HHH A wrench in the making!

My recovery from hip surgery was going well and I started training seriously. A “routine” scan showed something suspicious in my spine. I continued training while having more detailed scans. Upper body exercise started to hurt a lot, especially a day or two after lifting weights. More scans showed possible cancer in my arm and collarbone.

Still, I did a two-day hike with my friend and did weekly hikes in the nearest National Park. He could feel the strength and stamina gradually returning. Climbing many flights of stairs to the top of the old cotton mill for art classes became doable, without frequent stops to wait for the shortness of breath to subside.

Bad news, good news, bad news: a roller coaster.

Then the wrench fell on the engine of my preparations, which stopped. Bad news. Yes, there is more cancer in the bones. Good news. Yes, you can receive radiation therapy to try to cure them. Bad news. Hormone therapy advances the aging of your skeletal system by 10 years. That! I turned 80 overnight!! Good news. Final reports say the cancer is only in one bone after all and can be treated with a single injection therapy. Bad news. I have tendonitis and tendinopathy around my shoulders, which causes me a lot of pain after strength training. Good news. I am receiving relief and benefit from a wonderful massage therapist and physical therapist who shows me how to train my upper body without tears (or at least with fewer tears). I decide to work on the assumption that my skeleton is 10 years younger than I really am. A positive mental attitude, preparation and endurance are as crucial as physical work. Maybe these expectations will help me keep going when (inevitably) things get tough.

Seize the day?

Despite having more cancer, I feel it is even more important to walk! If not now, when? I don’t know if this is the last window of opportunity or the beginning of several wonderful years of ambitious efforts. I can only find out. I don’t know what the future holds for me. “Walker there is no path, when you walk paths are made”

So I do my endurance work and look forward to the start of my hike. HHH is calling me.

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