Only Seven Weeks of Chemotherapy & Radiation Therapy Left

Daily Quote: "To many people growing old seems like the endgame in chess: life winding down in a series of small moves with lesser pieces. As I age I have discovered this is not true. I am not an elderly king stripped of my powers, reduced to a ragtail army of pawns. My life is not a defensive struggle of restricted options. Growing old is a game of verve and imagination and excitement."  --Dr. George Sheehan

I'm a chess expert and distance runner, imagine my surprise when I read the above quote from the running philosopher and runner, Dr. George Sheehan, who wrote the above quote in his weekly column in 1968 in the old local newspaper, the Red Bank Register.  I've read several of Sheehan's books when I was a beginner runner a decade ago and now I'm discovering more golden nuggets from him.  Not only do we have the bond of running and chess, but he also had cancer, he died in 1993 from prostate cancer.

Only seven more weeks of chemotherapy & radiation therapy left (I've completed five weeks of chemo therapy and radiation therapy)...I'm hoping that next Monday my radiologist will shift his focus from my neck and tongue and transfer the therapy to my right chest and lung.  It would be nice to be able to swallow again without pain once the radiation therapy leaves my throat.  I'm stubborn...I still haven't used my feeding tube yet, which might be a mistake as my weight is down to 162.4. 

Last weekend was a tough weekend being a cab driver!!  Memorial Day Weekend brings many Californians with thousands of extra vehicles on the road.  It's tough driving non-stop when I'm healthy; a real struggle when I have no stamina nor endurance, and due to my need to stay constantly hydrated, always in need of a bathroom.  My fatigue was a factor too, I often felt I was in a Zombie state, without feelings and emotions, just keeping pushing the cab onwards...sort of like the feelings during my last 50k ultra-marathon.

Monday night after work I headed home and was so drowsy I pulled off the road as to allow my eyes to close for a short time...two hours later I awoke in a sweat and continued home.  My wife was awake and was very upset as I didn't have my cell phone turned on and was very worried about me.  She called the cab company and knew I left the cab yard at 12:10 a.m.  I've never seen her so mad at me, I'm still in the dog house!  Needless to say I'll always have my cell phone on in the future; when we refuel the cabs at the end of our shift we have to turn off everything electrical due to the highly flammable nature of propane gas used in the cabs, often I just leave the cell phone off as I would be home in 30 minutes anyways and the wife is usually asleep.

Damage report: My inside throat is still very sore, hurts even when I swallow water; my outside skin on my whole neck is burnt bright red, but the previous heat blisters are now healed.  My beard had turned gray and appears I've been losing small patches of the beard due to the radiation therapy.  The hair on my head is thinning and also turning gray; I've cut my hair short as to grow accustomed to less hair, which seems to work on a psychological level.

I've lost much of my upper body mass, and my legs have lost most of its tone, and needless to say my endurance is not what it used to be.  Lately I've lost the urge to even walk, lift weights, and sometimes even playing chess...long naps are my current body's craving, and I've been allowing my body to have that rest.  Doesn't really matter, once the seven weeks of cancer therapy is over, I'll be gradually returning to running with a passion!!