I went in for bloodwork on Thursday and my white counts were STILL really low. They had budged slightly, up to 1.1 from 0.7. The doctor wasn’t concerned and told me not to worry about it so much. She said I should live my life normally and gave me the okay to travel if I wanted to. Going to any major city with a big hospital is fine, but she would prefer I stay away from remote locations until my counts improve. She also told me not to keep myself locked in the house – it’s fine to go the grocery store, a restaurant, whatever, just wash my hands. My kids are the biggest threat to my health because they will probably carry the most germs. She said there’s no need to wear a mask or restrict my diet because there’s no scientific evidence that any of that means anything in terms of cutting down virus transmission, but washing your hands does. My oncology nurse was there too and, I think, kind of dumb-founded because when we are in-patient they are so strict about everything and they reinforce those instructions with us. Outpatient is definitely a different world, but I much prefer it to being in the hospital again.

I’m not going to rush off to vacation – yet – but I have been getting out more and worrying less. I know my counts have to come up eventually … And I do have brief vacation plans in the coming weeks that I fully intend to fulfill.

Tomorrow I turn 35 and, as I told a friend of mine, I can’t believe I’m actually excited to be getting older. I think each year will feel like an accomplishment from this point forward. So in the spirit the new year and another year older, I’m just going to share this quote I came across today. I had clipped it from a magazine in 2009 and I just found it this morning when I was cleaning out the folder where I keep all of these random things. It sums things up perfectly.

“The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift … It is painfully won, and it has been worth more to me than any qualification I ever earned.”

- from J.K. Rowling’s 2008 Harvard commencement address