Crunch time..... again

The extended silence is because things have been going well during my 3-month chemo vacation. Until the recent rounds of snow/rain my cycling fitness was improving surprisingly quick. On December 19^th I rode solo for 56 miles from Princeton Junction to Brick and on other rides with Dan Nies I was doing some respectable climbing. Unfortunately the weather clobbered our Tour de Hot Chocolate plans. We'll be watching the weather with the hopes of making it happen at some point.

Without chemo by early December my nickname could easily have been “fuzzy”. No other nickname suggestions necessary, thank-you. And although it’s making an attempt my hair isn’t really coming back very well at this point so I think I’ll probably be shaving it very soon.

Now that I’ve reached the end of my 3-month break I’ve been a bit distracted and anxious to get my PET/CT done this Thursday morning. Good or bad the results will allow me to get down to the task at hand. If it’s back to treatment then so be it. And if I get to extend my chemo vacation a bit longer then my focus will be toward continued fitness improvement, hopefully some weight loss, and also goal setting for some near term cycling events. But the waiting is wearing me out so I’m glad the time has come for the scan.

And since I haven’t seen the gastroenterologist in a while I have an appointment with Dr. Dhar tomorrow afternoon. My expectation is that she’s going to want to schedule an endoscopic ultrasound to take a closer look. It’s an easy procedure and the results will help us to know more clearly what my status is.

December was fun since both Sasha and Bailey were home for a few weeks. Erin even did a couple of fly by's and it was truly bizarre having the house completely full. We had fun watching family video that we recently converted from VHS to DVD. Today though I came home to the empty nest and it’s going to take some time to get used to the quiet again.

My participation in the Cycle for Survival event to raise funds for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center is only 4 weeks away. 6 of us will be wearing our Mintz’s Mentschen jersey and sharing a single spin bike for a 4-hour spin at a health club in mid-town Manhattan on Saturday, February 12^th. It’s a mass spin event and there will be hundreds of other teams cycling as well. The event has already raised over $1 million. All funds that are raised will be allocated directly to MSKCC research and clinical trials within 6 months of the event. If you’re able to consider a small donation I’d appreciate it very much. Thanks so much to those of you that have already donated!

Link to my fundraising page è http://mskcc.convio.net/goto/jmintz