Update

 I should have written another entry but after finally getting past the first round of radio-Iodine treatment it honestly took me some time to regain my energy to get on top of work, let alone a hobby. Then, I've had to put all my energy in digging out of the hole my project at work fell into during my recovery time. I'm still nowhere out of the woods there (yet) but at least I'm somewhat back to my old strength, at least until the next round. My endocrinologist was concerned a certain cancer marker remains elevated in my bloodwork, and in consulting with the nuclear medicine physician they both want to re-scan me next month.

I've got some other screening tests coming up in a week or so but should at least be able to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday, before having to go on the infamous low-iodine diet starting December 1st. The week of December 13th I start the whole daily shuffle to the hospital for injections of Thyrogen, a lower-level dose of radioactive Iodine-131, IVs with contrast dye, and lots of radiology scans to see if any errant, assumed-malignant thyroid cells "light up" on the scans. Hopefully nothing will show, and I won't have to go through the high-dose treatment again, which would be early next year.

I'm honestly "sick-of-being-sick" at this point, and want to get my old life back. Besides a challenging project with a difficult client the added headwinds of illness and treatment is something I can ill-afford as a project manager in this business. Add to that repeated turnover in resources (read: the Great Resignation) and a customer whose expectations are far from aligning to reality I'm sort of living the perfect storm of misery when it comes to life outside the hobby. I know the hobby will always be there but I find myself sometimes - between Zoom calls - looking wistfully into the layout room, where literally nothing has moved or progressed since last report. Frustrating, to say the least, and burned-out at worst.

So, here I am on a Sunday evening getting ready to start the workweek with approving my team's timesheets and expense reports from the week prior, and scheduling meetings into the next week - before my hyper-active client starts sending out nasty-grams about our "poor communication" and "lack of engagement." Maddening... the politics of this client, but albeit, typical of large, corporate behemoths too heavy on bureaucracy. If I had a time machine I think I'd pick a different profession, but at age 51 with a professional certification it's a bit late to start over. Just make it to retirement, I keep telling myself.

At least the trains will still be there should I make it to that magic date. That is what keeps me going some days.