Bill Brandon

Writer, editor: Learning Solutions Magazine. Living with multiple myeloma since 2017. Secular Franciscan.

[Bill Brandon @billbrandon]

It's my #Twitterversary! I have been on Twitter for 15 years, since 28 Jul 2007 (via @twi_age).

[Bill Brandon @billbrandon]

@Toaster_Pastry The way it used to be really was not so great for a lot of people. Not even in the US. I’m grateful for the changes I’ve seen but I’m not nostalgic for polio or wars or all the suffering that so many endured.

[Bill Brandon @billbrandon]

@claire_murphy88 Thank you, Claire. It’s the uncertainty that makes things difficult even when the disease is not active, at least for me. I hope that you will endure..

[Bill Brandon @billbrandon]

@claire_murphy88 Your mom and I seem to be on more or less parallel tracks, except she is a bit ahead of me in the progression. May God give us all peace.

[Bill Brandon @billbrandon]

@claire_murphy88 For a while I was seeing a psycho-oncologist (funny name, makes me think of that guy in the movie). She was a psychIatric PhD who specialized in counseling cancer patients and their caregivers. If there are specialists like that in Ireland it might be worth looking into for you.

[Bill Brandon @billbrandon]

@claire_murphy88 I’m very sorry to hear about what your mom has been through in such a short time. I remembered her at Mass today, and will keep doing that. Her mm is very aggressive by the sound of it, and it has been really difficult for you as her caretaker. I hope you’re getting some help.

[Bill Brandon @billbrandon]

@claire_murphy88 I have spent a lot of days in the exact posture your mother is in in the picture, even when the second treatment was working. I saw the picture and immediately thought it looked familiar. The onco is giving you his/her best opinion but it isn’t really up to the doctors & nurses.

[Bill Brandon @billbrandon]

@claire_murphy88 I wish I could offer more help. For now good wishes and prayers (they matter) will have to do. I understand what your mom is going thru, fatigue, pain. Thank you for being there for her.

[Bill Brandon @billbrandon]

@Toaster_Pastry I’ve lived in Tornado Alley for 76 years now. My family and I have helped with disaster recovery from tornadoes. I have been through one near miss. I think about them constantly, near and far away.

[Bill Brandon @billbrandon]

I just backed Mark Three: A Minimal and Durable Mechanical Pencil. on @kickstarter https://t.co/qmnYM8DzIR backer number 695

[Bill Brandon @billbrandon]

@bibekum I am a five-year cancer survivor (multiple myeloma, which is not medically curable). I have had a full course of vaccine, one booster so far, and have been very careful. I have not had Covid-19.

[Bill Brandon @billbrandon]

@greerplastics The only way that happens is that both people commit to their vows and keep them. Not being smug about this. It was never 100% easy for either of us. We never expected that it could/would/should be.We just both worked at it. No plan B.

[Bill Brandon @billbrandon]

@greerplastics Wife was an extraordinarily competent RN, always in leadership jobs. I was military, then always in business leadership. We were married 48 yrs, she passed from Parkinson’s in ‘18. It was never easy for either of us. I miss her every day.

[Bill Brandon @billbrandon]

@greerplastics If one of us had not been carrying his or her part of the load, the other one would have dropped the marriage like a bad habit. No idea what other people experience. I’m glad we had what we had, and I believe she was glad about what we had. 2 kids 2 successful careers.

[Bill Brandon @billbrandon]

@EdwardHamell @daytheon ^Gawande

[Bill Brandon @billbrandon]

@EdwardHamell @daytheon At the same time, the best book I read after cancer diagnosis was written by s surgeon who gets it: On Being Mortal. I cried all the way through that book. Then I answered his questions and got the legal and other paperwork done. Atul Kawande

[Bill Brandon @billbrandon]

@ubiquita70 @Krispi_Largo @amybtatom @bcbiochemist @clintnwilson @daytheon My wife was an RN in level 3 and 4 neonatal care for 25 years. I absolutely believe that conversation happens every day.