Feeling Better

[Note: this is just a quick update on where things stand.  I may post more at a later point...]

What a crazy couple of weeks! Some of you know more than others, so to catch you up:

I started having what I now know are diabetes symptoms while in Chesterton for the holidays, was tested for diabetes on the 5th, was diagnosed on the 8th, had a huge grant application due for work on the afternoon of the 12th, and admitted myself to the hospital that same day with what turned out to be a correct self-diagnosis of diabetic ketoacidosis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetic_ketoacidosis).
After an evening in the ER, two days in the ICU, and two more days in the general hospital, I came home Friday night. I'm now on two kinds of insulin, and even after just a couple of days at home, my blood sugar is starting to moderate. With diet, exercise, and some meds, this should be manageable.

Throughout everything, Sara has been a saint and a godsend, my mom provided lots of good advice from her own experience with the disease, and friends from near and far have provided great moral support.

In the grand scheme of things this isn't a big deal, but the diabetes situation has thrown a monkey wrench into our Inauguration plans (Sara will go, I'll likely lay low) and our planned late January trip to Europe (probably postponed until April).

Long story short, this was a big enough jolt to remind me of what's really important in life, but my diagnosis was moderate enough to keep what happened to me in perspective--things could be much worse, and I'm lucky in so many ways despite what happened this week.

Thanks again to everyone who has reached out to me with kind words, personal experience, and any other kind of help you can imagine.  It's a month late for this, but I feel a bit like George Bailey in "It's a Wonderful Life"--it's only after a real scare that you really understand how much you value friends and family, and vice versa.

Josh

PS: I'm working my way out of a nasty e-mail backlog, so please bear with me...

Josh