Bill Brandon

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

@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.

I'm comparing life before 2019 to Paris, France before WW II. Life has catastrophically changed, and we'll never get back to the way it used to be.

@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..

@billbrandon Bill I will be thinking of you and remembering you in my prayers, myeloma is a cruel disease with so much unknown..I hope that your treatment holds it off for as long as it possibly can ❤️

28 hours later. Terminal blood cancer. Prone to bone fractures. Infection in sinuses eroding bones in skull & spreading aggressively. No bed, not even a trolley. Heroric Nurses and Drs literally running from patient to patient. Our NHS isn’t at risk. It’s broken beyond repair.

@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.

@billbrandon She has had velcade, lenolinamide and a SCT which was not successful as it only provided 3 months of remission, now on last line of treatment which is pomodamide

@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.

@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.

@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.

@billbrandon That’s brilliant Bill long may it continue. Mum was diagnosed in April 2020, unfortunately has not responded well to treatment and consultant gave us 6 months terminal prognosis in April of this year, on her third and final line of treatment and not responding

@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.

Mum is very aware that I’ve shared this photo and tweet, she is very grateful to the Dr’s and Nurses who are run off their feet and to those now providing more specialised treatment on the ward. She has enjoyed hearing the well wishes sent to her on Twitter.

@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.

When I was in high school, I used to spot tornadoes for the weather service. To this day, I worry about tornadoes, but if I know where the tornadoes are, I'm not worried (a metaphor that has carried over for everything else in my life).

I just backed Mark Three: A Minimal and Durable Mechanical Pencil. on @kickstarter kickstarter.com/projects/danpr… backer number 695

@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.

Be honest! Is there anyone left who has STILL managed to avoid getting Covid-19?

@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.

@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.

@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.

@EdwardHamell @daytheon ^Gawande

@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

@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.

@Krispi_Largo @amybtatom @bcbiochemist @clintnwilson @daytheon All I can picture is you standing in front of an incubator saying in a very sweet and sincere singsong voice "What the fuck is wrong with you now sweetie? Hmm? Oh! The piece of shit sensor fell off again! Let's fix that, change your diaper, and start your feed."