For the one....two...all right, I'll be generous to myself, three that might have missed me, it's been a long absence from here. Unfortunately, I became the unwilling recipient of a nasty illness that took the better part of a year to overcome. One that wreaked complete havoc with me, both mentally and physically. There were many days where it took every ounce of energy I had, to complete the most basic of day to day tasks.

What first seemed to be a simple bout of illness in September 2008, quickly turned into a debilitating one by late November. What I didn't realize until much later, is that I was experiencing what I have termed "sick-cycling". I would become ill, get well, and then become sick again. However, the time that I would be well between each bout was continually decreasing. The day after Thanksgiving, my body finally crashed and burned.

When I went to bed that evening, I felt fine. Within an hour, my heart was pounding furiously, and I felt like I was two degrees from spontaneously combusting. It felt like all of my skin was on fire. This went on for several hours, as I fought to get some rest, having to get up at 4:30 a.m. for work. Finally, I fell asleep around 3 for a brief rest.

I figured that with a few good days of rest, I'd be back to normal. How wrong I would turn out to be. In the midst of my sick-cycling, I had become so weak that I had to stop working out. Weights that were once easily lifted now felt like they were 10x their actual weight. It felt like I was in a mental fog much of the time. I could not move quickly in any fashion, or I would become light-headed. More than a few times, there would be a mind-body disconnect. My mind would want to do something, yet there was a felt delay, before my body would respond to the requested action. Neat on one hand, frustrating on other. No energy, light-headedness and constant mental fog, coupled with a painfully hacking cough, and the inability to keep food down. Sounds like a wonderful recipe of ailments, huh? Not!

Being the stubborn New Englander that I am, I was in no rush to see the doctor. Don't get me wrong, I like my doctor. I just don't like going to the doctor's. However, I ended up having a little help in making my decision to go.

For quite some time, my Better Half had been suggesting that I go see the doctor. And each time, I would tell her that I would give it a couple of weeks, and see if I got better. After awhile, her daughter, Miss M., became involved. I was now being tag-teamed into submission. It didn't take long, trust me. When the two most important women in your life are almost forcefully telling you to "Go to the doctor!", your options become limited. I made the appointment. It was easier to make the appointment, than bear the burden of knowing that they were worrying about me. For some bizarre reason, they love me.

After being prescribed some heavy-duty cough medicine, antibiotics, and an inhaler, I started my way on the road to recovery. However, it was short-lived. By the end of February, I had a relapse, though not as bad. This one I decided to tough out. With this one though, I lost a good chunk of my hearing for several months. Considering that I wasn't throwing up anymore, and no longer had a hacking cough, I figured the trade-off was a good one.

By May, my hearing had slowly started to return, and my energy levels had begun to increase. Mentally, I was still having issues. Though some would say that that's been a life long thing for me. It wasn't until sometime in October that I actually felt "right" again.

Being sick for some 9 months, it was time to play catch up. My house was a mess, my yard was a mess, and I had gained a considerable amount of weight. I was back to the weight that I was when I first started ER4YT. As I told my Better Half after seeing pictures of myself at my niece's graduation, "The current version of me just won't do!". With that exclamation, I dusted off my workout routines, prepared a meal plan, and dove back into weightlifting. Since July, I've lost 15 lbs., and the total amount of weight lifted has slowly but steadily been increasing. For a wedding that my Better Half and I attended in September, she had to take in my shirt three inches. On EACH side! And I'm not done yet.

It's been a helluva year, and it's now time to get back into the game of life. For those that know of my mischievous ways, I've been told in no uncertain terms that I am never allowed to stay home alone again! But that story will have to wait for another time. Right now, it just feels good to be back.

For all of those that are celebrating Thanksgiving this Thursday, may you all have a safe trip, and a wonderful gathering of friends and family. May everyone have a wonderful week filled with great health, happiness, and harmony.

Added Note: Hmmm...I was wondering why I was getting some comments in my Inbox this past week. For whatever reason, my Gelotology entry shows a date of November 2009. Even though I wrote it a year ago! Go figure. Maybe the comments are the kick in the butt that I needed to get writing again. So thanks to all for the comments!