Before and After Part 2

(Reader's warning:  There will probably be more Before and After posts than there were Star Wars movies.  Hopefully, these come out in an order that makes a little more sense than the Star Wars saga.)

I was preparing an email for my friend Rupert and wanted to share some of the photos from Amy's wedding.  Rupert is a dear friend who lives in London.  His family stayed with us for their winter break one year when we lived in Florida.  Amy and I spent a weekend with Rupert on our way back from Spain in 2006.  Amy and her 2 friends who backpacked through Europe also stayed with Rupert on their way home.  In 2008 (?) Rupert, his lovely wife Tracey and beautiful toddler Henry made the trek to Ohio for a visit and we had a wonderful time.

Rupert and Tracey had planned to come to Amy's wedding but were unable due to health issues with Tracey's father.  We had talked some before the wedding but Rupert didn't know about my health problems so I called him a few weeks ago to catch up.

As I was going through the wedding photos, I came across this one and it made my cry.

Yes, some of it was from the change in my physical appearance but some of it was wanting to be that person who wasn't battling a life threatening illness.  As I looked through the photos, it reminded me of what a wonderful "before" time was Amy's wedding....before the diagnosis, before the transplant, before the decline in my strength, before I was a burden to my family.  So many befores.

I have a picture that comes into my head to motivate me for the after.  Its also from Amy's wedding.  It's this one.

I love those girls so much and want to make sure I can be a strong presence in their lives for many years to come.  Of course, Al is important, too, but I want to make sure that I can help my girls grow into the awesome women they have the potential to become.  And that's a lifelong process.  When I get frustrated about superficial things like the abdominal bloating or my lack of hair, I think about how fortunate I am to have the potential to be around another 20 years.  Even recently with this disease, a 20 year life expectancy was pretty much unheard of.  Now, with the transplants and other treatments, patients are achieving that.  And, as time goes by and new treatments are found, I'm hopeful that 20 year number will get even bigger.

We will be going to a wedding in the end of August.  John, who is the son of one of my best friends, Allyn, will be marrying Jackie in Santa Monica.  I'm looking at that as another milestone on my after journey.  Its another step toward normalcy and I hope I am in much better condition by then.  I probably will still require a head wrap but maybe the bloating will be down and I can wear a somewhat stylish dress.

So, onto my after, whatever it looks like.