Overdue Update

One of my loyal readers emailed me yesterday saying she misses seeing frequent updates to my blog, which was a nice way of telling me to get off my lazy ass and start writing.  Guilty as charged!  I don't why I took this little vacation.  It's not that I'm so busy that I can't fit writing this blog into my crammed schedule of meetings and social events.  As a matter of fact, as I look over my calendar, it is nearly blank, sad to say.  No, just a little laziness and procrastination.  Over the years, I have elevated the process of procrastinating to a fine art, sometimes to my chagrin.  In any case, I'm back.

When we last left the saga of my thrilling adventures, I had just left the orthopedic doctor's office with a shot of cortisone in my right knee.  Wow!  That's pretty good stuff.  My knee immediately felt better, and it still does.  I can now walk and negotiate stairs with minimal pain.  I even walked a 9-hole golf course a few days ago with no discernible aftereffects.  It's still not perfect, but it's "100% better", as they say.

Now that I think of it, I'm not sure what 100% better is supposed to mean.  Better than what?  For example, if I started out only 5% good and got 100% better, I would still only be 10% good, right?  Conversely, if I started out 90% good, I'd only have to get better by 11.1% to be perfect again.  Maybe I just have an odd way of looking at things. Anyway, I digress.

By the way, a cortisone shot in the knee is no walk in the park.  However, on a relative scale, it sure beats the shit out a bone marrow biopsy.  I'm not sure how long this cortisone shot will last.  The physicians assistant said it could last anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 years.  Typically, I guess 6 months would be a reasonable expectation.  After that, I don't know what might come next.  In the mean time, I'll try not to do anything too strenuous with it.

I'm feeling really good, although I still sleep more than I used to.  I've pretty much adjusted to that.  Yesterday I got my flu shot and next Monday, I go back to the Farber for another monthly checkup and Zometa infusion.  That will begin the 15th month of my clinical trial maintenance therapy with the 5 mg of Revlimid daily.  If I can stay in remission for another 22 months, then I can go off the Rev completely, and maybe the Zometa as well.  I'm looking forward to that.  I'm very upbeat about how everything has gone so far.  In fact, as a testament to my optimism, I just took the plunge and renewed my AARP membership for another 5 years! 

The writing seminar at the Farber has started up again for the fall.  Unfortunately, I missed the September workshop because of my knee appointment.  I hope to be able to attend the October one on the 28th.  I could use a shot in the arm to bolster my inspiration to keep writing..