Details starting to come together...

Well, lots of hoops to jump through in order for us conquer another international move...this time the one back home.  I'm encouraged though with seeing some movement in the details.  Some good news...HR department said they should be able to get David's clearance from background check within 72 hours in order for him to return from his leave of absence, and they basically did some creative scheduling in order to do recurrent training for just David.  SO... Davids assistant is checking flights for departure some time around April 7-10ish so we can arrive and get all his  work stuff initiated pronto!  Our flight will be confirmed early next week (hopefully).  We've now been told he'll have a April 17 start date, and our health insurance will go into affect that day- just in time for my April 19 rheumatologist appointment.  I'm still praying that our health benefits will kick in the day David goes into the office (about a week earlier) for his background check so we'll not have a lag in health benefits for about a week!  Not too comforting to know there's a "lag" in health benefits when your reason for returning to the States is for health reasons...yikes.

5 new pilots arrived this week and David will begin their training on Monday so things have been busy around here with him making multiple trips to the airport for pick up, helping them get adjusted to life here, and David preparing for their ground school (plus getting ready to move-just a  minor thing...lol!).   It's been a blessing though in timing for us (and hopefully them, too!) that we're able to disperse and bequeath most of our household goods to them.  It's a win win for everyone I think because we can't move so many things back to the States, and they need it to set up their new homes.  I remember when we were trying to hunt down everything when we first moved here.  We didn't know the area.  We had no car and we hadn't purchased a motorbike.  We were learning the art of bargaining with the locals (via hand signs and calculators!).  We couldn't find what we were looking for.  We didn't speak the language...you know, just "normal" stuff!  It's QUITE a monumental task since there are no "one-stop shop" places here like Target or Wal-Mart.  So...YAY for new co-workers who need our stuff! Oh wow...we've come a long way, baby!

On the medical front:  I saw Dr. Nathalie Thursday.  It's been another week since I completed the iv treatment.  I've been concerned about my shortness of breath and difficulty with swallowing so I asked for a chest xray just to give me peace of mind.  It was clear, and she didn't think my heart was enlarged either...yay!  She said that the shortness of breath and swallowing issues are due to the inflammation.  CPK is still high and has increased since last week by aver 100 points- it's at 2575.  I'm still extremely weak...getting a bit worse to be quite honest.  It almost seems there's no rhyme or reason to this number at times!  Wonder if I might have to have one more iv prior to the looooong flight home??  She increased my oral steroid-uggh, but thinks that should help.  Oh, and I'm taking the methotrexate again (NOT happy about that, but it's basically my only other option here in country to suppress my inflammation (supposedly- didn't work before) in order to help get me back home.

Last time to be with my ladies' small group...sniff sniff! What an incredible blessing to be in the midst of other like minded ladies...representing countries of USA, Thailand, Canada, Korea, and others who weren't there this day).  What a privilege to get to know these ladies!

 This is tonight at the new hire "meet and greet" at our good buddy, Greg's house.  Great job hosting, Greg- the burgers were great!   We've had a VERY unique experience here with David's work group- really like no other...a big happy family.  It's hard to think about not getting together with all these peeps in each other's homes or meeting up for coffee at our favorite bakery, or just whizzing by them on a motorbike!  We're really going to miss all these people!