Post-Op: Third month plus a week

   I thought that going back to work Tuesday after 13 weeks of extended sick leave would mean that I'm totally recovered. But it doesn't. I started getting a little ragged around the edges as I watched the 10 p.m. TV news. When the city editors suggested that I go home early, it seemed like a really good idea. 
   It turned out to be an evening of exhilaration and stress. Exhilaration at the applause with which the newsroom greeted me when I walked in shortly after 5 p.m. Joy at seeing all my colleagues again and discovering that they still thought I should continue as the Candyman. (Thanks to Barb O'Brien for providing a starter supply of sweets.) And then there was satisfaction in getting organized to once again tackle one of my primary assignments -- the Reporter's Notebook column.
   But it was not a matter of simply settling back in front of the old familiar computer screen. The massive reorganization of the newsroom had gotten to my desk, which had been packed up and moved. It took an hour to find and activate things that I didn't want to do without -- the cordless phone, the wireless mouse, the mini electric fan, the drugstore spectacles. It took another hour to do a rudimentary restoration of the settings that were lost during the installation of the new Dell laptop computer, which is attached to an outboard keyboard and display screen. It took more than one try to find out which of the copying machines was doing the printouts of my Reporter's Notebook e-mail.
   Setting up the files for Reporter's Notebook turned out to be as astute move. At 9 p.m., 45 minutes before the first edition deadline, the editors realized they did not have a column for Wednesday. I was able to whip one together and transfer it to the city desk just in time. After that, though, I was beat. Guess I've got some more recovering to do.

Post-Op: Three months

The CT scan today (Wednesday) at Roswell Park Cancer Institute confirms it. No malignancies. Cancer-free right now, and everything looks good for the future. Come back again in six months for another CT scan, says the oncologist, the dapper Dr. Saby George. CT scans every six months for three years, then once a year after that. 

The blood test looks good too. Everything within normal levels. Cholesterol is down. Liver and kidney functions are fine. The CT scan also shows the heart looking normal, Dr. George adds. Is my urostomy arrangement doing OK, he asks. I assure him that it is. I note that all we have to do now is bring that high blood pressure back to where it ought to be. Sooner or later, we'll find the right combination of meds to do the trick.

And so next Tuesday, the day after Labor Day, I go back to working nights at The Buffalo News. My long extended sick leave is over. What can I say after I say, "Hallelujah!"