It’s been two months since my last post. We were supposed to join my family in New England for Thanksgiving. I was combining the holiday with attending the 26th Annual Meeting and Education Day of the Society of Neuro-Oncology. I was invited to be part of an in-person panel, but I learned in October the panel was cancelled. While Susie has been progressing with her speech and physical therapy, I decided to not put her through flying during the holidays. So, we remained in Austin for Thanksgiving.
To my surprise and pleasure, my parents decided to come to Austin for Hanukkah. A few days later, our eldest and his girlfriends decided to join too. The Thanksgiving trip would have been our first time physically meeting his girlfriend. So not only do we get to spend extended time with the two of them, but we were able to do so in the context of a small Hanukkah party with Susie’s family and my parents. It had been a few years seen many of them have seen each other. We did a mix of Texas BBQ, Latkes and Middle Eastern food. I think everyone slept very well.
Upon my family’s return to New England, we saw the Omicron variant accelerate its spread across the world. Our youngest works at a Trauma Hospital in South Austin. While we have seen positivity rates increase, it seems like the hospitals are not experiencing the overload during past Alpha and Delta waves. This is promising. We have also had family come down with COVID-19 around Christmas and New Years. None have required hospitalization, and around ten days from symptom onset have tested negative.
We hope 2022 is a year filled with joy, good health and friendship. Happy New Year!
