My Son’s Graduation

My oldest son Chris graduated from high school this last week. Two and a half years ago I was hoping to survive long enough to see this day. I was ready to accept any condition, even debilitation; I just wanted to be there to see my son graduate. So you can imagine how I felt that night when they called out his name and he walked across the stage to receive his diploma. I was very proud and extremely grateful.

Next is my youngest son Daniel, he graduates in three years. However this time I’m not going to accept any condition. Not only do I plan to be there, I plan to have a couple more marathons under my belt.

The Big Picture

I was signed up for the Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon and was considering running the New York City Marathon this fall, but a problem with my left foot has interrupted my running. The pain actually started last fall after a run on a rocky desert trail in Phoenix. I thought I had bruised my heel on a rock, but now it seems like the symptoms best match with Plantar Fasciitis. For a few months the heel pain mostly occurred during the first few steps in the morning and wasn’t getting worse even though I continue to train. But a few weeks ago things changes dramatically.

 

I went for a 13 mile run and afterwards I noticed a big change in my foot. That evening it was so painful to walk on it that I crawled on my hands and knees to go from my bed to the bathroom. After that I stopped training until my foot felt better and decided to put long runs on hold. But even with shorter and fewer runs my foot is only getting worse. So I have put my running on hold until I fully recover from my foot injury.

 

I’ve been doing everything I know I should do to treat a foot injury like this. I replaced my old running shoes with new ones, I’m using an orthopedic heel insert, I been wearing shoes around the house and do some stretching exercises. I’m planning on seeking medical help to make sure I have the correct diagnosis and to make sure I’m doing everything to completely heal. I’ve read about people who have trained through their Plantar Fasciitis and now have chronic pain and no longer can run. I don’t want that to happen. I’ve prepared myself mentally for the possibility that I may not be running for a long time, maybe the entire summer. To stay in shape I’ll replace running with bike riding, and if that proves to be too much I’ll find something else.

 

Running is really hard for me to give up, even temporarily. But I have my sights on the big picture – I plan to be running marathons well into my seventies. Ever since I was passed up by a couple of 74+ runners at mile 23 of the Twin City marathon I was determined to do the same when I hit that age. To get there I’ll need to take good care of my body by eating well and training with good techniques. I still have a lot of room for improvement in both those areas. Some people look at growing old as getting worse, but I see it as an opportunity to get better – again, looking at the big picture.

Wonderful PET Scan Results

I met with my oncologist yesterday to go over my PET scan results and blood tests. My PET scan results were wonderful – no cancer. My blood test results also had a nice surprise. Since chemo my white blood count has been just under normal; that is for normal people. For chemo patients it is common to have a low white blood count for a long time after chemo. My white blood count is finally back to normal two years after completing chemo.


This is a big milestone – cancer free for two years after completing chemo. I now go onto a 6-month schedule with my PET scans. After 5 years I’ll go on a 1-year schedule for PET scans an oncology visits. That I’ll do indefinitely because of the Mayo’s diagnosis of low grade lymphoma, which is incurable. At this time there is no way of telling with absolute precision what type of lymphoma I have, the curable type or incurable type. Statistically it is more likely I have the curable type, but my doctor is playing it safe and covering all possibilities. I’m all for that. Besides, I’m getting to be an old pro with PET scans and I just breeze through them now.

Busy, Busy, Busy

It’s been nearly two months since my last post. Yes, I’m still alive and doing fine. I’ve just been so busy living regular life. I’ve been busy at work developing a new technology, busy at home fixing up the house, busy with snowboarding and following my youngest son’s high school wrestling. I’ve been busy with family, birthday parties and helping my parents move to a new home. My sons often invite their friends to stay over night, sometimes for the entire weekend. Having a house full of teenage boys can really make life busy. I’ve also been busy with my running. My training for the half marathon is going well. I’ve run a couple of 12 mile long runs and plan to make my next long run a half marathon.

Next week I have a PET scan, blood tests and an exam by my oncologist. If everything goes well, and I have no reason to believe they won’t, my PET scans will be moved from a 4-month to a 6-month schedule. That’ll be nice.

Back to the Races

I have signed up for the Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon, which runs on Sunday, May 2nd. I miss having a race on the horizon. It feels good to be back into a training routine. I’ve put together a training schedule in an Excel spreadsheet. Each week involves building more weekly miles and a longer long run. I plan to get up to a 16 to 18 mile long run before the half marathon. That’s more than what I need to do, but I want to get close to full marathon shape. I will probably sign up for the New York City marathon, which runs in early November. I may also sign up for the Twin City 10 mile, which runs the same day as the TC marathon. I found that I need to have some race, at least a 10 mile or half marathon in the plans to keep me motivated for running.

The last few weeks over the holidays I didn’t run much at all. It wasn’t just the holidays but the cold weather and crunch time at my work that made it difficult to get out and run. I’ve been training solid now for a couple of weeks and have notice rapid progress. Yesterday I was able to run 9 miles without feeling stiff the next day. However, there is a potential issue that I’m dealing with.

I’ve been having problems with my left foot ever since trail running while on a business trip to Phoenix. The trail I was running on is very rugged with lots of rocks. I think what happen is that I stepped on a rock with the ball of my foot, causing my foot to flex more than it should. Now when I get up in the morning it is painful to walk. Fortunately the pain goes away after I walk on it for 15 minutes or so. So far it doesn’t seem to be getting any worse with my running, but it is not getting any better either. Even when I practically took off a couple of weeks from running it didn’t get any better. Hopefully I can figure out a way to get my foot to heal without having to stop running. I may have to call in a pro.

Two Years is Worth Everything

Two years ago when my oncologist was giving my wife and me the possibilities for my future, I was shocked when he expressed contentment that chemotherapy could extend my life a couple of years. That was really disturbing to me. I wanted much more than two more years, especially if I was going to go through the agony, suffering and potential lethal risks that chemotherapy can dish out. Thinking that my oncologist was being conservative with his bedside manner, I searched the internet for more optimistic news, but everywhere I looked the message was the same, two years, even several months of extended life was considered worth doing the most dangerous medical procedures. Now it’s been about two years after my diagnosis of cancer and I now know the truth – life is worth every bit of struggle.

These last two years I have lived a lifetime. I’ve ran two marathons, a half marathon, and my wife has joined me on shorter races. We’ve been on many trips these last two years. My wife and I had a romantic wedding anniversary in Las Vegas. My wife and two boys have gone to the Minnesota Boundary Waters for a canoe adventure, a trip to Arizona and Las Vegas, and a road trip to Arkansas to my in-law’s cabin in the Ouachita Mountains. My two boys and I went with other family members on our first Huck Finn trip, canoeing down the Mississippi River along with the barges, and camping on sandbars. My wife traveled with me on a week long business trip to Phoenix while Grandma and Grandpa watched our boys. There were snowboard outings and countless family gatherings for birthdays and holidays and special family annual get-togethers like the Strandjord Winter Lutsen gathering on north shore of Lake Superior and the Strandjord Fall Wiener Roast at my parents place in the country.

During these last two years I’ve seen my granddaughter catch her first fish, my grandson shoot his first real gun. I saw my daughter move to Manhattan all on her own and land a job as an assistant to a COO of a hedge fund during one of the most difficult times in the job market and economy. I saw my oldest son, who’s a senior this year, make the All Conference Team in high school bowling by ranking 7^th in the conference. At the conclusion of the season he was ranked 81^st in the state. I saw my youngest son blossom in wrestling to become a captain of his middle school team and go undefeated during regular season. This year he is wrestling on the high school team and has wrestled both JV and varsity. Two years ago I was hoping to live just long enough to see another bowling and wrestling season.

Just after finishing chemotherapy I joined my wife in riding Harley’s. My wife has been a Harley biker for many years and has her own Super Glide. I bought my Fat Boy while still going through chemotherapy. When I was going through chemo and fighting cancer I didn’t put my dreams and aspirations on hold. That really helped me stay positive during those difficult times. Since then my wife and I have gone on many rides. We like head out with little planning and see were some country roads take us. As we explore the countryside we look for that special biker bar in some little town to have a hamburger and ice tea. Over these last two years biking has become a very important part of my life, and what makes it extra special is I get to enjoy it with my wife.

Those were the major highlights of the last two years and this article only takes a slight glance at them. To really convey the wonderfulness of each would require a novel to describe the sights, the sounds, the feelings, the smiles and laughter that make up each one. When you break down a life highlight into the constituents that really make it wonderful you find those elements that also make up any ordinary day. When I look back at these last two years I see a lifetime of those elements: smiles and laughter with my family, my wife snuggling to me while I hold her in my arms, my youngest son snuggling to me while we watch TV, my granddaughter giving me a leg hug while she says, “I love you grandpa”, and it goes on and on and on.

Now I get it. Now I understand why physicians show high spirits when there is a chance of extending someone’s life a few months or a couple of years even if it means undergoing a dangerous procedure; because every minute of life is worth every bit of struggle. All it takes is one minute to feel joy from a smile, a hug, a laugh, a sound, a sight, a smell or a few simple spoken words. There’s about 43,000 minutes in a month, and over a half of a million minutes in a year. That can add up to a wealth of hugs, laughs and smiles.