May 9th to June 11th 2021 - Cancer (or Not)?

 

It has been a GREAT month. Bill and I are fresh from our trip to Utah and several national parks. I spent a week putting together a book documenting the trip. You can page through some beautiful images by clicking on this link.

Upon my return, I had a couple of followup appointments with two of my surgeons. One had his nurse call telling me to contact my cardiologist immediately, as he was "more concerned about my heart than my lungs." The visit to the cardiologist proved to be so beneficial as one test showed that I had fluid on my pulmonary arteries. This is what has caused my months-long battle with continued shortness of breath. A prescription for Lasix cleared me up in 24 hours. For the first time in nine months, I am now able to ride my bike again without difficulty.

Both surgeons said they were encouraged by my two negative biospsies, especially since the second one targeted the skeletal muscle. As one of the surgeons put it, "You are innocent until proven guilty." In other words, there is no PROOF of cancer at this point. I am scheduled for a followup PET scan on July 2nd. All agree that if I do have cancer, it should show up on the next scan. They also did a followup echocardiogram of my heart, and my ejection fraction has improved from 30% in January to 45% now. I'm heading in the right direction.

So how has this news affected me? Right now, I don't even feel like I have (or had) cancer. On National Cancer Survivors Day, my daughter congratulated me on being a survivor. My first reaction was one of surprise that I even had cancer. It's amazing how our bodies (and minds) can recover from nine months of struggling to feeling like the whole thing never happened.

Since there is nothing I can't do that I want to do, I'm taking advantage of every day. In a couple of weeks, Bill and I will travel to Virginia to ride the Virginia Creeper bike trail. From the town of Damascus, VA, you take a shuttle with your bikes to the top of Whitetop Mountain and leisurely travel down 17 miles through a national forest. I've been wanting to do this ever since we got our bikes and can't wait.

Final Thoughts

A couple of days ago, I saw a performance on America's Got Talent by "Nightbirde." She did a song she had composed describing her battle with cancer. She is from Zanesville, OH, 30 years old, and currently having a recurrence. A year ago she was advised to see a "Death Counselor" to prepare for her inevitable death. Talk about inspiration!!! This should be the theme song for all cancer survivors. Here is a link to her performance. Enjoy.

In addition to her music, Nightbirde inspired me with this quote: "You can't wait until life isn't hard anymore before you decide to be happy." I'm going to try to remember that one.

Wishing all of you a life-filled summer.