Good News and More Good News

Regarding the car, the news couldn't be any better.  Not only will the body shop (Magnussen Carwest for those in the area - they're wonderful) be able to fix my car, they are also removing the expired yellow commuter lane stickers, fixing the remaining damage from the raw eggs that had been thrown at her in February, and, in addition to replacing the 3 damaged tires and rims with new ones, they're throwing in a 4th tire and rim for free.  I'm essentially going to end up with a brand new car.  And the icing on the cake is that the insurance company is waiving the $500 deductible.  The repair estimate is $9,000, which says a lot about how much a Prius retains its value - the year is 2006.  I should have her back by the end of the month.  In the meantime, I'm tooling around town in a fire engine red Toyota Corolla Matrix Hatchback - not bad.

The next bit of good news concerns the MRIs I had done last month.  The scan of the brain showed no change from last year.  The scan of the spine also showed no new lesions, although some of them MIGHT be a slight bit larger and others MIGHT be a slight bit smaller.  It was hard to tell.  What was obvious though is that there is a lot of activity along the spinal cord.  My doctor said that based on all that activity (in other words, a lot of lesions), they feel strongly that I should be on some kind of drug.  Now here's the really good news.  They will be coming out with a new disease modifying drug (that means it slows the progression) hopefully by the end of the year and it's an oral drug, not an injectable.  And the best part is that it has a higher success rate (over 50% compared to just 33%), fewer side effects and a higher safety record.  For the first time, I am open to taking one of these drugs.  It's called Biogen B-12 if anyone wants to read up on it.

Now for the really exciting part - my new business card is ready!  I've enclosed an image of it at the top. It is at the printer's as we speak and I should have it next week.  I am already starting to book appointments.  The next step is to design a business card for my bookkeeping business (this one will be much simpler).  Once I get that one, I will start calling on small businesses and medical offices in the area.  And then Ed, my graphic artist friend, will design me a brochure.  My job with the non-profit in Milpitas ends as of October 31, so it is incumbent on me to get these new businesses going promptly!  I welcome any and all referrals.

The mini reunions and discovery of lost high school classmates continue to occur at a faster and faster pace.  I am in charge of creating and maintaining a database - one general one with everyone's information and another one just for the classmates who have still not been found.  It's pretty time consuming but fun and exciting too.  We just heard from someone I'd been extremely friendly with and fond of in HS and I am so happy to be back in touch with him.

Life continues to be fun.  This weekend 6 of the women from the cancer class Carla and I took at the YMCA back in 2008 are spending the weekend at the country home of one of us up in Sonoma, the wine country.  We're bringing sleeping bags and pillows and everyone is taking care of one meal.  Carla and I are handling a breakfast and a lunch, we're all bringing wine plus I'm bringing vodka and my apple and pomegranate martini mixers, as well as my iPod and iPod speakers.  We're calling it a retreat, but I'm not sure that's the right word for it - I do know there will be lots of laughter and good times.

And finally, I think summer is finally here.  The temperature has been averaging in the high 50s to low 60s, but we finally were at mid 80s yesterday.  I haven't even unpacked my chaise lounge on my deck yet - usually I'm out there every day after work, but it's been too cold.  I was even beginning to regret having put away my heaters and brought out my fans.  Hopefully it will stay nice until the Fall.

That's it, folks!