Wednesday, August 5, 2009

It's official... ish. At least, the paperwork is processing: I'll be back to work/life/balance as of Sept 1, easing into things at 2 hrs/day for 3 days/week. The workday timeline is flexible, i.e., how many hrs/day/week may vary depending on my energy levels and general attention span. But the current plan foresees upping the hrs as follows: End of Sept, give or take, edging up to 4 hrs/day; end of Oct to 6 hrs/day. By Dec back up to 8. By Feb/March, I should be back to the standard 12- to 14-hour day (just kidding). On SAP house doc's advice, they'll be 3-day work weeks throughout the "reintegration phase" (German: "Wiedereingliederungsphase"). Either way, atrocious way of putting it, but -- compared to words that have framed the past year, such as "melphalan," "fludarabin" or "rituximab" -- music to my ears.

I'm feeling stronger every day. Actually have been quite active and busy the past few days. Good to be busy again. Doing things. And there's all sorts of administrative stuff to sort. Spent 3 hours at the docs the other day, a lot of that time just doing paper work. Blood counts are looking good. Rising here, climbing there. And of course, I'm taking time to take it easy, and cherishing play time or any time with Sammy.

As I know many of you are interested in the culinary developments in my 'Find a Thing That Tastes Like it Does' initiative, here a few more additions to the list:

> Cola chicken, with a side of mango/pineapple/onion sauce. Just one of a slew of dishes that fellow Groundman Torsten cooked up, trying out various seasonings that I might (and did) taste, incl. garlic, ginger, chutney and cilantro. Got some good recipes if you want to read 'em. Or you can wait for the film ("2009: A Spice Odyssey").

> Gnocchi with pesto. Or rather, pesto with gnocchi.

> Salmon in leek sauce. I dared to try the lachs, and lachs didn't let me down. New taste buds are budding by the day.

> Vanilla ice-cream. Yes, the sweet sensation is eking it's way back. In all respects.

My bags are packed for my own, self-prescribed rehab retreat ("Kurlaub") in Sweden, with buddy and bass legend Franky, and a handful of good Swedish friends. There's a reason that "Sweden" harbors the word "eden": I'll be spending seven days at a cosy little lakeside blockhouse, acres of yard, a dock with a sauna, and a boat. Throw a rock and you'll not hit anything near a neighbor's house (careful of geese, deer and elk, though). Absolute seclusion, peace and quiet. Then 3 days in the rock home of Stockholm.

Shortly thereafter I look forward to seeing / speaking / corresponding with y'all on a regular basis and can happily retire this little health-based blog. No need for updates, as I hereby pronounce myself healthy and whole. Might start up a new blog some day, if I come up with something I'm interested enough in, knowledgeable of, good at - such as ending sentences in prepositions. Might even Twitter, if I can learn how to shut up after 140 characters.

Thanks for following these posts, and for your continual thoughts, prayers, vibes, calls, emails, guestbook entries. What a long, strange trip it's been. With a lot of ups and downs and outs and ups again. Through it all, thanks to y'all, I've never felt alone. For that I'm forever grateful.

So goodbye blog o' mine. What more can I say in closing? Perhaps what have I learned from this year that I'm taking into each one ensuing? Well, like I always say, if there's one thing I learned in college, I obviously wasn't paying much attention in lectures. And as they always say, everything you need to know in life you learn in kindergarten (when, unfortunately, you've got the attention span of a five-year-old). But if there's one takeaway here, I guess it's that life can be short; life can be long; life can be anything. Whatever it is, all that matters is how you make it matter. Every freakin' single day.

Thanks again. Wishing you and your loved ones healthy, happy days.