Brian Blum

A rigorous medical journey ends in a breakthrough, in the form of CAR-T therapy, achieving a rare, hard-won cancer-free result.

Life is not a straight, flat road, but “patient hiking” is definitely worth it.

Was this just the way that hospitals and surgeries work? Or was there a shortage of doctors, contributing to delay and inability to share basic, comforting information to an anxious patient in pain?

I’m sure I have some meds that I don’t need anymore, and a few more that have probably expired, but I’m grateful that my hoarding mentality may have inadvertently saved a life. 

It’s unlikely that Jacob’s Ladder will be back for its former summer extravaganzas. But we can hope that the weekend in Kfar Blum was enough of a success to change its course.

Everything should have been perfect at Janjaria, until the missile alerts.

The societal expectations around learning you have cancer are to fight.

Uncertainty anxiety tends to follow a U-shaped curve. You worry a lot at the beginning, forget about it in the middle, then worry again at the end.

The body produces dopamine when it’s engaged in something pleasurable. Going out to eat releases dopamine, which, in turn, increases joy, happiness, and satisfaction.

'During the six weeks I was hospitalized – and the months before and after – I needed Jody. And Jody needed the Village.'