Oh what a beautiful day!  The end of my final full week.  I only have three to go.  One chemo and three radiations!  Only five days, 20 hours, 29 minutes and 12 seconds left! Unbelievably this part of the journey is almost complete and I hope I am not jinxing myself but I have not had the adverse tough time that my doctors predicted I would.  Kelli told me today that a friend of hers, also a doctor, told her she had seen a patient with the same condition as mine a short time ago, and he was unable to tolerate the chemo/radiation.  After a week and a half they had to terminate the treatment and go straight to surgery!  I seriously believe my exercise regime has been a very positive factor in all of this!

I find I start to fade as the week progresses.  Last night I was considering heading down to the Glencoe to watch some of the National Badminton Championships but started to feel tired around supper time. Instead I crawled into bed at 8 PM, planning to read.  After two pages, I switched out the light and prompty fell asleep for 10.5 hours!  I haven't done that in years!!!  A quiet day today.  My friend Kathy came over and we went for a walk in Nose Hill Park.  It felt like spring out there!  Boomer is benefiting from these daily walks.  He tends to gain a few in the winter but with this walking schedule has trimmed back to his proper weight!  I probably would too if it weren't for the endless treats that find their way to me.  Today Kathy brought me four of the most decadent donuts I have ever eaten from a place called Jelly Modern Donuts!  I did not eat all four and I made her join me!  I call it sympathetic eating so if you come bearing treats come prepared to share in the taste experience!

Today I was trying to think of who my inspiration would be for todays blog.  With my focus on how fitness helps you get through things I decided today's inspiration would be my Dad!  A few years ago he was riding his bike into Invermere to pay his taxes when he was struck down by a large motor home.  They wanted to airlift him to Calgary but because of thunderstorms could not, instead opting to send him to Cranbrook.  I will diverge here for a moment and tell you that if you ever get injured in the valley DO NOT LET THEM TAKE YOU TO CRANBROOK!  Dad broke 8 ribs, punctured his lung and broke both his scapula and collarbone.  He was a mess.  They had no beds for him and he spent three days on a gurney in the Emergency department.  Each day I would ask when he would be moved to a room, their answer always being there are no rooms available.  On the third morning my Dad whispered to me that Cranbrook Hospital was a strange place....he believed the nurses had had an after hours party (probably drugs involved he thought) and another patient was running around exposing himself and had to be restrained.  I promptly went to the desk and once again asked when he would be moved to a proper room, again being told not yet.  I then recounted what Dad had told me he thought had occurred the night previously.  Within fifteen minutes he was in a room!  This really doesn't have to do with his fitness I know but it is a good story!  To get back to the fitness part of it if you know my Dad he is the probably one of the fittest 82 year olds on the planet!  He works out hard on a daily basis, plays tennis and swims during the winter months and rides his bike, gardens and plays golf in the summer.  His religion is "Activity".  When I took him to pick up his battered bike at the RCMP detachment in Invermere the constable looked up at us and said "We thought you died!".  All the doctors who saw dad said it was his high level of fitness that saved his life and aided in his road to recovery.  A crash such as he had endured would have killed 99% of people his age!

I have always been a bit of a "health/fitness zealot" and I imagine will become even more so when I have completed my recovery!  I encourage all of you to appreciate your health and take care of yourself! I have come to realize that we have no control over whether or not we get this devastating disease.  It does not seem to discriminate!  When you sit around the Tom Baker on a daily basis you do some reading.  One in two Albertans will get cancer in their lifetime and one in four will die from it!  Those are sobering statistics.  You can do all the preventative things and I believe it does help but it is not an insurance policy that you will be spared.  Look after your health!  It's a gift we all need to give ourselves.  I truly believe my fitness and my health are going to save my life!