FINALLY I’ve had my last infusion of Rituxan. While I generally dislike taking medication, I knew in January that it was time for this treatment again. I won’t repeat the story here, but if you’re interested in how I became sick and specifically how immunotherapy helps me, just check out the original post.

Immunotherapy Week 6

Date: Tuesday, March 19

Arrival: 8:30 a.m. / Departure: 2:00 p.m.

Total time at treatment center: 5 hours 30 minutes (about 4.5 hours of that was the actual infusion)

Medicines:

Rituxan

Tylenol

Decadron

Zantac

Zofran (nausea medicine)

It wasn’t easy for me to admit that I needed treatments again for two reasons. First, I don’t like to appear like a failure (even if I can’t control being sick). Second, I really enjoy writing about virtual reality, attending events, etc. and I didn’t want to miss out on anything. This week is the Game Developer Conference (GDC) in San Francisco and I was incredibly disappointed that I couldn’t attend.

In the end, my body and my doctors made the decision that it was time for treatments again, but the good news is that I’m finished and shouldn’t need any more for at least 3 years. If I’m lucky, it will be longer and I’ve already been cleared from regular check-ups for a year!

I’m excited that I’ve finished just in time for the official start of VR League Season 3 weekly cups.

As of 3 weeks ago (halfway through immunotherapy treaments), I was able to completely stop all medication (steroids, pain meds, neuropathy meds) except blood thinners. Those are required so I can continue to travel safely. And I do plan to travel. Truth be told, I actually feel better when I’m traveling regularly because I tend not to be as stubborn and I actually take the blood thinners like I’m supposed to. :p

The History of the Future

Anyway, so this week I didn’t bring the Oculus Go because I was focused on writing an article for the VR League website and reading Blake J. Harris’ book The History of the Future. I worked as much as I could, but the location of my IV made it a little difficult to type. I literally had my computer sitting on my knees (treatment chairs recline!) and my arms were stretched out straight to type. Since the IV was in the crook of my arm, every time I bent my elbow the slightest bit, it set off an alarm so after about 30 minutes of that, I finally gave up on articles for the day and decided to focus on the book.

In addition to not feeling like a failure, I also dislike not knowing things. I think this is why I’ve always loved books. I rarely read fiction. I enjoy learning about the world around me and learning new things. Through childhood, adolescence, and adulthood I’ve read every non-fiction category imaginable with the exception of technology.

Maybe this is why I’d never heard of virtual reality until April 2017, when we bought our Rift. A few months ago I began reading the history of VR so I’m familiar with Jaron Lanier and others who have been instrumental in bringing this technology to the world, but before that I only knew what I heard my Echo VR friends talk about.

I’m about 2/3 of the way through The History of the Future and it’s fantastic. It’s well-written and engaging. One thing that strikes me most is how the right people came in at the right time to achieve a particular result.

I read about people like Brendan Iribe, Mike Antonov, Nate Mitchell, and John Carmack. I see others like Paul Bettner, Joe Chen, and Nirav Patel come into the story at key times. I had to stop reading for a while after I read about Andrew Reisse.

Then of course there’s Palmer Luckey. I really enjoyed reading about this guy because he reminds me so much of my oldest son, Micah, who would take apart anything as a child so he could see how it worked. As he approached puberty, he enjoyed mixing chemicals to find out what reaction would result. One day I walked outside and he was digging a hole straight down into the ground because he just wanted to see how far he could dig. He enlisted in the Army with the 82nd Airborne as a paratrooper when he was 17 and this fall he’ll start college for computer engineering.

We made the decision to homeschool our children when our oldest child was preparing to enter kindergarten and we were told she would be taught letters that year even though she was already reading fluently. It’s one of the best decisions we’ve made as parents. It’s not so much about what they learn, but how they learn. Although we are loving parents and incredibly involved in their lives, we believe in self-initiative and personal responsibility so basically I told them I’d give them the tools to pursue individual talents and they’ve always been encouraged to pursue their own interests, but it was their responsibility to learn, not my responsibility to teach.

I’m incredibly grateful that Palmer Luckey’s parents apparently took a similar approach. We can’t imagine the number of lives that will be positively impacted by his obsession with VR and the freedom to pursue it.

Anyway, I could ramble on all day about virtual reality – the people, the games, the developers, etc.. I was recently accused of being of being a “fangirl” (a word I had to look up), but that’s not accurate. I’ve had plenty of complaints. I definitely don’t have blinders on, but here’s the thing.

We have a saying in our house: “Get closer, not louder.”

There are plenty of people willing to criticize and who seem to enjoy doing it loudly. Whether they’re screaming at their child or posting negative comments to thousands of readers, the result can be the same. We chip away at a precious part of our fellow humans.

Don’t misunderstand me here. Criticism is necessary for positive growth. It must be honest and sincere or it’s just fluff and meaningless. With that said, there’s no reason the entire neighborhood needs to know your child was goofing around in the kitchen and spilled the milk or that you have serious concerns about a professional project. Whether you’re talking to a six-year-old or a 30-yr-old game developer, there’s no reason criticism can’t be offered respectfully and even quietly (through feedback forms, etc.). My personal preference is closer, not louder. When I have criticism, I usually do it privately so most of what’s actually shared publicly is praise.

So if I appear to be a “fangirl,” it’s only in the sense that I’m definitely a fan of the technology and those who are creating great products or games. I sincerely believe virtual reality has the potential to change how our world approaches literally everything.

Conclusion

If you’ve read this far, either you really love VR as much as I do or you’re a stalker. No judgment here regardless. I’m just glad you dropped in!

There are times when circumstances are such that every piece of the puzzle falls perfectly into place and great things happen. Right now, we’re literally watching as great things happen and it’s exciting to see those puzzle pieces shaping a promising picture of the future.