Happy Holidays!

Charles has been back at work for almost a month now, and he's doing great! :) I had been very worried that going back to work would be too much for him, but he has surprised me with how well he's been holding up. Yes, he does tire more quickly than he did a few years ago, but overall he is doing better than I could have imagined! He's been working part time so far and will hopefully be picking up another shift soon. In addition, everyone at Romaine's has been wonderful! I'm so happy that they've treated him so well throughout everything. It makes life so much easier knowing that they care about him and they're looking out for him, he could very easily have gotten a job at a place where the people wouldn't have been so nice! I bet all the trouble he had with jobs after moving to Mass happened for this very reason... so that he could be at a great restaurant with wonderful people! :) Having to follow up recovery with a new job search, or going back to a miserable place would NOT have been good!

Other than work, life has been pretty good for us. I know that I am thankful everyday that Charlie is doing so well! He constantly amazes me with his optimism and passion for life. He's truly a wonderful person.

We've been back to Albany twice in the past couple weeks and he got to see some of his family. He had really been missing his nephew a LOT so it was really nice to be able to spend a little time with him. Time has really flown! We had a lovely Thanksgiving with his family in NY and we're looking forward to seeing them again for Christmas. And we got to have our Third Thanksgiving with my family too! Yay food! Hah.

Since the surgery, Charles has come to notice some effects that Kirby had on him that he hadn't even realized. First is his energy level. He still tires easily but in the year or two before his surgery, Charles had found himself napping a lot, which he hadn't done before. These days he's making sure to get enough rest, but has found that he doesn't need to nap as much as he did before. I had read some things online about meningiomas having this sort of affect on people. It definitely is something that could happen in a way where you wouldn't even notice it.

In addition, a couple weeks ago Charles came home from work and said that he missed Kirby... quite the statement! He said that he missed him because he had previously been able to chop red onions without any tears... and now he can barely stand to do it! It seems that the tumor had actually had some effect on Charlie's sense of smell without him realizing it! I think he should be thankful anytime an onion makes his eyes water... even if it does make his job a little more difficult. :)

Unsurprisingly, Dr. Blacks's office never scheduled the appointment with Radiology like we requested (but we expected as much and never followed up, I'm not blaming them, it's not a huge deal). I think the plan is to just enjoy the time we have now and not worry about it so much (I'm surprised I haven't gotten any gray hairs with all the worrying I've done! Hah. Charles has enough for the both of us...). He has another MRI in January and we can go from there based on the results. Hopefully, there will be nothing to be found :) Until then, we're not worried about it and we're enjoying the time we have and his good health!

There is a lot to be thankful for this Holiday Season! :)

~Sue W.