Happy Thanksgiving! I suppose that’s a good way to open things.
Let’s see here…what could I possibly be thankful for? Well, I’ll start out with the obvious and say that I’m thankful for..
- Being able to write this entry today!
- For the great team of doctors that I have and all of the medical research and medicines that so many people have worked so hard to develop. If I had what I have now 15 years ago, I think there would be a different ending to my story. Oh and that money that we raised, went directly towards the research of better and more effective forms of treatment! So thank you all! It’s because of the caring and generosity of people like you guys that make things like stem cell transplants a possibility.
- Cheesecake, by far the most underrated dessert of all-time. After I said I liked cheesecake in a journal awhile back, I think a dozen of you brought me cheesecake in some form.
- My family, don’t think this one needs an explanation.
- Friends – i KNOW i wouldn’t be doing as well as I am if it wasn’t for my friends (includes all of you). 🙂
- Our country, yeah the economy sucks, but who cares? The pros drastically outweigh the cons. If you need me to go into further detail, I’ll be happy to.
- Snow! I’m sure I’ll get some backlash for this one, especially with the snowstorm last night, but hear me out! Yeah it’s a huge pain in the ass, but it makes me value summer that much more! People who live in the south don’t value 80+ degree weather like us Wisconsinites do!
- Technology – yeah that’s really broad. Do I really need to go into detail? Without advancing technology, I wouldn’t be able to write these blogs and you wouldn’t be able to read them! Not only that, but a lot of us would find ourselves without jobs or our jobs would be much more difficult. Truth is, we take the internet, computers, etc for granted…and yeah, leave it to an IT professional to include technology on his list of things he’s thankful for.
- And this last one might surprise pretty much all of you…but here it goes. I’m thankful that I got leukemia. Wow, did I just say that? Yep, I did! Why you ask? Well, if I didn’t get it, then someone else out there would have had to get it to fulfill that statistic. And quite frankly, I wouldn’t want that. Plus, I’m a tough bad ass…I can handle it! 🙂 Not only that, but my experience with cancer has shaped me into the person I am today.
So how was my Thanksgiving? It was pretty good! I spent 3-4 days at my parents’ place in Two Rivers with my family. We ate all of the traditional Thanksgiving foods: turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberries, etc…I got to see my super awesome niece, Ava, again. I think I’d be willing to drive up to TR just to see her for 20 minutes at least once a month. I’m still working on my diabolical plan to steal her from my brother, Steve.
For the rest of my entry today, I am going to propose something to my readers…which I am hoping you all participate in.
I’ve had a handful of people ask me questions lately. Questions about lots of things…anything really. It might be about how I feel about something…or maybe about something related to my disease…I don’t know…anything. They said that they’ve always wanted to ask me these things but either didn’t think it was appropriate or they weren’t sure how I was going to react so they didn’t ask. Well, I’m here to tell you that I enjoy answering your questions and reading feedback on my guestbook. So, what is my proposition? Well, I would like as many of you as possible to email me with a question…or a handful of questions. I promise you that I will answer each and every email, and in my next journal entry will feature the top questions with answers…sort of a Q&A so-to-speak. I expect to get a lot of feedback so if you don’t hear back from me immediately, know that I will get to writing you back as soon as I can. I will keep everyone’s name anonymous in my next journal so feel free to ask ANYTHING. Here’s your chance! Throw me a curveball! …and please don’t be shy! I don’t bite…
My email you can send your questions or comments to is: mclean.eric@gmail.com
Take care,
Eric