A cruel blizzard hammers the city tonight, leaving it frozen, flattened to a lonesome standstill. Delayed buses, canceled flights, desolate streets rendered useless, people stranded. Businesses left without customers. People without visitors. As the relentless storm rages on, I will be readmitted to the hospital to undergo my next round of chemotherapy. Powerful drugs will besiege my fragile cells, ravaging my body's defenses, stripping its ability to heal, leaving me unfit to see my friends. My appetite will be destroyed, my energy drained, my spirit dampened.

Tonight, a pure white snowfall blankets the city, giving life to soft halos around Christmas-lit trees, providing feathery sidewalks for children to sweep snow angels into. People are enticed by the comforting warmth of home, brought together to share hearty meals and cheerful melodies. In this cozy time of year, I will enter the hospital to be healed, to be given more opportunity to gain both strength and wisdom. I will cherish life anew, and will, through fond memories, relive the most joyous occasions. I will smile and be thankful for life, for my family and friends. I will be reminded of what matters most and will witness sublime examples of human love and kindness.

In time, this terrible, wonderful winter will end. Spring will come, and with the trees, I will recover.

During this festive time of year, I am ecstatic to be in a relatively healthy state and have so much to celebrate. Having received a truly miraculous amount of kindness, support, and care, I know I've been given the best gift of all. To my family, friends, all those who have taken care of me, and everybody else out there, keep warm and have an especially happy holiday!

Last night, I ventured out to an art auction event my friends organized. Outside, it was cold. Hailing a taxi going downtown proved to be unusually challenging, and the time waiting sent shivers throughout my thinly shielded bones.

Luckily, the event was the polar opposite. In the gallery space, a golden wooden floor and white walls were adorned by a kaleidoscopic arrangement of unique artwork, illuminated not just by the radiant lighting above, but by all the people meeting, smiling, laughing, and dancing as the jazz band played. Friends I hadn't seen for years, friends I'd lost in touch with, caring people whom I met for the first time that night all came to say hello.

Needless to say, when it came time to say goodbye, I was exhausted (still lacking in the stamina department), though I would hardly characterize my departure as lethargic. I left happily humming Blue Monk (a jazz standard the band had done a phenomenal job playing) as I thought of all my friends, and friends of friends I got the chance to meet that night.

Since this challenging, but positively life-changing journey began, I have been constantly overwhelmed by kindness. I owe a belated, immense special thanks to my friends who supported me by organizing events in Hong Kong and San Francisco, which not only helped me get this far, but also brought joy to all those who attended. It is truly heartening to know how much positivity has sprung from this initially seemingly negative situation.

My friends, family, and of you at Hartford Hospital and Memorial Sloan Kettering, you've all saved my life twofold; I'm breathing and living, but more importantly, I understand what true kindness is, and that it is really the most important thing in life. I can't do enough to thank all of you right now. The best I can do is to amplify the immense kindness you've poured into supporting me. With my renewed energy, I've started work on a web application (I'm a designer / computer programmer) aimed at helping patients, families, and friends stick together through long-term illnesses. I'm dedicating this effort to all of you. Hopefully, with a little work, I'll be able to pass your kindness and inspiration on to people everywhere.

Thank you everybody!

Also, I realized that when I created this blog, I neglected to add my email address to my profile on this blog, and a lot of you don't have it. So, here it is (It's in an image to prevent spam emails):

Hi all - I need to ask for your help. Now that the tumor has been removed from my chest, the next vital stage of my treatment will target my leukemia. I will need a bone marrow transplant, and in order to do so, I will need a matching bone marrow donor. My sister is the most likely to be a match, but there is only a 1-in-4 chance that she will be.