Counting Down the Days...While I hope Counts Are Going Up - Day 17

It is the time of year where nearly everyone is Counting Down the Days until the Holidays...It's hard to describe how strange that is when you find yourself in this period of recovery and isolation. Everyone is Counting Down, and all I can think about is the hope that MY BLOOD COUNTS are GOING UP, and that with each passing day, I'm that must closer to return to truly good health, strength, and a dirty martini at a bar :)

I LOVE GOING OUT TO EAT, like I don't just enjoy it, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. It's not the food part that I LOVE (although I do love food), it's everything about the experience - the banter with the waiter, the people watching, the layout of a menu, the ambiance, the music, the choices...Its perhaps VERY superficial to say that's one of the things I miss most, but it was true in the early days of the pandemic, and its true again now - I LITERALLY DREAM about the next time I'll sit in a restaurant. I think this is also a good sign, as my appetite is SLOWLY returning...This is all to say tonight's decision of soup or home-made quesadilla doesn't quite solicit the same level of excitement of trying a new dining spot in NYC or Washington, DC, but I'll start making my list now of dinner engagements for my epic return.

Health Update:

The upside:

• Hair remains attached to my head

• I'm going on 2 walks a day, I've made is PAST THE COPPER DOCK (and distance is probably 1.5 miles total between the two walks).

• Still no fevers

The downside:

• Still feel VERY tired, like ALL the time

• The combination of drugs (16 pills a day) has me feeling all sorts of weird things, but not like GOOD DRUG weird

• A week between blood tests feels like an eternity, when all I want is to know is have these damn stem cells found their proper home!!!

What's Entertaining Us:

TV:

We are going WAY back in the NETFLIX/TELEVISION vault for Jessy & Sherry's day-time viewing pleasure - and starting GILMORE GIRLS. So far, we love it! Can't believe we missed this the first time around!

BOOKS:

Actually picked up a book for the first time last night, and read in front of the fire. Too much screen time is a real thing. Thanks to Brianna Cayo Cotter for leaving: "The Last Mrs Parrish" at my house this summer during her visit. A perfect easy/beach-type read!

WORK:

A few calls here and there, as I test my mental recovering...Client management while recovering from a Bone Marrow Transplant is a fascinating exercise in seeing just how much it's important to not sweat the small stuff in life. I don't have the energy to freak out about the things that go wrong - and have to delegate to find solutions. There's likely a great lesson in here for when I'm back full speed!

What I'm Grateful For:

• I'm not doing my own laundry, cooking, cleaning, shopping, or really ANYTHING that requires energy to take care of myself. My mom and Raj are doing all of that, and I will never be able to share how much I appreciate that, and how much its aiding in my recovery.

• The seemingly never-ending train of thoughtful notes, texts, calls, flowers, needle-point activities, Hanukah gifts, flowers, and cookies that have arrived at my front door.

• MUCH better waterproof band-aids that my last go-around with a central line. Seriously they are like 1000% better, and allow for maximum protection of my port during these hard first few weeks.

Yesterday's Sunset: