The worm turns!

Who'd a thunk? Less than a week ago, I was in the hospital, my left leg was a pain magnet due to the clot, my blood numbers (hemoglobin, white blood cell, platelet), were vying with the Dow-Jones Industrial average for basement-dweller status, and I wore a perpetual aspect of run-down, hang-dog loserdom. Today, I am an oupatient, my left leg is feeling better due to my first therapeutic shot of fragmin (today was the first time that my platelets were high enough to get the dose I needed, more than 3x what I have been getting), my blood numbers are as robust as a bull market index, and I have confident aura, as Mark Twain once said, of "a Christian holding four aces." The docs are now telling me that by early next week--Tuesday or Wednesday--they will be ready to turn me loose, and Florence and I will be able to go home. If you are among the dozens of friends and relatives who have sent or are contemplating sending cards, please direct them to us at home, rather than here in Rochester. If you just sent one, never fear--it will be forwarded. One thought as our adventure in Rochester comes to a close. Florence deserves so much of the credit for my coming through this ordeal in one piece. A single example: she slept in my hospital room every night so that she could be there in the morning to talk to the doctors on rounds, and be up on the latest. You know it's love when someone will sleep on a crummy couch, eat hospital food, get sleep interrupted, all when you don't have to, because you care that much about your spouse. It just goes to show that all you have to do is marry the right woman, and everything else you do will fall into place!