I'm Free (I Think, Sort Of)

Without getting excessively personal, 2009 was a terrible year for me. Like a bad novel, or a great Paddy Chaefsky screenplay, a routine medical procedure mushroomed into a full-blown medical disaster. I had to sepnd three weeks in the hospital, then two months in rehab to deal with, in part, a terrible skin infection. I got six hours a day of IV antibiotics for most of that time.

I was released, then ten days later had to go back into the hospital. Another infection. I did eight more weeks of antibiotic (just an hour a day), most of it at home and administered by my wife, who was great about doing something that did not come naturally.

I had my follow up appointment at The Big Hospital with Dr. F, who has been on this case since August. She pronounced my treatment done, took out the pic line. Just like that! Now I wait to see if the infection has been stamped out.

I'm not pinned down by any treatments. I feel as good as I've felt in years. Which is why I sort of feel free. It won't feel real until I pass a month with no sign of infection.

Today, however it was clear sailing. I did something I never do: I took my wife for a home visit to meet a client and his wife. I've been dealing with this guy for months over the phone. Today I finally met him.

He lives at the highest point of the coastal town where he and his family reside. They have incredible views.

After our meeting, on the way home, we detoured to drive by the seaside cottage where we first lived together. Unusually, there was a serious covering of snow in this community right on the Atlantic Ocean. We stopped in front of our former place; it's strictly a summer place now. The snow was unshoveled, and all the shades were drawn.

We stopped at the state fishing area and got out. The water was gunmetal gray; the horizon, an hour before dusk, was bright yellow. The Big Island, in the clear dry air, looked like an alien vessel hovering above the ocean.

We stopped on the way home and got a pizza at Tommy's.