Not the Buff I Wanted
On August 3, 2017, I was officially given my buff for the Myeloma Tribe. Yep, that’s right, I was now in my battle to be a “Survivor" of multiple myeloma; my brand new, very own, reality show. I didn’t know on that day that I probably wouldn’t make it to the final vote count, but I did know I was going to do what was needed to “Outwit, Outplay, and Outlast” this thing for as long as possible. Unfortunately, my season was going to take a little longer than 39 days.
Welcome to the Myeloma Tribe
I have to admit I’ve always been a reality TV enthusiast. Not shows like Big Brother or The Kardashians. My tastes leaned, and still lean more to shows that require not only social guile but a greater sense of adventure, particularly Survivor.
For years it had been a fantasy of mine to be a contestant on Survivor. I fancied myself as someone that could play the social game, and at one time was definitely in good enough physical condition to hold my own. I’m even a pretty good puzzle solver. It was my strategy that needed work. Was I a hero or a villain? Unfortunately, while I fantasized about all of this, little did I know, I’d end up playing a game of real life “Survivor”.
The other night, as I was watching the finale of the newest season, it finally dawned on me that a lot of what happened on the show mirrored what had been happening in my life the past year, or vice versa. there are sure to be a lot of people that made this connection a lot quicker than I did. What can I say? Maybe, it was so in my face, I just couldn’t see it. Sort of like trying to find something in the refrigerator.
The blindside
It all started with the blindside. Things in my life were going as well as I could wish for. I felt as healthy as a horse, was running at least 15 miles a week, going to the gym a couple times a week, working my new business very hard, and finally turning a reasonable profit. It felt like I was close to the top of the pecking order and had made good alliances with a healthy lifestyle and good planning. There was also no way I would need my Immunity Idol anytime soon.
Then, on that memorable day May 25, 2017, when my first vertebrae collapsed, I started realizing that I may have some problems I had't expected. That idol was looking like it may be in play. As more vertebrae collapsed over the next six weeks, I realized the Tribal Council vote may not go my way. I had to make a decision. Do I play it or not...…?
My real life immunity challenge
Let’s fast forward to now. I’m now getting closer to my one-year re-birthday, been through countless back operations, a couple of kidney procedures, the whole chemo and radiation dance, a serious case of cellulitis, and many other real ups and downs. I have won some personal reward challenges, like when I was able to go on a mini beach vacation with my family prior to my stem cell transplant. I haven’t hit remission yet, so the jury is still out on what my next steps will be. The ultimate irony is that I’m now in a real-life immunity challenge. Yeah, real immunity.... you know, white blood cells, immunoglobulins, light chains, M spikes and all that interesting stuff you don’t know about, until you have to know about it.
Did I make the right play?
Did I play my idol? You bet! I wasn’t going to let that blindside get me out of this game. I’m going to keep playing and do everything possible to make sure that my torch gets snuffed when I’m d**n well ready. I like being a survivor. Time to go search for another idol...
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