Anthony returns home to NJ

We are back at the Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplant clinic this morning. Anthony left earlier on a plane back to New Jersey, where he will return to his usual responsibilities of home, work, family. He leaves behind another 5 million stem cells, which Jerry will receive in a few hours. We will miss Anthony's abundant patience, a quality that both Jerry and I tend to lack. It takes a lot of patience to be on this journey. Courage, determination, and faith are the more obvious prerequisites, and Jerry has these in abundance. But it's patience that helps you endure the waiting--waiting for doctors, procedures and your body to heal. And it's patience that allows you to put your life on hold and attend to, well, your life. Our dad, who had to endure hospital stays of his own, resigned himself to this fact later in life. "It takes patience to be a patient," he would say. Since Italian was his native language, he was proud of his play on words.

Jerry is resting comfortably now, having had to endure the usual headaches and nausea that accompany this process. Anthony's stem cells are safely stored away until Jerry's IV of pre-medications is completed. Thanks for all the messages of support and thanks to all of our friends and family who are watching over our loved ones back home, filling in for us as necessary. I would say thanks to Anthony but he would only shrug me off. "Thanks, bro" was all Jerry said to him as Anthony was leaving this morning. And that's all that is needed between brothers.