Okay, the date is set. The TFC (Thymoma Fighting Championship) up in NYC is scheduled for this coming Friday, April 2nd. That’s right … Good Friday! We are heading up there tomorrow for interviews and the weigh-in (actually, I have appointments Monday and testing Wednesday, but “interviews and weigh-in” just sounds cooler). Surgery Friday is to cut out the primary tumors in my chest and maybe pick off a few lung nodules. 4-5 days in the hospital, then they want me to stick around up there another 5+ days just to be close in case there are complications. So right now, C and I are planning on being up there a whopping 16 days – home on the 13th. Sounds like I’ll be laying around quite a bit for at least the remainder of April – no driving, lifting, biking, etc. while my sternum heals.
As for pros and cons: On the cons side, I’ve never had surgery and never spent the night in a hospital, so I’m likely to go insane (more than I already am) during my 5-night slumber party. On the pros side, while I’ve had stitches about 15 times and I’m far and away the all-time scar leader in my house, Aedan has gotten off to a fast start with a few facial scars, and his knee surgeries scars (a solid 4 inches?) put any of mine to shame. So, this is a wonderful opportunity for me to pass his single-scar mark, plus mine will be right down the center of my chest, which is really badass.
In other news, I do have some hair growing back. Eyelashes are back in action, mustache and chin are rockin’, and I have a light fuzz on my head. One advantage to being alien-like hairless is that it only takes about 90 seconds to shower. But I found an app where you can put in your type of cancer, type of chemo, and a pre-chemo photo of yourself, and it spits out what you’re likely to look like when all your hair grows back, and I’m okay with my results … see attached.
One more thing, for anyone who actually reads these posts, you may remember a very long one about adventure racing I wrote back in October. If so, you’ll recall how I got near the end of my first 24-hour race and a team of yahoos made fun of my bike – it pissed me off just enough for me to crawl out of the creek I was soaking in, mount up, and finish. I bought a new bike a few years later, but I never got rid of that original banger. After all, it’s the first mountain bike I ever owned, it carried me many, many miles through some tough races, and, well, it’s just a classic. Anyway, I pulled the old Cannondale Killer V900 out of the carriage house a few weeks ago, and it was just as badass looking as ever (see attached). I worked on it myself a bit then realized it needed professional care. Well, I got it out of the shop last week, and man it was like meeting up with an old friend I hadn’t seen in years. I took it for a spin shortly thereafter, and it was actually the fastest ride I’ve had in a year. Why am I telling you this? What does it all mean? To be honest, I’m not really sure I’ve pinned that down yet, as there’s a whole lot of symbolism to unpack there … redemption, revival, rebirth? There are a lot of ways of looking at it, but one is crystal clear: I’ve been blessed with so many amazing friendships over the years, and the love and camaraderie they’ve provided me have, in many ways, carried me through the past six months. I’ve made new friends, reconnected with friends I haven’t seen in decades, and felt existing friendships be forged by fire. It’s been one of the many profound blessings that have come out of all this. So, heartfelt love and thanks to all my Killer V900s out there!
Finally, thanks to everyone for the continual prayers. I’d be remiss if I didn’t once again repeat the role prayers have played in this journey. The future is uncertain, but we asked God for guidance and a path forward, and He flipped on the light. It’s really that simple. And I’m not ashamed to say, we’ll take every prayer we can get moving forward. Obviously, for things to go smoothly up north, but also for Briton, MacKenzie, Aedan, and Tegan, as they’ll be riding solo again for a long stretch…
Okay then, play time is over. Let’s get ready to rumble! We’ll keep you posted, as usual. Until then, peace out …