"Hey, how have you been?!?!"

That's a question I've been asked a lot in the last week, and it will be a continuous stream of it all weekend ... it's time for my big event for work, and many of the people I interface with from the 250+ companies that are involved in the event are people I haven't seen since last year's show. Before diagnosis. So as they have come into the office this week to get tickets or information or whatever was needed ... I'm greeted time after time with, "Hey, great to see you! How have you been?"

How do I answer that question. In a sense, it's a rhetorical question and they aren't really so interested in what my past year has been like, it's only a friendly greeting and way of saying "great to be working with you again this year" ... but the words cut deep into my soul. I want to say I'm fine, but it has been a rough year ... but then you just don't dump your burdens on people who ask a simple question, and have no idea they are stepping into a tricky territory. So I smile, and say "I'm great! How are you?"

This will go on and on now as our event starts setting up and I see more exhibitors at the show, the staff at the facility, people who just didn't have a way to be in the loop ... then the show is open to the public and 20,000 visitors will pour into the show, some I haven't seen in the last year, asking the same question ...  and eventually we dismantle it all on Monday. It's a big week, and many people around me are concerned for my energy and stamina to push through it ... but I'm looking forward to the weekend. I work on this show all year long, it's probably my favorite part of my job in the sense that it's a big challenge, and I find that very rewarding. And it brings me full circle, as it was the tear down day last year where I first felt sick, and ended up with my diagnosis two weeks later.

How far I've come in a little over 11 months.

So the answer truly is that I'm doing great. It's just the question that sends me reflecting back to the darker days of the past 11 months.