Keeping Perspective

I saw a YouTube video the other day, creatively put together by Julie Nolke, of her January 2020 self getting a visit from her April 2020 self.   Imagine for a minute that you could have that conversation with yourself but the future version was allowed to give advice but not allowed to say what is currently going on.   Pretty interesting and funny video.

Given what we know today, our perspective on daily life…. our finances, jobs and health have all been radically upended.   That was driven home to me in spades this week as I took on the 7-day Marathon Challenge.     A year ago, I set a goal of completing the effort in less than 8 hours.  At that time, after of year of working on getting back to running, I had only worked my way up to jogging a quarter to half mile before I had to stop and walk a while.   Hills were my nemesis, getting me breathing like an old steam engine and making so much noise people would stop to ask if I was all right.   One older woman walking her dog would cross the street when she saw me coming.  She said I scared her dog.   I think I actually scared her more.   I had pretty much resigned myself to this being the best I could achieve and running again was a dream too far.  If not for the fund raising for Help in the Nick of Time, I likely would have walked away from the effort.

Fast forward a year and life looks quite a bit different.    Delivery of groceries is no longer a luxury, wearing a mask and gloves is no longer just for bank robbers, eating out is now eating in, and toilet paper has become as hard to locate as big foot (TP is so valuable that I heard one person had tipped his food delivery person with it).     At an age when they grow leaps and bounds, I haven’t been able to spend time with my grandchildren in person in 3 months.   A year ago I couldn’t imagine such a scenario.    And of course, the most unbelievable event, the Boston Marathon was delayed for the first time in its 124-year history (actually it was replaced with a military marathon relay one year during WWI).   

Despite the marathon delay I decided to go ahead with my 7 Day Marathon Challenge in the week leading up to the original planned date.   Unlike last year I had set the bar a bit higher, planning to complete the challenge in under 6 hours (a goal that would have looked impossible a year ago).   I’m happy to say that as of this morning I was able to achieve that goal.   Unlike last year when I was jogging and walking, this year I was able to jog the entire distance in increments of 4.5-5.5 miles.    If my 2020 person had appeared to my April 2019 person and told him a year from now this was possible, the reaction would have been total disbelief.  Probably not much different than if someone told me then that the country/world would be shut-down this month. 

   

When I am in the middle of challenging times, I find it hard to keep a long-term perspective.   In our fast food, immediate satisfaction, instant google answers to everything, being patient and keeping perspective can be difficult.    My walking/jogging/running is a great reminder for me that there will be good days and bad days and keeping a broader perspective, a longer-term view so to speak, can keep me from stressing out about where I am today. 

Who knows where I’ll be when next year’s marathon challenge rolls around, and I’ve given up on trying to predict if I’ll ever achieve more than just jogging a few miles but those are worries for another day.   Right now, my 2021 self has an optimistic perspective on where life will be a year from now.

Thanks to all of you who supported me through this last year.

My Game, My Rules!

This is a popular saying I first heard from Dave McGillivray, the well-known elite endurance athlete who is also the race director for the Boston Marathon.  In fact, Dave has not only been the race director for 32 years but he has run it for 47 years IN A ROW. This includes last year’s marathon only 6 months after a triple bypass.   Dave used to be neighbor when I lived in Massachusetts and I would see him often on the roads or at races that his race management company directed.   Every year on his birthday Dave would run his age in miles.   Last I heard he was planning on taking on the challenge when he turned 65.   My Game, My Rules.

I’ve adopted this philosophy when I put together our 7 Day Marathon Challenge leading up to the 2020 Boston Marathon.     As I mentioned last blog, with the Covid situation the Boston Marathon has been moved to September and I planned to move my Marathon Challenge to match.   Well, as I am prone to do these days, I’ve changed my mind and plan to go ahead with the challenge this week.   My Game, My Rules.

It’s not that I’m a gluten for punishment, (although my wife may argue the issue), or that I’m bored out of my gourd being locked down (that’s definitely contributing to my already questionable sanity).    The reality is I’ve been thinking a lot about how the lock down is affecting the children stuck in the hospital fighting cancer.    Our limited lock down, isolating us from our friends and family is just a small sample of what these children are already facing as they fight cancer.     Given their compromised immune systems their restrictions are even more stringent.   I can speak from experience that when you are fighting the disease for an extended period of time in the hospital, the support of friends and family is crucial. 

 

So, I owe all the people who have supported Help in the Nick of Time a big Thank You for what you have done to help.   Your contributions have allowed us to supply laptops and tablets to pediatric cancer wards to keep the children connected to family, friends and the outside world.   In addition, we have been able to send boxes of toys and activities to help them pass the time and distract them from the drudgery and pain of treatment.  

It’s now my turn to do my part.  I promised to do a marathon over 7 days in under 6 hours and starting tomorrow we will be kicking it off.   While not as impressive as Dave McGillivray’s efforts last April, and a far cry from running the Boston Marathon, it is a major step forward from the 8 hour challenge I set this time last year.    If nothing else it will keep me busy and get me out of the house (which will contribute to my wife’s sanity). 

I will drop a quick update at the end of the week.  

Stay safe!

Panic and Soldier On

By now we have all heard enough about the coronavirus/COVID-19 to last us a lifetime.  I for one am limiting the amount of radio, internet and TV time to keep the hype and noise to a minimum.    Given the speed of changes and misinformation it is easy to be whipsawed between what to do and not do to stay safe.

Take face masks for instance.  When I was recovering from chemo and the transplant, I was told I had to wear them to protect myself when my immune system was compromised.   Now I hear the ones I was given to wear are useless to prevent infection from a virus but useful for protecting others from getting what you have.  Great, months of thinking I was protecting myself when really I was saving others from getting sick from me.    Guess it worked, no one around me got Leukemia.

But more seriously, what is the story with the irrational panic buying?  People are doing hand to hand combat in stores over hand sanitizer while right next to the empty spots on store shelves are plenty of soap, bottled bleach, and spray bottles of Lysol.   Tito’s Vodka had to issue a press release telling people not to make hand sanitizer out of their vodka (not enough alcohol content).  They suggested using it to pass the time while quarantined.   And don’t even get me started about the rush on toilet paper.   Toilet Paper?   What are people doing as a result of the virus that requires pallets of TP?  Maybe making home grown face masks.

You have to admit if it wasn’t so serious it would actually be humorous.  The best comedians are the politicians.  In Philly this week the local politicians declared the St. Patrick’s Day parade would go on as planned but in the same newscast they warned people not to attend.    Then of course there is president Trump’s expert medical assessment that it “will go away”, “One day, it’s like a miracle it will disappear.”.    This followed shortly after by bans on incoming flights, cancellations of large public gatherings and a stock market crash. 

    

Speaking of cancellations, for only the second time in 124 years, the Boston Marathon is being postponed till September (first time was in 1918 during WW I).    Disappointing I’m sure for all the runners that put in the training through the winter and now have to face staying in shape for 5 more months.   For me it is actually helpful.   I’ve been fighting a bad cold for the last 10 days and as the case with immune system, when I get sick a number of the inflictions from the chemo and transplant come back to haunt me.  As a result, I had to curtail my training for a bit.  The extra time and the summer months will make for much more pleasant training as I try to make the marathon challenge.   It will also hopefully take us past the significant part of the COVID-19 outbreak.   As someone who falls in the high-risk category (over 60 and compromised immune system) and currently fighting a bad cold, I can use all the breaks I can get.  In the near-term Pam and I are just hunkering down.

Hunkering down reminds me of the months I spent in the hospital going through treatment.  As we all go into some form isolation over the next few months it’s good to keep in mind that this is a small taste of what many pediatric cancer patients face for months and sometimes years.    Their world isolated to one room, maybe even to a bed waiting for the next treatment.   It’s the reason Help in the Nick of Time programs focus on helping with the pain, fear and boredom that often accompanies protracted cancer treatment.     For those that support us I can’t thank you enough.

Till next time, stay safe.

I Need Patience… and I need it RIGHT NOW!

Now that I’m a grandparent and retired I find that I’m not in as much of a hurry as I use to be…except to get to the bathroom.   I don’t get annoyed as much when the Doctor or Dentist is 15 minutes late, or Pennsylvania drivers sit at red lights 5 seconds after it turns green (a guaranteed horn in Boston), or I get stuck in line in the grocery store behind the person that has to count out their exact change.    I’d like to attribute it to my mindfulness meditation but I think it’s simply age and the fact that I’m typically not in a hurry to get anywhere (other than to visit the grandchildren).    

While I’m on the topic of grandchildren and patience, I had the pleasure of babysitting my 3 year old grandson the other day.  Some people would think that it would take a lot of patience, and they would be right.   He needed to be very patient with me as I constantly forgot the names of all his Paw Patrol figures, was totally confused about the Lego characters, and couldn’t quite mold the playdough into the characters he wanted.

Actually, I have a theory that your DNA changes with chemo and you grow a new set of patience genes.  In this fast paced, fast food, “I want it now” society this could be a good thing.  At least that’s what I thought until I realized when it came to the topic of how long it was taking to recover from the chemo/stem cell transplant, the patience gene was totally missing.   Take running for example.  It’s been over 2 years since I was released from the hospital after the transplant and it’s safe to say that progress getting back to jogging/running has been far short of my expectations.     A year ago, I almost gave up on ever running again.  It was a year since I got out of the hospital and despite walking almost every day, the best I could do was jog a quarter mile before I had to stop and walk for a while.   I did the math and at this rate I’d be almost 70 years old before I could run a mile and somewhere close to 90 before I could run 5.   Even with my new patience genes, sticking with the run/walk efforts for three more years, through the cold/wet winters and hot/humid summers to get to the goal of a mile seemed as likely as the politicians getting together to address global warming.    There was one thing that kept me going for another year, the support I received for Help in the Nick of Time when the best I could do was a 7-day jog/walk marathon in 8 hours.    With that motivation, and a ton of patience, I’m happy to report I am now able to jog more than a mile without walking.    It’s what will let me achieve this year’s 7-day jog/walk in 6 hours.  Sometimes being patient and sticking it out is worth the effort.   As long as I continue to get support for helping children with cancer, I’m committed to putting one foot in front of the other and blogging about the experience.

I’ve come to terms with idea there are no more marathons in my future but I would like to be able to run 5 miles before I’m 90 (maybe even before I’m 70).    Even better is to still be able to run 5 miles when I’m 90.

Till next time…slogging and blogging away.

Ripples

Back in college, what seems like hundreds of years ago, my girlfriend at the time introduced me to one of her good friends.   Bad move.   Almost 50 years later the friend she introduced me to and I have been married for 44 years, had four beautiful children and now have 7 (and counting) gorgeous grandchildren.    Anyone who knows me well knows that the decision to date and marry Pam was the best decision I made in my life (and I’m not just saying that because I know she will be reading this).   Heaven knows where I would be without her.  It’s interesting how a single decision can have such wide-ranging ripple effects not only in our lives but in the lives (and even the existence) of others. 

This month it is 2 years since I escaped from the hospital after my stem cell transplant.   I’m here to write this because a gentleman in Germany decided to volunteered to be a bone marrow transplant donor and when he was called to donate for me, he accepted.  The commitment is not trivial both in time and pain.   That decision not only saved my life but has had a ripple effect on the lives of people around me.   It’s a gift I can never repay.

It’s one of the reasons I feel so passionately about how Help in the Nick of time helps pediatric cancer patients and their families.    In the last year we have driven programs that have helped many dozens of children and families deal with the difficulties of a life with cancer including computers and tablets while in the hospital, gift boxes, camp outing, and day/night out events.    I like to believe the ripple effect goes far beyond our efforts.  It’s only through the support of many of you that we have raised almost $100,000 to be able to fund these programs.   This year I would like to break through that $100K mark and with your help I know we can do it.

For my part, while I’m a long way from running a marathon this year, I will again be striving to complete a multiday marathon challenge.    You may remember last year I committed to completing 26.2 miles over the 7 days leading up to the Boston Marathon and to do it in under 8 hours.    It was far from my less than 4-hour marathons but no less difficult.   Recovery this year has had its challenges but I’m now able to mix a bit of jogging with my walking.  It’s not pretty, and certainly a long way from what anyone would call running, but I’m setting the goal to do the 26.2 miles over 7 days in less than 6 hours.    Maybe I’ll send video this year, although I’d recommend not viewing it in public as the heavy breathing may give people the wrong idea on what you are watching. 

On the leukemia front, results from the latest bone marrow biopsy came back clean (YAY).   Just wish they could test without corkscrewing a piece of bone out of my hip.   But, chances of a relapse go down each year we are in remission so I’m one happy little camper.

So here we go again…another year of marathoning and fund raising.   I believe both our efforts are sending out good ripples far beyond what we know.  I’ll keep you updated on the progress on both over the next couple of months.   If nothing else, the training updates should be entertaining.