make sudden movements sideways, when I had no intention of doing so. I am not a ninja vampire. This is common for people who spend a month in the hospital: your body atrophies every day you spend in that comfortable bed. So my physical condition is consistent with my hospital stay. If I did fall off the roof, a lot of inconvenient questions would come to those who saw it… or saw me after it. But I am recovering very quickly. My physical therapy sessions end after only three of them. I shuffle along faster with my walkers: I have both two-wheeled (for inside) and four-wheeled (to go the distance and bring a chair to boot) walkers that I need less and less every day. Hemodialysis is very draining initially, but within a month I can drive myself to the sessions. My family is freed from watching and helping me 24x7, and they can get on with their lives as I get on with mine.
RECOVERY May I have a lot of free time outside of the dialysis sessions. Amasa is paying me a small stipend to be part of their ‘hemodialysis program’, and it is sufficient when combined with my wife’s income for our monthly expenses, even in Silicon Valley where the rents are exorbitant (see accounts like ‘The Slums of Palo Alto’ for details on that). I am allowed to work, teach, play, or do anything I want — as long as it does not blow my cover. I enjoyed the work I did before becoming sick, but since recovery it is very hard for me to focus on it. I can’t seem to sit still without dozing off. Watching TV makes me fall asleep, and then I wake up at midnight ready for a new day. I guess that would be within character, but I prefer to take advantage of daylight as much as possible, so my - 25 -
