Thursday, February 19, 2009

As Promised

Okay, lots has happened lately, so I'll give the broad strokes.

I went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago and he said I have diabetes and my blood pressure is a bit high. He was also worried that I had a fatty liver, so I scheduled an ultrasound.

That appointment was fine, although the nurse/technician was a bit aggressive with the wands and I think she bruised my ribcage. I was sore for a day or two afterward. But, the good news is that, no, I don't have a fatty liver. Whew.

Julia and I also attended an "Intro" class on diabetes that was very informative. We were both really surprised at how good it was and how much we learned. F'rinstance, we both thought I'd "given" myself diabetes by being inactive and eating too many carbs/sugars, but it turns out I always had diabetes (and always will have it), but it's just recently that it's become a problem and now I need to monitor my blood sugar and take a pill to control it. The good news is that with some changes, I can hopefully get it back under control.

This week and next week we have three more classes to attend that go more in depth on specific parts of dealing with diabetes. Wednesday night was information about "Medical Complications" and next week's classes cover "Nutrition" and "Lifestyle Changes." I'm actually sort of looking forward to them because they've been so interesting.

Okay, in other news . . . last Friday I flew down to interview with Cryptic Studios, the company that made City of Heroes and City of Villains computer games (both of which I loved and played the hell out of). I interviewed with five or six people and then flew home in the evening. Oh, they're located in Los Gatos, California, which is part of the greater San Francisco area.

On Tuesday I heard from them and they extended an offer which I accepted. So, now I have to move to Los Gatos so I can start work on the 9th of March.

Firstly, I never would have gone for the interview if Julia and I hadn't talked about this beforehand and agreed that it was a good opportunity. Given the economy I'm not comfortable (at all) with continuing to work contract positions because I think they might be drying up. So, a full-time job is a good thing right now. And, the other big plus for me is that I'm finally breaking into the computer gaming business, which, despite my time and success as a game designer hasn't been open to me before now. So, this is an investment for me and I'm pretty excited about it.

The only drawback is that Julia is staying here in Seattle. She has her job, family, and we have the new house. And there's no way we're going to try and sell that in the current market. No way. So, we'll be living apart for a while. Luckily my boss is okay with a couple of days working remotely every month, so I should be able to make trips back with some sort of regularity.

Right now I'm spending some time looking for a place to live -- which will likely be a rented room in a house somewhere near work. It will be a spartan existence for me, I think.

Okay, there you go. My life over the past couple of weeks. Exciting, eh?

3 Comments:

At February 19, 2009 7:39 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Congratulations Jon! You certainly have had an eventful week. I've never gotten into City of Heroes, but with my boys getting into MMORGS, and my longtime love for Champions, I've been keeping an eye on Champions Online. Looking at their website, can you say if you'll be working on it or on Star Trek?

As for Diabetes it's clear that it's a load off your mind not to have to feel guilty about it. My closest co-worker was diagnosed about a year ago with what sounds to be a very similar level of severity, and he's been pleasantly surprised that it hasn't become a big part of his life. I hope that's true for you as well.

 
At February 19, 2009 10:43 PM, Blogger Artillery MKV said...

Hey Jon!
Great news on the job!

Sucky news on the need to be apart =(

Sucky news on the diabetes =(

Great news that it should be relatively easy to control!

As the parent of a kid with a chronic disease I can tell you that ANY regimen become routine after a while, so no worries.

The fact that changes in diet can keep this well under control for you should be helpful.

Look into diabetic cooking, it's different that you might expect (similar to the later South Beach stuff, the tolerable stuff . .. ) and may be part of the key to why weight loss has been hard for your. As a diabetic your body processes many things very differently, so traditional diets can often be WORSE for you.

Good luck, and I can't wait to see you this summer!

 
At February 20, 2009 5:47 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Congratulations on the Cryptic gig! Given your background, I'm not surprised you got the job - but I am a little surprised it took them this long to offer it to you.

 

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