Setting the Record Straight

It seems that my last series of posts caused some alarm among a few of you who take the time to read these things  on a regular basis.  I really appreciate that some of you come back to check on me every once in a while, so I apologize for any worries I may have caused.  I'd promise not to use such heavy sarcasm in the future but that would be a waste of my words and your reading time.

But, now that I have made it through that stretch of hyperbarics, debridement, five months of opiate pain killers, and detox I will honestly say that I had no idea how much all of that had affected me.  I was in constant pain, had constant fatigue, was lightheaded a lot, was legally blind, and maybe even hit a stretch of depression from the sum of it all over the last 3+ years.

But now that the pain and meds are in the past, I'm back exercising some, have new eyeglasses, and the fatigue is gone--I'm feeling good again, and back to my normal self--age-adjusted, of course.  Just a few weeks ago I thought there would be no way I could even start the Peachtree 10K on July 4th, much less finish it.  While I know I can't run the whole distance, I'm sure I'll make it to the finish line to greet Terry, have the celebratory coldest-beer-ever and bitch about the color and design of the race t-shirt with my running partner Jeff.

All of that will remind me yet again that I'll be affected by cancer for the rest of my life--and getting rid of it in my body won't change that fact.  The ups and downs of this gig will go on forever and I need to remember to recognize when new challenges happen and to not let them get me down.  I have a lot of friends and family who are rooting for me, and a loving wife who will continue to captain Team Mike for many years to come.  After this series of setbacks 3+ years after treatments ended, I have no doubt that more will happen and I need to be ready for them when they do.

All I want now is for Terry to be sure enough that I'm OK to switch from plastic knives to our regular ones at home.   (Yes, Paully, I'm back)

Mike