Sunday, January 31st 2010

OK, 5 weeks of silence is a bit much so I’ll try to pull some of the thoughts I have right now into something semi-coherent.

I guess the best place to start is with Amy’s observation that in a couple of weeks it will be my dad’s birthday and Valentines’ day and the first time in three Februarys that those dates won’t coincide with me starting chemotherapy. A sobering thought for sure and one that I, of course, am very grateful for. I feel terrific physically and have enjoyed the steady recovery of my bicycling strength. It’s fair to say that I’m handling all of the area climbing quite well and as long as I keep doing what I’m doing that I’ll be able to handle the 2-day 170-mile ride I’m doing in May in support of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and my friend Missy Gervasini. My craving for the physical/emotional benefits I get from cycling has had me riding the past two weekends in the coldest temperatures I’ve ever ridden in. I’ve enjoyed every second and consider the 40 miles last weekend and the 34 today as a bonus since we usually don’t ride that kind of mileage in January. I do wish though that this would start to translate into just a little bit of weight loss… Ugh. LOL.

I admit to still be working on the psychological side of survivorship. I remain as positive as ever and strive for as much of a LiveSTRONG mindset as I can. But there are the reminders that happen from time to time that bring me right back down. The classic situation is where I bump into someone that I know but haven’t seen in a while and when they have no clue who I am. That happened to me this past week. I’m totally OK with my new fuzzy look but it is definitely on the awkward side when I have to break the ice and identify myself.

I have a 6-week check-up with Dr. Richards on Wednesday and my next PET/CT scan will be in early March. I prefer to deal in reality and have, therefore, avoided asking Dr. Richards any crystal ball type questions. But I think that I’ll be asking him some general questions about the future so that I can have a better idea about PET/CT scans through 2010 and also about when my medi-port may get removed.