The countdown begins...

With only 1 week remaining before my final chemo treatment I suppose it’s OK that we start an official countdown. I was actually at Dr. Richards office today for a check-up and the nurses were teasing me about whether this next treatment was the last one. I quickly confirmed for them that, yes, next Thursday is it.

Some of you will appreciate this so I’ll mention it… I find it very fitting that next Thursday, July 16^th, also marks the 28^th anniversary of the death of one of my personal heroes, Harry Chapin. So while I sit there in the treatment room I’ll be thinking about Harry and as I have my personal Chapin music marathon playing on my Ipod I’ll meditate on his “do something” attitude as well as his lyric “it’s got to be the going, not the getting there that’s good….”.

There really isn’t much more to say on the medical front. Aside from extreme fatigue in the week immediately following treatment I’ve been OK. Oh, and of course the tingling and aversion to cold but that too only lasts for 5 days or so. I’ve been managing to get into the office when I’m feeling well and not at high risk for exposure to the outside world. I’ve also managed to get some much needed bicycling in as well.

I’m sure that the start of the Tour de France on Saturday had something to do with it but this past Sunday morning I enjoyed a very inspired and emotional 30-mile ride. Considering my current fitness level I really had no business trying to ride quite that far but it worked out just fine and needless to say it was simply heavenly. Since my objective is to ride the 45-mile distance at the LiveSTRONG event on August 23^rd this is all very meaningful riding for preparation. I hope to get in another ride with the Mintz’s Mentschen team this Saturday.

Which brings me to a segue opportunity… the LiveSTRONG event is only 6 weeks from this Sunday. Our Mintz’s Mentschen team that is riding in the Philadelphia event is much smaller this year so the hope of exceeding the $53,100 we raised last year in support of the Lance Armstrong Foundation just isn’t going to happen. However, we’re making a big push over these remaining weeks to try and raise as much as possible. If there’s any way that you can consider a small donation I’d appreciate it very much. Please go to my LiveSTRONG fundraising website by clicking here. If you’d rather send a paper check there is a form that can be printed from that same web page so that you know where to send it and so that your donation gets logged to me and the Mintz’s Mentschen.

Stay tuned for more updates as I go through my final treatment, the LiveSTRONG event, and quarterly PET scans which should actually begin in August given that my last one was in May.