Monday through Wednesday are slow days at Northrop Grumman as many people are absent. There are interesting algorithms and model tools worked on as I don't get bothered with typical everyday issues.
I leave work just a bit early on Monday and go fight mall crowds to do some Christmas shopping. Twice during the shopping, as people are pushing and shoving me out of the way, I take a deep breath and tell myself to relax because this entire ordeal will be over soon. I get home and go for a long walk to relieve the stress of Christmas shopping. Later in the evening, as Person N_V and I are wrapping Christmas presents, I answer phone calls from Person Daniel, Person G, Person T*, and Person M_C. I have to explain the history of each one of these callers to Person N_V. It isn't easy explaining my life to Person N_V.
On Christmas eve and on Christmas I handle many calls from Person Roy, Person Daniel, Person M_C, Joe, Brandon, Person T*, Person F_F, Ruby, Joseph, and others (who cannot be recalled now).
On Christmas I paint a closet and read the newspaper before heading to Mom and Dad's for Christmas dinner. My right leg continues to hurt and I have no strength in it, but I make the best of the socializing. I'm home and trying to relax just after 8pm.
Though pain in the leg kept me awake, I get out for a bicycle ride on Friday. I am 10 minutes slower than usual. It is time to see a doctor. Between the hours of 10 am on 4 pm I wait in the Immediate Care Clinic, see a doctor, go to another facility to have a Doppler ultrasound scan of my femoral artery (to rule out a blood) clot, return to the original facility, pick up a prescription, and make another appointment for Tuesday. I am not happy with the treatment that I have received. I am not happy with the discussions that we have had about blood clots, neurological problems, and/or family cancer history.
Late on Friday Daniel visits and we watch "Bowling for Columbine" and verbally solve the world's problems. We agree to hang out more when my leg gets better.
On Saturday, not wanting to think about how much the leg hurts, I paint a closet and do the laundry. After lunch I get out for another bicycle ride. The leg doesn't really hurt during cycling but I can tell that the right side is weak. Nonetheless I have a good stretch coming home and the time is only a minute or so slower than a typical healthy time.
Depsite the pain, Person N_V have a quick dinner and then head for a club to meet Person N_V's friends. We run into Person F_F, Person E_F (who I have the softest spot in my heart for), Person Roy, Roy's roommate Ralph, and Richard (a friend of Person Roy's). The music is decent tonight and I just hang back and listen and smile politely but firmly refuse when asked leading questions. We are back in bed just after 3 am on Sunday morning.
I'm up on Sunday morning before 8 am to read the newspaper, do some grocery shopping, and put the closet back together (after letting the paint harden for 24 hours). There's a sunny but chilly afternoon bicycle where I push and get a time close to the standard time even if I continue to feel weakness in the right leg.
After watching some football, Person N_V puts on a DVD of "My Sassy Girl". It's a story in Korean with Chinese and English subtitles. It's a love story. It has kpop ChiChis in it. And, of course, why would I expect otherwise, it features Pachelbel's "Canon in D" at the most emotional part of the story. I'm choking back tears until I realize that Person N_V has fallen asleep (he's seen the movie before). As the movie ends I take out the trash and choke back more tears and then I go start playing my mp3 files of Pachelbel's "Canon in D". Face the truth!
On Tuesday I see two different doctors. All of us agree that I don't fit the bone cancer profile. But the doctor responds with, "We'll keep an eye on it" after I ask him if we should be concerned that I've lost 6 pounds since my regular annual physical back in June of 2003. But we do schedule a follow-up meeting with a neurologist in order to try and figure out what is going on. I get a different set of anti-inflammatory medication (as we tend to think there is nerve inflammation somewhere) as well as a huge (and refillable) supply of Vicodin. It's party time! The anti-inflammatory does seem to help more than the other two anti-inflammatories that I had tried in the last week. There's another reasonable bicycle ride on Tuesday afternoon.
On Wednesday I am tired. I take Person N_V and his friend, Person Huy, to the airport. We aren't allowed to enter the airport so I just get them close to a shuttle bus. On the way home from the airport I stop in at Northrop Grumman to check email and to install an art project in my office. I am surpised to find a secretary there catching up on some eLearning. We have a little laugh and I head for home. There is no bicycle ride today because I am just plain tired. I wash and wax the motorcycle and get out for a nice long walk late in the afternoon.
Phone calls from Person N_V, Person T*, Brandon, Person M_C, Person J_VKPI, and Person J_Boeing are handled with an, "I'm just going to stay close to home tonight and keep company with Nopester and go to sleep early".