Great news; great night

Well, it's been a long time since I've had it in me to add my thoughts to the blog. Just too tired most of the time; my extended hospitalization really took it out of me -- most especially because I had about 10 days for all my muscles to atrophy and the recovery of those muscles is a slow, slow process. But I'm working on strengthening my muscles every day, trying to walk increasing distances, especially vertically, so that I can get back to a more normal kind of existence.

Those of you who've read yesterday's blog have seen that I had some pretty great news yesterday which made the day pretty emotional for me. I've been feeling pretty good overall, and so I was generally optimistic that the news from the oncologist was going to be good but I was a little afraid to be too hopeful, for obvious reasons. I'm so incredibly relieved by the news, and so is my family. We had a wonderful celebratory/birthday dinner with Kirk, Dani, Deborah, and Jen joining me in my happy, happy night. Completely went of the ketogenic diet (fun for me!) and just enjoyed myself. Much merriment; much silliness ensued. And, yes, I cried off and on, from just being so damned happy and relieved. (But then, anyone who knows me well know that crying is one of my favorite things to do when I'm happy, so you guys can just deal with it.)

Kirk and I are going to be making plans over the next days/week, figure out what our priorities are and how we make the most of our "month off." Hoping for a lovely Bronstein-Mitchel retreat to someplace lovely and relaxing, among other things. Meanwhile, I'll try to keep up with the blog myself, as much as possible, and will hope I can also have some occasional face-to-face visits with some of my wonderful friends who've been so steadfast in your support throughout this ordeal.

Love you guys,
/ab