Day 266 and not counting

Well it's official. I'm back at work and a homeowner, and have nearly reached Day +270, another significant mark on the clinical trial calendar.

Life last week was pretty sweet. Dinners, coffees and lunches with friends, painting underwater sealife for the walls of a boy named JJ, and looking at condos.

Last weekend Davis and Jack spent Saturday with us and stayed overnight, so we decided to make a batch of cookies as part of the fun - we had aprons, and I had a chef hat but quickly realized that we needed to create a couple of mini-chef hats from paper towel and elastics! Papa helped mix and Nana made sure we didn't burn the place down. I forgot how much fun chocolate chips, or "treats" as Jack calls them, can be. Later on, the Backyardigans "2 Muskateers" video prompted two Spiderman-PJ-clad muskateers to show off their "ha" moves. I even had to create a couple of paper and scotch tape swords to finish off the scene. Sugar, chocolate chips, paper towel, elastics, paper and scotch tape. Imagination is an incredible gift.

This week I finalized the purchase of a new 2 bedroom condo in Marda Loop...I take possession in June, and that will mark another giant step toward recovering my independence. I'm pretty excited - the location is an interesting area of the city, closer to downtown, close to Tasha and Ryan, yet still has great access to head south to see mom and dad and the boys (as well as their parents!). I can tell you Dr. Brown had a sly grin on his face when I told him the news this week while at my monthly clinic appointment...he thought the docs at Sloane Kettering would sure enjoy hearing that news. Not even at Day +270 post-transplant #3, back to work and on my own. Beyond everyone's expectations. Including mine!

It was definitely surreal Monday when I returned to the 31st floor of Petro Canada Centre East, the reception for PricewaterhouseCoopers Calgary. While lots of faces have changed, many have not, and it seemed familiar while at the same time a distant memory revisited. Very wonderful, however you look at it. This week I walked in the Plus 15 level of downtown amongst hundreds of people and there was no sign of leukemia anywhere. It was perfectly normal and remarkable at the same time - busy and alive, people moving quickly from one place to another destination, talking, laughing, quite likely complaining - not exciting, not dramatic. But lovely.