filled with a "magical elixir" that may or may not have been untreated lake water stuck in an old bottle with a label printed up for minor comedic relief. He'll forgive me for being somewhat dubious.

My dubious face and toothpick

Anyway, getting on with stuff and all that. Yesterday was the 38th Annual Bone Marrow Transplant Reunion at City of Hope in Duarte, CA (which is near Los Angeles). I went up with my parents to what I assumed would be a gathering of a hundred people or so and doctors and a couple famous people to talk for a little bit and all that. Yea, no. There must have been upwards of a thousand people there underneath a forest of large tents and amongst a minor labyrinth of booths and food stops of all shapes of sizes (and cupcakes!). And while indeed there were some famous guests (such as comedian Sean Kent and musician George Winston (link: Musician George Winston has new goal: Say ‘thank you’ in German, a brief article about Mr. Winston meeting his German bone marrow donor)), there was also a young girl around nine years old who played a touching rendition of Kermit the Frog's Rainbow Connection on the ukulele (which she first played for her doctor during treatment) and I'm pretty sure I heard sniffles all around me in that giant tent. Many a handkerchief and tissue were pulled out, I assure you it was very much warranted.

Left to right: Pamela Bundy, Dr. Anna
Pawlowska, Me, and Bill Bundy

I think for me though, the best part about going to the reunion was getting to see one of my oncologists. Dr. Pawlowska (a name I can now spell without any assistance at all, which she thought was rather humorous), whom I haven't seen in several years. The last time I saw her, I weighed an extra fifty pounds and had no hair (that part hasn't changed, as you can tell by the pictures). She greeted me with a patently thick-accented "Wow! You look excellent!" That's definitely one thing you really like to hear from someone who saw you at death's door once upon a time. The five of us (one of the social workers I knew from the hospital was there as well) talked and I discussed what was going on in my life and how things were going (keeping a positive spin on all of it). She was particularly interested in my book and wants a copy of the rough draft when I finish it. Of course, she'll also get a signed copy of the first edition when it goes to print, but that goes without saying.

I did have a secondary mission, co-crafted by myself and Nick, for when I went to the BMT Reunion. I brought with me a handful of information packets describing both Nick and mine mission statement (talking about who we are, our information, what we're working on (the books), and why we're doing it) and also a little about the two of us, including excerpts from our books. I still had several copies left over by the time I was about to leave, so I leapt into salesperson overdrive and handed them out to random people, giving them a brief synopsis of mine and Nick's tale and what the small document was I had just stuck into their hand. I wish I could have better explained it to them and really given them a better idea of what was going on when I handed them the papers, but I only just managed to give out the last one by the time my dad drove up in the car, and with City of Hope being near LA, the sooner we left, the better. Traffic added an hour onto the drive back, which actually isn't too bad, you know, considering it's LA.

To the people who got the handouts: I would like to briefly mention that I have written a kind of Awareness Week series of posts that discusses helpful tips for cancer patients and survivors that you or someone you know may find useful. Please feel free to pass them along if you think they will help.
Awareness Week Part 1: Surviving Cancer
Awareness Week Part 2: Combating Side Effects
Awareness Week Part 3: Life is Mental


On a side note: I also reaffirmed what a light sleeper I am. I love toothpicks, and when I take micronaps or suspect I might fall asleep but am already chewing on a toothpick, I just tuck it behind my ear for safekeeping. Well, I was resting against the window and mostly asleep when I felt the toothpick start to slide out from behind my ear. This brought me out of sleep just barely, but once the toothpick fell out and into my lap I jerked away as though there had been a supernova ten inches from my face (actually that wouldn't have woken me up so much as completely vaporized me). Yea...light sleeper.


Earlier in the post I mentioned the mission statement Nick and I crafted and it dawned on me that it might not be a bad idea to include it. So...

 Life Has No Title by Andrew Bundy and Ultra Souls: The Tale of Mr. 3000 by Nickademus Hollon are separate memoirs that follow the lives of two friends whose paths are pulled apart by cancer yet grounded through friendship. These memoirs document unique, vivid stories told from entirely different perspectives. Life Has No Title follows Andrew on his journey through hell and back, from the diagnosis of Acute Myeloid Leukemia to fighting tooth and nail through post-cancer treatments and surgeries, each leaving their own multitude of scars both physical and emotional. His story is inspirational and filled with laughter, tears, pain, misery, and hope. By providing a tale of survival against all odds this book proves that no matter how insurmountable life can seem at times, there is always a chance and always hope.
Meanwhile, Ultra Souls: The Tale of Mr. 3000 is the other side of the coin. The book follows Nickademus after he’s deeply moved by his friend’s diagnosis. During his last year in high school, Nickademus embarks on a project to run 3000 miles in order to raise awareness and funds for his friend Andrew. During the project, he discovers his passion for running long distance and quickly begins a career in Ultra-Marathon running, taking on and winning some of the world’s most difficult foot races. The two books are intertwined stories of survival and what it’s like to live on the fringes of existence. These tales of determination, depression, will, anger, and hope are told from two entirely different perspectives, yet crafted together through an enduring friendship strengthened through adversity.

Andrew Bundy is a survivor in every sense of the word. he was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 18, just weeks before graduating from high school. After multiple rounds of chemotherapy and scores of treatments and surgeries, Andrew has come out of it all as a survivor. He hopes to use his love of writing and his painful, yet inspiration tale to change the lives of others for the better.

Nickademus Hollon is a professional endurance athlete, most notable as the world's youngest finisher of the Badwater 135-mile footrace and winner of the 2013 Barkley marathon, a notoriously difficult 100-mile footrace. Nickademus is constantly pushing the limits of human potential and uses his gifted athleticism to motivate and inspire others to do the same. 

Anyways, that's all for now. Blog, thank you for taking the time to let me write you. I know it must be somewhat tedious, albeit exciting that you actually have some activity and so much of it! I'll let you take your pick of which one is true.

Your long-winded ruler,