Day 276--One More Week Down

Yay! It's Friday afternoon, and Torger isn't doing the radio show tomorrow night, so we're looking forward to the weekend. After my stressed-out post yesterday, I'm feeling much more clear-headed today. Torger and I talked about it, and we're going to keep focusing on setting up systems that will help us to stay on top of things. He compared our situation to a waiter in a restaurant on a slow night. When the place is packed and everything's in a frenzy, the waiter is right there--filling every water glass, remembering every special request, running from table to table. But when the place is slow, it's harder to stay focused, even when there are only one or two tables to watch. (We've both worked in restaurants, so this analogy makes total sense to us.) But the mark of a true pro is to be able to pull yourself together and do the job. For all we know, Torger could be dealing with side effects and taking medications for the rest of his life, so we have to really make it part of our lives...not just an add-on. I can't get stressed about not being perfect, and we both can't let ourselves get careless. It's a delicate balance.

In the meantime, the last couple of weeks have actually been very nice, in part thanks to this blog. Torger's best friend from junior high found the blog and got in touch, and we had a great time getting together with him for dinner last week...he's grown up to be a really nice guy. Kevin asked to see some of Torger's art, so Torger started pulling out some of his sketches from the hospital and prints and even some of the collaborative stuff of old. It made us both keenly aware of how much he needs to get his stuff organized--neither of us could find some of his fairly large pieces. But it also made him realize how much he wants to start working again. While he looks good and feels good, his stamina is still not what it once was, and he hasn't done any drawing since the transplant (though he was prolific throughout his chemo). As we try to get more structure and responsibility back into his life, building up his strength for drawing will be important. So this week, he got out his bike and went for a couple of rides...something he hasn't been able to do for a year! He's not doing any long treks, and nothing risky (tetanus is always an issue). But the exercise is good for him, and it helps him feel stronger. Now I just have to get my bike out and do the same thing.