Working Class Hero

It's been almost three months since we got Karen's diagnosis and we've come a long way since then. Back in November/December Karen was struggling to take full breaths and was terribly weak. Today, she went back to work, riding in on BART and even hoofing it up a set of stairs when she found the escalator wasn't working. She worked a full day, came home to a lovely dinner of homemade spaghetti and meatballs, hung out with the family, and went to bed at her new bedtime of 9PM. Unless the roof caves in or I once again attack her in my sleep (and that's only happened twice), she'll be going back tomorrow.

Our working girl returns to the office with a great new 'do.

It's pretty remarkable that she's managed to reclaim her spot in the day to day world. Back around the New Year she had virtually no energy and we both thought her working days were behind her. Since then she has made remarkable progress, especially over the last week. Knowing that she was gearing up to return to Wells Fargo, she stopped taking naps and stepped up her activity, pushing herself to do a little more each day so that she would be prepared for today. Her oncology and pulmonary appointments this past Thursday went well and she was cleared by both doctors for work. Assuming that the results of her PET scan later this week go well she will be scaling back her oncology appointments to monthly check-ins. The crizotinib is really doing its job but I think Karen really deserves the credit here. This was something she really wanted and she made it happen.

Not that she was the only one that wanted her back to work. Arriving at her office this morning she was greeted by a handmade red carpet leading to her office, an office filled with balloons. She's fortunate to work with a great group of people that really care about her.

Here's hoping the PET scan on Thursday is fantastic.