After an action-packed early-week with lots of bike riding and hustle and bustle, it all came to a grinding halt at around 2 p.m. on Thursday afternoon. At this time, I was found stretched out on the comfy leather couch drifting into a two-hour nap. Yep, I was wiped out and needed to rest my body. Sometimes I forget that technically I'm still a "sick" person...
Thursday was still a good day though. Marc and I went on a little shopping trip into the suburbs of Antwerp to hit up Decathlon and Saturn. I scored big time at Decathlon with a brand new pair of Asics running shoes for the princely sum of 10 Euros! Talk about a savings! To top it off, these shoes feature my favorite color: purple. The other major highlight of Thursday was the good news I received from my gastro doctor...
The morning's blood sample (I have to provide a blood sample every Thursday morning to ensure the Imuran is working properly) showed that my inflammation levels are now normal. In other words, the ulcerative colitis is not tormenting my body now and I'm on the path to recovery. This is excellent news. The other good news is that I'm responding well to the Imuran and appear to be side effect free. The only big side effect I'm dealing with right now is the weight gain that comes with steroids... Sigh. Very frustrating - but the good news is I'm tapering off the steroids so soon enough my body will be back to normal. Though it is frustrating to gain three kilograms in one week when I'm eating primarily foods like fruits, vegetables, eggs, and lean meat. It would be a different story if I was enjoying rice tarts, double chocolate Magnum bars, frites, and Dame Noir ice cream desserts...
To celebrate the good news from the doctor, Marc and I went out for a nice meal at an Italian restaurant in Geel. It was a very enjoyable evening with an excellent bowl of egg drop soup and a very rich bowl of pasta.
As for now? Well, I've been stuck in my seat here for a solid five hours now working away at my computer. I'm slowly but surely ticking items off my "to do" list. As soon as I get a couple more things stroked off, I'm headed for the wide open roads and a frosty ride. Just a small ride to open my legs and get some fresh air in my lungs.
Really looking forward to our weekend - Marc is racing on Saturday and then we're going for a "sleep over" at our friends Renee and Anne's place on Saturday night. Sunday we're participating in a group mountain bike/cyclo-cross ride and then back to Renee and Anne's to watch the World Cyclo-Cross Championships. Definitely a good weekend ahead.
We've got a little over a week left in Belgium. A bittersweet time. We're both looking forward to returning home but honestly wish that it was only for a few months... A few months to allow us to take care of "loose ends" and then return to Belgium permanently. (I think I write something similar every year at around this time...) This year we're going to take some positive action towards our dreams and wanderlust - stay tuned.
Number one thing I'm looking forward to: giving Mr. Murphy a giant hug. Number two thing I'm looking forward to: a big bowl of Pho at the Barrhaven Vietnamese Restaurant. Number three thing I'm looking forward to: connecting with friends in person. Number four thing I'm looking forward to: seeing my parents, brother, sister-in-law and wee Henry. Number five thing I'm looking forward to: spring trip to New York City with my mom.
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