Catching up

There are years that ask questions and years that answer
- Zora Neale Hurston


A friend found this quote and sent it to me. I think it sums things up appropriately for us. I hope that we are soon able to transition into a year that answers.

Catching up a bit- A's body scan was fine. He spoke with the oncologist and there was no evidence of cancer spread beyond the neck area. I was so relieved when I heard the news and I know A was too. Radiation treatments begin tomorrow and will go for 6-8 weeks. Sadly, A had to shave off the goatee he was finally able to grown because it was uncomfortable under the head placement mask that A has to wear during treatment. The radiation is supposed to affect hair growth on his neck, so we'll see if he's able to grow it back again.

We finally got in contact with the ALPA aeromedical office in Colorado. The confirmed that we are on the correct treatment path and said that A did have have to wait a full year after the conclusion of treatment to apply for his medical. A's oncologist, a former military flight surgeon, says that he thinks A only needs to be out for six months and will write a letter to the FAA clearing him early when it is time. So we'll see what happens with that, but no worrying about it until December.

Until then A is stuck at home with little to do. He's taken on a few big projects, mainly tranisitioning us to a new main computer and making our living space more environmentally friendly, as well as spending some time on some new hobbies. The problem is, unless you are a retiree or a stay at home mom, there are few chances for interaction with others when one is home all day. By the end of the day he's staved for interaction and I'm exhausted by work. It's not an equation that is working out well for us. So we're looking into ways to get him out of the house a bit. Maybe he'll go back to school.

We got put off by the LTD company until the May meeting, even thought we had our paperwork in in time for the April meeting. So another month until that gets settled. He's been off since February, I thought for sure it would be worked out by now!

It's been 8 weeks since A left work and we found out the cancer news. On one hand, it feels like it's all been a whirlwind. On the other, it's hard to remember what life was like when he was an active pilot. A lot of friends who jumped in to offer help have disappeared again. Other friends are just now getting the news. The hardest part for us so far has been the setback in acheiving our goals. A had finally gotten a good foot into this dream career- on hold. We were about to acheive some goals financially- on hold and partially lost. Moving out of an unsatisfying job for me- on hold.

This past year has forced us to ask a lot of questions- of ourselves and others. It hasn't always been the easiest to ask those questions and we haven't always liked the answers we've gotten, but we've made it this far and that's what counts.