Now Playing With a Full Deck

(I'd like to thank childhood friend Peter for the title. And my mother and father, without whom this would not have been possible. And... what? The playing-off music already?!)

My birthday was last Thursday, February 23. I made it to 52.

On Monday, my friend Jeff drove me to my weekly check-up. My doctor gave me a report of steady blood counts and an overall thumbs up for how I'm doing. She did not give me preliminary biopsy results (I'll get them tomorrow) or permission to go home, yet. She did give me, in case I had forgotten, another reminder that getting here was far from certain.

How far from certain? I believe her words were, "You are a miracle." Huh. I have to give her credit for communicating enough of the gravity of the situation, back in November, that I had a reasonable sense of what I was up against, without making the odds seem so bleak that I might lose hope. Not being a believer in miracles, I don't know how I would have handled being told something that amounted to, "You need a miracle." Probably not well.

Fortunately, you don't have to believe in miracles to be the beneficiary of one.

The rest of the week brought my mom; chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cake, candied ginger, and chocolate-coated ginger; and cards, calls, and countless e-mails and Facebook messages, confirming, inescapably, that I am again the same age as Jan — that would be 52, Jan — and I don't get to use my stupid "cougar" joke for another year.

Looking forward to it!