One week down. This week has been a mental rollercoaster. Ups and downs the whole way. I was lucky enough to have my pick-line placed in my arm which is a 100 times more convenient than when it was in my leg. Score one for the ups. I am on my last day or two of chemo and I am still feeling great. Aside from the occasional nausea and head-aches, I've been pretty okay.

     I've realized that this experience is mind over matter. If I want to lay in bed all day and feel sick then that's how my body will feel, if I want to get up and walk around and decorate then that's what my body will do. You have to mentally control your situation because physically you have no rights. Your body can fight that urge to get up and move, but if you put your mind to it, it can be accomplished.

     My family has come to see me and help decorate for my favorite season, and a well-decorated room can turn even the worst of rooms into somewhat of a relaxation. I feel like I'm part of the outside in just that small way. Soon I'll be on my way back to Jersey and back to home. But for now this little room in this mansion of a building is my home, I can choose to make it as much as the original as I want. In this I have control. And it's the control that fuels the mind.

     Something seemingly so insignificant to others outside of the situation is monumental to me. It holds the power to completely change a mood. As this next week starts, I will begin my stem cell transplant. They will recover my frozen cells they collected from me back in June and let them finally return home to an empty house for them to fill. Welcome home, little cells.