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For some time, I was contemplating the rest of my business life. With everything that I had going on, especially the possibility of my Leukemia returning and the continuing rise of gold prices. Maybe it’s the time to retire. Business was good but there were so many factors that were impeding our success in the future. I decided to sell Belaggio Jewelers. Yes, it was very emotional and I would miss my employees, vendors, generations of customers, etc. But it’s the right time.

We Sent out thousands of goodbye letters, promoted everywhere and added some friends to help us on busy days. From October through Christmas Eve, we didn’t stop! People were hugging us, crying and kissing us, bringing us gifts! It was so beautiful! One older customer we’ve known for 35 years whispered in my ear that..”You are breaking up with 10,000 women!” And the sales were tremendous! Over the Top! My staff and I will truly miss all of our customers and friends. Thank you and love you for 39 amazing years!

Belaggio Jewelers will keep going, same name, upgraded store, younger Owners and hopefully the same great service and merchandise. I have bloodwork next week again and I must say that I have zero stress and will accept my results head on. It’s all I really have to worry about now. Peace out…Love you all❤️

I was in some state of shock! I hadn’t mentioned that my Oncologists took me off Tasigna in the last October of 2024! I didn’t have time to think or worry about it but Dr. Luger attributed my heart blockages to the Tasigna! A proven drug that kills the Leukemia but causes PAD usually within 5 years! Right on the money! For 9 months, every month, I was having my blood tested. Every 30 days. At the end of June, I was still PCR negative. Free and clear of my CML! A miracle of sorts! I was finally feeling a little better and knew that the trip .might be grueling for me. It was 105 degrees in Rome and Florence everyday. Making this short…Lori and I had a spectacular trip. I got to drive our rental car through the winding mountain roads of Lake Como, visit Belaggio, and tour the town of Schignano where Lors father was born and grew up. We saw her grandparents Graves in the mountain cemetery. We saw so many amazing things in Rome and Florence. The Vaticans opulence was unbelievable! The engineering, the construction during the12th through 14th century. Everything, everywhere was just amazing. Our trip was perfect! Ciao! Until next time Italy!

Next Up:

The end of an Era!

Well, I promised that I would follow up with the trip that we would plan again and hopefully not have to cancel. Italy was waiting for us. I reorganized our itinerary in the fall while I was still recuperating from my heart surgery. Slight changes, but all for the better. Rome, Florence, Como, Lezzeno, Belaggio. Schignano, and Milan! Two weeks of Italian bliss. July of 2025 could not come quick enough.

The rest of the year and the beginning of 2025 couldn’t have gone worse than we could imagine. In October of 24, my mother had a horrible fall and severely fractured her femur. It was awful. At 88 years old, the situation was bad. She had two operations to repair the bone. A long rod inserted in her leg with a dreadful looking open wound and additional operations to try to clean out and control a terrible infection. She fought so hard.

While I navigated the holiday season the best that I could, we all tried our best to comfort and help Mom to handle the hospital stays and the time in the Rehab where she would spend her last days. January 5th, we lost an amazing mother, wife ,friend , grandmother, you name it. Elva Keenan was just a wonderful person. Everyone loved her and called her Mom. We would celebrate her life at the end of the month. My Dad was inconsolable. We loved her so much.

Meanwhile, the stress of my open heart surgery, my mom’s passing, the Christmas holiday business non stop work season, and a great friend of mine suddenly passing of a heart attack a week after my mom…whew! The night of Mike’s funeral, I had tremendous pain in my chest and told my Dad that it felt like Mom was laying on me. I tried to relax and take Tylenol, but that didn’t work. The next day, Lori had to take me to the Doylestown ER. The pain was debilitating. The ER was packed, of course, and while I was waiting had to use the bathroom to throw up! I was beginning to pass out on the EKG table while they were checking my heart and the ER tech had the doctor examine me immediately. The doctor ordered a stat CT Scan of my chest and abdomen. Turns out that I had two huge gallstones blocking my Bile Duct. Probably the most painful few hours that I had ever encountered. The morphine was flowing and I fell asleep in the ER. The next morning the surgeon would operate to remove the stones. Lucky me…again.

Around 1 pm the next day I was prepped for my surgery. An ERCP procedure done by a small but scary looking Asian man…Dr. Lee. He had me sign my hold harmless paperwork pretty quickly and in 7 seconds I was out. A few hours later, I ended up in a post op room with a great male, older nurse from NE Philly. Tough guy vibes but a seasoned vet. He came in handy when around 3 AM, I started bleeding out after the closure inside my small small intestine burst and I not only needed to have the Surgeon rushed in at 4 AM, I needed 3 units of fresh blood and platelets infused into me prior to the emergency surgery! OK, Mr. Keenan, let’s count backwards again…10,9,8,7…Goodnight. In our post op conversation, Dr. Lee explained that the closure of my intestine was cauterized but it ruptured since the stones were so large and the incision larger than normal. Lucky me. I was so weak from the massive loss of blood and constantly and continually having to go to the toilet to pass blood lingering in my intestines and colon. For three days! On day four, another surgeon entered my room and informed me that I would soon be prepped to have my Gallbladder removed. Three surgeries in four days!

Ok. Mr. Keenan, count backward, you.know the drill. They knew me well by this time. 10, 9, 8, 7 ,6,5,4,3 2,1…hi girls! “Don’t fight it” they said. “Hit him again!”. Funny, not funny! I was out. But now when I woke up in post op, I looked like a cadaver. Triple bypass scars, tube scars, gallstones surgery holes all around. Very appealing! I spent a total of 10 days in the hospital, lost huge amounts of blood, my Hemoglobin was so low, dangerously low. After my second operation, when I was recovering, I had a terrible breakdown. The likes I’ve never had. I lost it! Crying and sobbing incessantly. A young nurse came in and listened to me and comforted me. She listened the best she could while I cried over my mom, my health. my operations, my cancer. Hit me like a thousand pound boulder, all at once. I needed my mom there telling me that everything would be ok, she wouldnt, couldn’t be. Her mom had passed recently and we cried together. My next meal came with no utensils. Lol! Psyche watch I guess.

Two weeks after my hospital release, my mother’s Celebration of Life was being held after her prior cremation at the funeral home. The amount of people that showed up to bless my mother was over 300 plus. Standing room only, and outside. I was the first and oldest of my siblings to eulogize my mom. I had to sit on a stool during the entire time as my Hemoglobin was so low, and I so shaky still. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. My sister’s followed me and my nieces after. We had a wonderful luncheon with hundreds of people who spoke such beautiful things about her. A funeral fit for Mom Royalty. It was a tough day. A beautiful day. Rest in Peace-Mom.

Epiblog /3 / Finally!

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I ended my blog on a good note. I figured that I would fade away. Hopefully, continue on with good health and a heavy dose of optimism. Pretty short lived, I must say.

A few months ago, May of 2024, I began feeling tired. Shortness of breath and shoulder pain were becoming more and more prevalent. I had planned a trip to Miami as a Christmas gift to my boys where the Formula 1 Gran Prix was running. The night before we were leaving, I decided to take a quick trip to the ER at Doylestown Hospital. The advice from the doctor was to see a Cardiologist immediately and forgo my trip. That wasn’t happening. Needless to say, the amount of walking and climbing at the race venue really took a toll on me. I must say though, I would have rather died than miss these five days! The out of breath chest pain, whatever, with all of the walking we needed to do. We had so much fun! Our experience was unforgettable as I learned so much about each of them as men now. A fabulous trip! When I got back, five days later, I saw the Cardiologist who then scheduled me for a cardiac catherization procedure. Serous stuff now.

I had undergone a previous catherization seven years prior and was given a clean bill of health. “I was good for a long time” as per the attending surgeon. Not this time. The attending doctor performing this procedure said “Pull it out” after five minutes in. “Mr. Keenan, you need a triple bypass…immediately”. Wow! I was dumbfounded! How could this possibly happen? Well, I’ll tell you. Tasigna, my newer Leukemia medication, was very powerful. Thirty five times more potent than Gleevec, my last drug. It had been five years since I began taking Tasigna. Tasigna was also a drug that causes PAD in fifteen to twenty percent of patients. Peripheral Artery Disease. I had three arteries that were 92%, 85% and 74% blocked. Wonderful. The drug that keeps me alive can also kill me. Screw me…again.

Lori and I met with the cardiac surgeon a few days later, Dr. Matthew Thomas. He was designated to me through the Cardiology group at Doylestown. I liked him. Pretty straightforward, he explained how he would open up my chest, remove my heart, and remove veins from my leg and chest to Graft from my aorta to my heart. It would be a seven and a half hour operation with a lengthy recovery period. Dr. Thomas wanted to operate in three days. “I’ll see you Friday morning at 5 am”, He said. To that I said “No way”! I had a wedding that Sunday of one of Joey’s best friends and I had to make sure that Belaggio Jewelers was ready for me to leave for six weeks! He laughed and left the room. The new date would be May 31st, Friday morning, 5 am.

If you know me, you know that 5 am is never in my wheelhouse. But here we were. It was going to be a long day. Dr. Thomas came in to greet me and go over the final instructions as well as signing the obligatory hold harmless paperwork. I had writte letters to Lor, Nick and Joe the night before in case things went bad and left them in my nightstand. I gave Lor a big hug and kiss and off I went through the catacombs of the operating room area. As I faded off in the OR I felt them manipulating ne an tying me down tight. I left my life in the hands of a person that I barely knew and a crew of strangers. Not very comforting, but I had no other choice. When I woke up, nine hours later, the breathing tube that was in my throat was killing me! I was writing air sentences on my bed…”I can’t breathe!” It was awful! Finally, the doctor removed the tube. It was a rough five days until I was released. The next day, “Did I go to the store”? Yes, I did! Anyways…I was there for about an hour to check on things. That was enough. Not too many fires.

While I was recuperating, I was wishing that the beautiful, amazing trip that I had planned for Lori’s 60th birthday was a reality. Nope. It was going to come and go without us. Two weeks in Italy. Lake Como, Belaggio, Venice and Milan. Our first European trip together. Oh well, there is always next year. Two weeks out from the operation, on a Monday night, I was feeling short of breath. This wasn’t good. Lori took me to the ER at 11 pm. Unfortunately, I had a buildup of fluid, post operative, pushing on my heart. A very dangerous, one in one hundred occurance, the fluid would have to be removed by inserting a large needle into the heart cavity and draining it. They would perform the operation the next day. Here we go again. The next afternoon, I was taken to the cath lab, signed the obligatory releases, and went under again. I woke up later with a drain coming out of my chest that would remain for three days. Three more glorious days in the post heart surgery unit. That night, I kind of lost it. Laying in the hospital bed, 3 am, can’t get comfortable, I freaking lost it. I was just so tired of all of the crap. Twenty eight years of shit. Hospital after hospital. Operations, procedures, pain, suffering, burdening my wife, my kids, my family…etc. I had enough. I called my wife and just laid it out. Thankfully, she just listened and let me vent. I’m sure this wasn’t the first time. I left the hospital intact and with more new drugs to take…freedom. Of course, I landed myself back in the ER a few times for overdoing it. I never listen. The pain in my sternum was relentless. It was going to take at least a year to fully resolve itself. I needed to rest and use my head. Not push it. We’ll see!

Well, that is my Epiblog. An unanticipated addition to my story. Hopefully, the next update will be about our trip to Italy…

Thanks! Thank you! Thank you so much! Appreciate it! Appreciate you! Words we use to express our sincere gratitude for anything from the smallest of kind gestures to the greatest act of all…whatever that may represent. We say these words every day. Sometimes many times. Today, I counted about seven or eight times that I expressed my gratitude….maybe more. For the very last entry to my story, I will be using these words of gratitude over and over again. I hope you understand. Now, from the beginning, here we go.

Thank you, Dr Edward Ciecko, for asking me to take a blood test the first time we met… “For the record”. May you rest in peace.

Thank you, Dr. Lor Terzian, for immediately diagnosing my CML and breaking it to my wife and me… gently.

Thank you, to all of the great Doctors and Nursing staff at Hanahmen Hospital who cared for me for 22 years.

Thank you, to all of my great friends who helped out, listened, and put up with me for all of these years. You know who you are.

Thank you, to Dr. Selina Luger and her staff at University of Pennsylvania cancer center for my relapse care and future care.

Thank you, to all of my great and loyal customers who are always asking about my well being and supported my business for so many years.

Thank you, to all of the wonderful employees that have worked at Belaggio Jewelers throughout the years, especially during the first four years of my ordeal. And to my trusted sidekick, Nadine. Appreciate you so much!

Thank you, appreciate you and all of the above to Dr. Dave Topolsky. The man that looked me in the eye and told me that he would never let me die. What an amazing adventure we had! Miss you buddy.

Thank you to my late in-laws, Nonno and Nonna Peduzzi for their great help and support. We miss you.

Thank you so much to my brother Glenn, for giving me the gift of life, and my sisters, Donna and Lisa for all of your love and support when we needed it most.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you…Mom and Dad. For all of your love and support in every possible way. From day one, through the worst of times and the best. My appreciation is immeasurable.

To Nick and Joe….Thank You So Much! You guys were my reason to live. “Never Ever Give Up”. The wisdom of my Disney rock. I have lived by those words since the day I kissed your beautiful head, Nick, while you slept the morning I left to have my Bone Marrow Transplant. And Joe, in mommy’s belly, I needed to meet you. Nothing would stop me. Watching you being born the day after I finally got released from the hospital was breathtaking. Both of you guys have grown up to become such fine young men. A testament to your Mom and your own strength as you had to constantly see me sick and in the hospital when you were just little boys. You guys are just amazing! I’m proud beyond words! Love you!

These words of “Thanks” just aren’t enough for my last gesture. “I Love You” , “I Appreciate You”, “I Thank You” and “I Adore You”! To my beautiful wife, Lori-Ann, I could never express fully the gratitude I have for you being in my life. We have gone through so many good times, bad times, great times and sad times throughout the last thirty-four years. Here we are though. We made it! There were many times that I thought, “How does she do it!”. Taking care of a 2 1/2 year old, eight and nine months pregnant, working full time and driving to center city every night to the hospital to visit me. For two months! Just amazing! Through so many tough years while fighting my Leukemia, the financial issues that accompanied it, always making sure the boys were good and working so hard. Accomplishing so many things career wise and supporting the boys dreams and mine. So proud! We have grown so much together. I apologize for the tough times and the rough times. I just know, that through it all, we’re better for it. We’re stronger for it. Thank you again…and again….Lor…I love you.

Well this is “The End.” Thanks! Thank You! Appreciate you! …all for reading my story. I hope it helped inform you, enlighten you and brought you joy!

Jeff

Wow! It is officially three years since I began writing my story. One-hundred and sixty four entries to date. A blog that would chronicle my life from the day I was diagnosed with Leukemia. The premise of revealing my life to the world was essentially a form of personal therapy. A release from the boredom of the Covid shutdown. Netflix was just not doing it for me anymore. Well, I saved a lot of cash on a therapist! All kidding aside, it was genuinely a wonderful experience. I have received so many kind and emotional responses by readers from all over. Thank you all for following along while I expounded on so many issues, good, bad and ugly. I apologize if I may have bored you occasionally on life topics that may or may not have been directly connected to my cancer. You can definitely tell how much I love my family and how proud I am of them.

When you write a story about your personal experience about your fight with cancer, it can get to be very emotional. Every cancer survivor could write their own book, I’m sure. Many would just like to forget about their ordeal altogether. It’s difficult at times. The memories become so vivid and intense when you relive them on paper, per se’. There were many times that I had to stop and catch my breath as tears flowed down my face. Times that I had to put my laptop aside and take a break. Sometimes for weeks. My reality really sucked. I went to the movies this week with my wife…. “Somewhere in Queens”. In the middle of the movie, starring Ray Romano and Laurie Metcalf, Ray and his wife had an intense scene where she completely lost it and broke down in public. She was trying to handle information of what she thought was a relapse of her breast cancer. Screaming at her husband, who was trying to console her, lamenting that he could never comprehend what she was feeling and how scared she was of potentially relapsing after her original diagnoses. This scene hit home really hard. I glanced over at Lor and saw her crying. Tears were coming out of my eyes as well. We were in the last aisle of the theater where thankfully no one could see or feel our pain as we both simultaneously and vividly relived that same scenario, and worse. There were no words. We both knew and understood how we were feeling at that moment. It’s PTSD, pure and simple. It was tough.

Leukemia is a complicated blood cancer. There are so many variations and so many different treatment options that accompany those variations. Also, when you are diagnosed with Leukemia, you notice how it has become the cancer “du jour” in movies and TV shows. It seems like almost every person or child in the movies with a cancer plot has Leukemia. Anyway, to me it just validates the seriousness of the disease. A major pull at your heartstrings. In a nutshell, during the many years that I have been living with Leukemia, I have met many wonderful people. While in the first five years of treatment, there were so many patients in the same boat as me that I met and fought alongside. Many of those warriors are no longer with us. Diagnosed before the Gleevec revolution, like me, they hadn’t survived long enough to partake in the next generation of Leukemia wonder drugs. I was able to hang in long enough after my bone marrow transplant for those drugs to be developed and eventually I’ve survived because of them. I’m honored to be able to tell my story for those contemporaries and all of the Leukemia warriors past and present.

As all good things must come to an end though, my story will end here too. My present day condition is status quo. Some days I feel great and some not so great. On the good days, I tell myself, “I feel good today”, as I drive out of my development towards my store or wherever I may be headed. I cherish those days. I’ll continue to take my Chemo medication everyday like I have for the past twenty three years since “I have no other choice…or else”. Right now, I’m in a good place. I can’t predict the future, but hopefully, my adventure will continue on for a long, long time…

Next Up: Thanks

The wait is over! The traditional call from my Oncologists office has come and gone. The “My Penn Medicine” website has replaced the agony of waiting, with real time results for tests and bloodwork. Patients now receive their numbers on their phone or computer when the email pops up that you have new test results in your cue. Usually within 24 hours the results of my CBC test will pop up for me to analyze and review. As I write this post, the evening of May 23rd, 2023, the expertise that I have acquired in reading and interpreting my lab results is the result of being twenty-seven years deep into this adventure. On this day, twenty-seven years ago, I received my cancer diagnoses of CML. Seems like forever ago. This anniversary deserves no pomp and circumstance, no recognition and no celebration. Unless I brought it up to anyone, the memory and milestone is mine alone. That’s OK though, it’s been a long time and it definitely was not a pleasant day. Congrats to me.

Let’s get back to the results. The CBC… the bloodwork benchmark. This current report was perfect. White cells, red cells, Hemoglobin, platelets, etc. All within normal parameters. This is always nice to see since it can somewhat predict the outcome of the results of my BCR-ABL test. Next up is the Metabolic panel. Again, all within normal parameters. Kidney function, liver function, glucose, etc….all excellent. Now we wait. The BCR-ABL test takes about six to eight days from the blood draw to pop up on my email. It feels like forever. Ok, sounds dramatic, but this result is the big one. A positive result, even the slightest bit positive, will crush you. “You have a test result”. The email from “MyPennMedicine” stood out like a sore thumb. As I open it up, the anxiety always hits me as I fumble through the obligatory sign in and password prompts. I hit the “Test results” button and there it is…the BCR-ABL Quantative analysis result box. Just have to press it. Nice and easy, slowly, tentatively, I hesitate and after a deep breath, c’mon… Boom! It’s negative. Ahhh…and the Oncologists office probably won’t see my results for a couple of days. Sure glad that I have my self endowed PhD in Leukemia blood test result reading!

Today was a good day. Nick was honored as one of the Top 80 Real Estate Producers in Philadelphia for 2022/23 in Philly Magazine, the second year in a row! Joe is in London tonight, touring Europe with his girlfriend Kara and celebrating his friend’s wedding in Sorento, Italy. And as Lor sleeps peacefully beside me, I get to quietly contemplate another cancer milestone and be thankful that I’m still here to write about it. In four months,as you know by now, I’ll repeat the bloodwork process and hope for the same results. It is what it is.

Next Up: Wrapping it Up

Five years clear. The cancer benchmark. The coveted destination of hopefully being free and clear of relapse or reoccurring disease. What a great feeling it is after all of the mental and physical pain a diagnosis of cancer brings. I’m reminded of the song, “What a Wonderful World”. How both sides of the cancer coin bring those beautiful words into play. In the beginning of your journey, you realize that nothing really matters to you but the wonderful and beautiful things in your life and what our world has to offer. A glorious sunny sky, colorful flowers and trees, bug’s and butterflies, beaches and backyard Bar-B-Q’s. Spiders, snakes and roaches…not so much. LoL. Everyday that you wake up and move on with your life is so special. Your partner, your kids, your family, your friends. Can’t imagine not being there, can you? Then comes that eternal hope. That five year mark on your calender. The other side of the ” What a Wonderful World” coin. You’ve made it! We made it! A wonderful world feeling that seemed like an eternity to reach. Feeling comfort in knowing you may safely continue to participate in life. Finally!

It originally took me nine years to reach my benchmark. Four more years to lose it. Another five more years to make it, then three more years to lose it again. That was five years ago. So, here we are again. This April, 2023, makes five years since my last relapse. Exciting right? Well, for starters, my five year benchmarks are really not true benchmarks. My remission is based on the reality that my cancer is still active, never fully cured. It’s been that way since 1999 when my first relapse sent me for a loop only two and a half years after my bone marrow transplant. Since then, my remission is chemotherapy induced and relapses are due to changes in the status of how the daily medication remains active in preventing my Leukemia from recurring yet again. Please, don’t get me wrong. This five year anniversary is special. They all are. And I’m still here. It’s hope and pessimism wrapped up in one emotion. I still love that song though. Every day I’ll find the good, the great, the beautiful and the wonderful. No matter what.

For every cancer survivor that has reached the coveted five year anniversary free and clear, I applaud your accomplishment. I hope that you all remain cancer free and live long beautiful, meaningful, healthy lives. Be vigilant. Be smart. Make sure that you follow up with your doctor appointments, bloodwork, scans and tests. Realize that down the road, the after effects of major chemotherapy and varied cancer treatments can or may cause other health issues. Again, be vigilant and above all else, be humble. Always remember that for all of those that make that five year moment, there are just as many cancer warriors who weren’t as lucky. Cherish your survivor status and remember what it took to get there. Also, remember that there are no guarantees. Believe me…I know. My next appointment for bloodwork is in two weeks. Fingers crossed.

Next Up: The Results

So, I was able to go local to get my quarterly bloodwork done at a satellite location for U of P. This was always a pleasure since it only took me about twenty minutes to get there. I was in and out in another twenty minutes and my basic WBC results were delivered to my phone the same afternoon or next day. All I had to do was be patient. Since I could basically read and diagnose the labs on my own, the hospitals release of records direct to the patient now saved so much time and worry. The downside of the situation is of course the reality of receiving bad news right away. Anyway, my labs were great! It always takes a week to receive the results of the PCR test. This test is the benchmark that lets a Leukemia patient know immediately if the cancer is recurring. A completely negative result is what we want to see. Any positive change in the marker is an instant and hard hitting catastrophe. The test is automatically repeated for error and will be repeated every two weeks to confirm a relapse diagnosis. It’s the last thing I want to see again. My PCR results came back negative. Hallelujah.

Dr. Luger wanted to see me anyway down at Penn. My appointment was scheduled for the last Tuesday of January. I really hated to travel all the way into the city. The traffic sucked. The roads sucked. The parking sucked. The waiting sucked. Yep…it sucked. The weather report for that day called for icy rain and snow. My Maserati doesn’t like ice and snow. That would be the perfect excuse to cancel my appointment and reschedule for a later time. Lol. Meanwhile, I had another issue to deal with.

@$%#&!!! I could barely walk. Without any clue of how or why, one morning, I could hardly stand up, hardly put any pressure on my left leg and the pain was excruciating! This turned out to be an extreme sciatic issue that was showing me no relief. I was inhaling Advil and luckily had some old pain killing prescriptions hanging around. They barely worked. Entering my second week of agony, Lori and I were getting ready to visit Nick in Ft. Lauderdale at the end of the week over the Presidents Day holiday weekend. Thursday, after work, I headed to Doylestown Hospital to their ER to try to figure something out before I boarded a plane to Florida the next day. The only answer the Doctor had for me was stronger painkillers, a cat scan revealing herniations in the L 3,4 and 5 Vertebrae and a recommendation for a subsequent visit to a pain management doctor. Big help. Well, I got on that plane, hobbled around Ft. Lauderdale for five days and tried to make the best out of a tough situation. We had a great time meeting and interacting with Nick’s friends and enjoyed the fine dining and sightseeing that Ft. Lauderdale had to offer. The weather was beautiful. When I get back to reality, it’s going to be appointment city. I can’t wait. Aaarghh!

Next Up: Five Years Clear

It felt great to see my boys take off in their prospective businesses. Nick, so successful already and Joe ready to take on the world and head into the uncharted waters of self proprietorship. My advice, over and over again to new entrepreneurs, is to get ready to jump without a parachute. After thirty six years without an outside “Paycheck”, I would know. The ups and downs of self employment are extreme. That being said, my business was again heading into the holiday season. The twenty eight or so straight days of work between Thanksgiving and Christmas were going to kill me. This year, the store was breaking records. Hopefully, it would be a banner holiday season too. We shall see.

The usual fatigue that I experienced for so long followed me everyday. Every night around nine o’clock, for twenty years, I faithfully downed my Gleevec, now Tasigna, knowing fully well that without this chemotherapy agent my Leukemia would return. The bright yellow plastic zip lock bags emblazoned with a large Radiation symbol and “Caution- Chemotherapy Agent”, “Please store and handle with care”, are visibly laid within the shelf of my bedroom end table. The brown pills, that are individually stored in blister packs offering one months supply per pack, were my lifeline. Rounding the corner towards twenty seven years of handling this uninvited phenomenon called cancer, I feel that in this point of my life…I am just rolling again. My first blog, three years ago, began with the same title.. ..”Just Rolling”. It meant that my life was going smoothly. That business was cruising along and growing. My family was growing, we had a new nice single home and the future was bright. ” Just Rolling” should be my mantra moving forward.

We spent Thanksgiving up in the great State of New York at the in-laws. “Da Bronx” was always an adventure. The mass amount of humanity encountered while driving on the Cross Bronx Expressway and Bronx River Parkway engulfed you in vehicles of every make and model imaginable. The mass amount of food and family banter was always enjoyable and after stuffing our bellies for three hours, we filled the car with leftovers and injected ourselves back into the masses. The next morning, I would be getting out of bed and entering the Black Friday mayhem. A big economic weekend forecaster of future business for the rest of the holiday sales season. Ours flat out sucked. Last year was huge on the same weekend and we had great sales through the end of the year. I was pretty worried. The following Monday, back to the grind, something unusual happened. We got hammered! Everyday from that day on was crazy. Who cares that I got shut out Black Friday weekend. Business was brisk and the numbers fantastic. We ended up having one of the best December’s in the history of Belaggio Jewelers. Also, one of the best years! Yep…”Just Rolling”. It feels so good to say those words again. What a great state of mind. I just wish for peace and prosperity in the world this new year approaching. After completion of my January bloodwork at U of Penn and the tests that accompany them, we’ll see if the good luck and rolling vibes continue on. After all, we’re finally getting caught up to the present day life and times of Jeff. Let’s get through the results of my new testing coming up and fingers crossed…we’ll keep rolling.

Next up: Labs Are Great…But…*%$#&!