Friends,

As usual, our recent weeks have been very busy. In my last update I reported on my teeth and skin cancer surgery. Today, I get the stitches out from the surgery. Having teeth again has been nice, although I developed blisters on my upper gums and had to cut back on chewing a bit. I need to get it all adjusted. My next set of appointments are on September 17th when I get Rituxan and see my doctor for a checkup. Three Months!!!! The last time I went three months between doctor visits, I relapsed, so this has been a bit of a nervous time, but I am still hearty and healthy.

I have been in anguish over my job situation. I had an interview last Thursday. This morning, I talked to the hiring manager, and they have decided they want to hire me. They even raised the salary considerably to try to get me to come work for them. The company is CSC, and the work is for the Navy, in the CIO offices of Navy Region Southwest. It will take a few days to get everything worked out, but it is nice to be getting a pay check. Maybe I can start my life again.

I wanted to discuss, briefly, the process I just went through. I have always lived by certain standards, including accountability, both personally and financially. Being in a situation where I could not pay my bills has been excruciating and disturbing. I went through two major periods of being ill, and never missed a payment. Being unable to support my family has been horrible. I have felt like a failure. Finally, this has forced me to look at my economic situation, finding that I have made what have turned out to be unwise investments, considering the current real estate situation. This has forced me to give up one of the most valuable things a person can have, his dreams. I have struggled against this mightily. In the end, I had to readjust to the concept of leaving my dreams behind, accepting my condition, and just living within my means. It has been similar to being seriously ill, in some ways. When I went into the hospital, I had to adjust my thinking by accepting the fact that I would probably die. I made sure, to the best of my ability, that my family would be provided for, and then got to work staying alive. I just went through a similar process, except for the part about providing for my family. Instead, Menchie and I worked together to accept that we still had each other, and that was enough to live on.

Now, I just need to work a few more years and I will probably just retire to my small house in New Mexico. That is dream enough.

Thanks to you all for your support, prayers, and warm words. Again. You have once more helped me get through another life trial, which fortunately wasn’t nearly as long as I expected it to be. I will be very busy in the next week wrapping everything up at SAIC and getting started at CSC.

Take care everyone!

Ted
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