Only Four Weeks of Radiation Therapy Left!

Daily Quote: "You don't die suddenly from cancer, as you might from a heart attack, and you don't survive it overnight, either.  Marathon training also unfolds over a period of months, and the race itself takes hours to finish.  The passage of time permits a narrative to take shape.  When the story of cancer meets a runner's story, the combination can be quite powerful."  --Richard Pestell, M.D., director of the Kimmel Cancer Center at the Jefferson Hospitals in Philadelphia and former national-class distance runner in his native Australia.  Runner's World Magazine, July 2011, Article: "Outrunning Cancer," pg 80.

I survived the Fourth of July weekend!  The traffic on the Strip and all the back routes were all jammed with cars and made driving a cab almost impossible.  To make matters worse, on Saturday I had diarrhea, hence my plan was to work the airport as much as I can as bathroom facilities are inside the cab's airport holding area.  Unfortunately, most of my rides from the airport were short and for the first time in many years I was unable to make the shift's average.

All the cab companies have what's known as the "average," which is the gross income from the cab's meter.  This gross income is known in cabbie parlance as the "book," and my net income is 43% of the book.  Therefore, if the book is $100, my net income would be $43.00.  Saturday my book was $299, but my shift's average was $344, which means I could get written up for not performing to expectations.  So far, I haven't had to see a supervisor in regards to my Saturday's performance.  I've been driving for Checker Cab Company for 21 years and never been written up for "low book," and maybe the supervisor will give me the benefit of the doubt about whether I was slacking off or simply had misfortunes.  When a driver has too many low books he'll get suspended, if his performance doesn't improve he'll eventually will be fired.  I doubt I'll be suspended as I'm known as a hard worker and loyal employee, besides, I do have cancer.

I only have four weeks (actually 21 radiation treatments) of radiation therapy left!  My last day of radiation should be on August 5th and my appointment with my oncologist, Dr. Parks, is on August 23rd, when he'll setup a PET Scan Test.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and already considering on returning to running on the gym's treadmill next week...which will consist mostly of walking intervals at first.  One problem I have with returning to running next week will be my feeding tube...I must keep my feeding tube connection with my stomach dry as to prevent infection, which would be problematic with sweating.  If I change the connection's gauze immediately after my workout I should be o.k.

My weight is now 162 pounds, which means I gained three pounds since last week!  I'm hoping to return to my racing weight of 170 pounds before August.  My throat is no longer sore and can eat solid foods, but still need to be careful with my portion sizes and not eating spicy foods.  My body is not accustomed to my recent diet, which explains the diarrhea I had on Saturday.

I'm still extremely fatigued after my radiation treatments, but hope that my return to exercising next will help energize me as it did before my cancer treatments.  During my days off I've been sleeping over 10 hours and having cat naps throughout the day...I needed the rest and recovery, but this is ridiculous!  I want to desperately return to the old energetic Bruce.