Up early – easy drive, no traffic. Everything went as expected. Three down, one to go!

Robert’s appointment at Johns Hopkins for the third set of injections of the melanoma GVAX vaccine was scheduled at 8:30, so we were up and out by 7 a.m. – way too early for a retired person like me. But perhaps that’s why the traffic was so light and we ought to ask for early appointments from now on!

However you look at it, yesterday was not a normal day for Robert and me. We had already cast our ballots, thanks to the early voting offered by D.C. I did an early run to the park with Chewey, and we were off to Johns Hopkins at about 8 a.m. to get the first of four doses of the GVAX melanoma vaccine that will be administered for the clinical trial Robert is enrolled in. It was the start of another one of those days that didn’t go quite as planned.

Nearly five months ago I suspended my consulting and freelance business in the face of Robert’s then-impending surgery to remove a large melanoma from his scalp. I was too distracted, not to mention too busy with medical appointments and emotional upheaval, to concentrate on work, and I didn’t want to let any clients down by not meeting deadlines or by handing in sub-par assignments.

Now that the scare of a four- to eight-month prognosis is behind us and Robert’s status is “healthy” and “No Evidence of Disease,” the question comes up from time to time: am I “ready” to go back to work? And the answer is – NO!

Our day at Johns Hopkins on Friday turned out to be shorter than we expected - they called at the last minute to say not to come until 10. We were very busy (yes, a little "hurry up and wait") until 3 p.m., and we left with only one reservation - that we still didn't have much more information than we left home with. I promise to post again as soon as we know something - and if you don't really care very much what our day was like, feel free to skip this post. Check back in a few days to find out the results.