What a letdown!

When my hematologist told me I had leukemia last month, I thought I was pretty calm but actually I was agitated to think of the worst outcome that would entail, and I started writing my Exit Diary here.

As promised, the doctor called me the following Tuesday while I was working at the primary election polling place and told me there was no surprise, meaning that my blood test shows that I did not have a fast growing case of leukemia, and that I should see him in a month so he can keep an eye on my situation.

For me, this is a good news/bad news situation.  The good news is I am not going to die (from leukemia anyway) very soon; the bad news is I am not out of the wood yet and I could get some bad news any time.  I am still convicted, but nobody knows of what crime, and the sentencing is postponed indefinitely. I also felt kind of let down.

For any important event that happens in your life, you can always look at it in more than one way, usually a good way and a bad way; it is up to you to choose.  I choose to take this as another, but one that is clearly defined,  "beginning of the end."  (Actually, the real beginning of the end was the moment I was born.)  It is up to me to decide how to take advantage of this signal.

So now I have more time to do what I need to do to clean up my mess so that my wife and children know where things are and what need to be done once I check out.  I no longer have to debate whether it is too early to do these things.  I am making up a list of "tasks" that I need to do, and execute them one by one.  So far, this list includes some 30 items; I am sure I will add more as time goes by.

Among other things, I will make time to research on the disease and search for some unconventional ways to fight it.  Who knows?  I may surprise myself and be able to stick around for quite a few more years.  Stay tuned.