The Christmas season flew by and anointed Belaggio Jewelers with a sustainable amount of capital, leaving my vendors flush as well. Always a pleasant situation to find yourself in at the end of the year. I would enter the new year, 2020, with renewed optimism for my business, my family, and my health. Coming up was my first extended in office visit at Penn. Dr. Luger would be requesting new composite bloodwork, running the gamut of tests to work up a complete picture to assess my current situation. As I waited for the new results, Dr. Luger felt that I was going to be able to remain on the lowest dose of Tasigna and remain in a long term remission. She was right on. My results came back fantastic! Fingers crossed, this next portion of my life would be cancer free. For how long…no one knows. Side effects, who cares. For now, I was somewhat at ease, my cancer at bay.
As the winter started to rear its ugly head, I worked and waited for the weekends to watch Joey’s hockey games on TV. We didn’t have to venture out, just order pizza and watch hockey. It was fun and sometimes scary seeing Joe fly around the ice frequently getting hammered while running his mouth. Oh well, that was his job! Lori and I were getting ready to watch one of his games where the team had traveled to Colombus, Georgia to play but he wasn’t in the lineup. We called him to see what happened and when he finally picked up the phone, he sounded awful. He was told to stay home by the team trainer after a trip to the Urgent Care. He was very sick! A high fever, bad headache, horrible cough and just felt all around awful. It was the middle of February and with what was about to transpire, he probably had Covid. No tests were available or thought about yet for his illness. We assumed that he had a bad Flu. Misdiagnosed at the beginning of this debacle, the tip of the spear. He took mucinex, drank hot tea, needed prescribed antibiotics and took over two weeks off from games and practice. Ohio, where Joe was living, would soon be found to be a hotbed for the beginning of covid in the US. Joe was infected in its infancy. Literally two weeks later, the FHL, along with most pro sports leagues, ceased operations due to this strange outbreak of what would come to be called Covid-19. Joe packed up his things and along with his girlfriend Kara, made his way back home to Pa.
We all know the story…the next four months were spent on lockdown. Our country in a state of horrible disarray. People were dying. Our population, prisoners in our own homes or wherever we were stuck. My business, like most, was completely shut down for those four months. No income and the bills didn’t stop. The boredom was terrible and the TV got a lot action all hours of the day and night. Joe and Kara decided to pull up their stakes in May, at the height of the shutdown, and take a trip across the country for four months! They visited 48 national parks in all, driving Joes red Jetta. A trip of a lifetime. Lori and I were both worried and jealous. Nicky was living in town and trying his best to sell homes under the auspices of the covid police. He was managing very well though and staying safe. We missed not being able to see him.
During this ordeal, I had to sacrifice getting my bloodwork repeated because it was deemed a non emergency situation. That being said, in the middle of it all, my Dad had been diagnosed with bladder cancer. A very scary situation thrown at him and our family. After a hospital stay and initial operation to remove some small tumors inside the bladder, Dad needed to remain diligent and complete several procedures involving chemotherapy after a few setbacks along the way. He did great though. Cancer wasn’t going to slow him down. I was very proud of how he handled it and had it beat after a some additional treatments. It wasn’t easy, but he handled it like a champ.
While the schools were all shut down, Lori was working from home and teaching through zoom. What a trip that was! I enjoyed listening to the interactions between her and the kids. Pretty funny! I myself would sometimes venture out to the Neshaminy creek, searching out the elusive rainbow trout. The parks were empty as were the banks of the creek. A peaceful respite in nature. Alone in the woods, perusing the running waters, casting my fly into the frothy water and dreaming of that big Rainbow Trout taking my line and racing down the rapids. It was surreal and a little dangerous. Anyway, we never got sick, luckily, and I went back to work in August when the quarantine was lifted. I only opened three days a week, full masking, hand sanitizing, and” Extreme Caution” being the modus operandi . Meanwhile, even with all the Covid bad news, sad stories and unfortunate circumstances I encountered concerning so many of my customers…. business exploded! Pent up buyers went crazy purchasing for their loved ones. Engagement ring sales were through the roof! Business the rest of the year and holiday season was fantastic! It was a pleasure, in my own small way, to help to make people happy again.
Beginning in 2021, I was finally allowed to go to U of P’s satellite offices in Newtown to get a blood draw and have a zoom visit afterwards with a PA to review my progress. It had been a year since my last testing and I was quite anxious. It was all good. The results came back excellent. Tasigna was holding its own…my remission sustained.
What a wild year. Unprecedented in most peoples lifetimes. The saga continued throughout 2021 while we trudged on with the drastic changes forced upon us. So many members of our populace dealing with what I refer to as Covid PTSD. Many scarred by the death and misery caused by this awful disease. Many living in constant fear, afraid to leave their homes and live their lives. My heart fully goes out to all affected by this maniacal anomaly of a virus, our lives forever changed.
Next Up: The Aftermath