First Trip

If things have been silent, it's because I have now returned to work full-time, and I'm failing to budget my time. For the last seven months, I've more or less laid around, with not a care in the world (other than my bloated legs and medical co-pays). Now it seems that the work week is completely wiping me out, and when I get home I want to stay as far away from a computer as I can.

One of the side effects of being back to work is that I have regained most of the stamina that was lost through the chemotherapy. I wouldn't say that I am 100%, but I've been so weak for so long I've forgotten what "100%" would actually be!

Nothing new to report on the edema. Life is good as long as I stay away from the salt. Once I indulge in a few meals at the cafeteria, I still retain water rather quickly. Now that I am starting to do "business lunches", this is starting to become a problem again. I was given the opportunity to take a 24-hour protein lab in May to get a sneak-peek on how well my kidneys are improving, but since I don't think there's much going on, I think I will wait until my appointment in early June.

There is some good news -- this weekend I am taking my first trip in nearly 2 1/2 years. I'm off to Iceland for a dirty weekend, and to meet up with old friends who have probably forgotten about me by now. For those who don't know, I lived in Iceland from 2000-2002 for work, and came back with a lot of friends and even more memories. (I have some old pictures here). Since I left, I have always went back to visit every year. My last trip there was in January 2005, before I got sick. I had planned to visit last spring, but my body was not up to the task. Although I am not in ideal shape, I figure that I might as well go and try to make it through. I'm not to enthusiatic: after a few pyslur and some lambakjöt, my legs will look like inflatable balloons.