5 days

Transplant chemo starts in 5 days. This Friday afternoon they'll teach me about my chemo and how to handle it. Ed comes down to Seattle on Friday night. We'll probably have dinner Saturday with friends. Then Ed will return to Vancouver on Sunday night. I'll be flying solo thru chemo and radiation that first week. I can probably get Suzie to help if I need her, but I don't have a precise schedule from the SCCA yet, so it's difficult to set-up.

My brother called me this evening. He realized he hadn't spoken to me in some time and wanted to catch up on the info I don't blog. We probably talked for 30 minutes or more.

One of the things we discussed during the phone call is the perception that reading this blog could give one a sense of knowing everything that goes on. Readers might get the impression that life is wonderful and relatively uncomplicated. They might think that Ed and I have everything worked out and we merely follow a well designed routine.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, Ed and I have arranged our lives reasonably. We're intelligent guys and we're not into drama or complexity. However, between making our weekend commute between Seattle and Vancouver, shuttling "stuff" between our three locales (including our storage unit), and the fact that I live in an empty house during the week, there are a few minor issues with our daily existence. These issues cause stress. We miss one another and I'm bored as hell. I actually watched part of Oprah today.

Oh, you might remember we're trying to get me into Canada as a Permanent Resident. We're still following the procedure and making a little progress every week. You wouldn't believe some of the things they want from us, but it moves forward.

Healthwise, I think I mentioned I had a CMV infection in my esophagus and upper stomach. It's been treated with gancyclovir (350 mg/BID), a coating agent, and some topical lidocaine (I get to swallow it.) The result, as of this morning is a return to my 180# weight (fully clothed). Basically I've put on 10 kilos or 22# in thirty days. Doctors tell me not to slow down because I'll need the extra weight soon. Hmmmmmmm....... what are they really saying?

Oh, about the house. Zillow.com shows the house value at $146,000 more than the asking price. I haven't had a single bite yet. I haven't even had a rude lowball. Of course, good old Zillow also says my neighbor's house is valued at $859,000 which is only $370,000 more than he was asking for it two weeks ago. Real estate agents are insane and the market is their spawn.

So, that's how our life goes until next week. Then all the rules will change. Well, maybe. Maybe not.