Thursday was Tempo run... Friday is chemo #1

I had a nice day with my parents yesterday at Duke getting a round of tests done. PET scan, pulmonary test and Cardio test. There were all painless and the nurses and techs were great. Made it home in time to join the running group on their Tempo run. All the people my pace were out so I ran with someone a little too fast for me and suffered the remaining miles of the run but finished it up. I have accepted that not all runs are great and some will make you suffer and some will be fabulous but it was great to be out there. My parents watched the kids for Jen and I and we went out for dinner and had a great time.
At the moment we are on our way to Duke Med for ABVD number 1. Feeling good. Drinking plenty of water on the way over as everyone has suggested and had some pancakes for breakfast hope that was a good choice. I have some movies loaded on the iPad ready to watch with Jen thanks to my wonderful sisters. Thank you both. I have my anti-nausea meds filled and ready to go thanks to Jen. So here we go.
I wonder if I will do my long run with the group tomorrow. :). Maybe not.

Tuesday is hills

The hills work out today was challenging and really worked my legs out. I left the park feeling worn but happy. I still had time to see Eli practice soccer and it was once again very amusing to watch. I can't wait to see the first game it is going to be hilarious. I am very interested to see how chemo is going to go on Friday. I have heard people say they had no problems doing it by IV and others say that the port was great for them. It remains to be seen which will be best for me. I don't like the idea of sitting with an IV for 4 hours versus the 2 hours or so for the port. But it would be nice not to have to worry about infections from the port. We will have to wait and see. I am going to need to find the skin numbing cream that sounds like a good idea and also get some advise on things to eat before and immediately after chemo. If there are things that are known to help.

Sunday is a long run

I had a great run this morning. The air was cool, I felt good and finished strong it was just what I wanted from my run. 8 miles is not a very long run but it was good enough for me. I was a bit wiped out later on when I got home from the Farmer's Market with the kids but it wasn't too bad. My sister and her children came out this weekend as well and we had a great time and she watched the kids so my wife and I could have a date night. It was a good last weekend before I start up treatment. I am anxious to see how I do after the first treatment. We will just have to wait and see.

Friday is 4 for the Price of 1

I have read some good blogs out there and they have helped me get a feel for what's ahead.  So today I was prepared for the bone marrow test.  I was ready for a little pain and had brought some humor along to keep things light.  I was however not prepared for the medical bargain that I would receive today.  Today's blue light special was on bone marrow tests.  I believe that I had 4 tests for the price of one.  In all my reading I hadn't come across anyone stating that sometimes when the needle is pulled out the piece of bone doesn't always stay in.  So we repeated a few times until we were able to get some persistent bone to hang on.  I do feel sorry for my doctor because I could feel her arms shaking as she was pushing the needle in the last few times.  I think my bones gave her a good workout for the day.  :)  
The remaining tests I have been waiting to schedule for staging have been scheduled for next week and chemo will start next Friday.  I've been trying to get the train rolling and it appears we are about to leave the station.  ABVD here I come. 
On a different note my doctor asked me a question today that I could not answer.  She asked why I decided to run my first marathon two years ago.  I know that at the time I decided to run the marathon I had only ever run 5k's.  I had run greater distances but never in a race.  I had read about marathons in Runner's World and seen them in the Olympics but up until that year I had never thought of doing one.  Running a marathon would be a real push.  It would be a test of myself on a level I had never tried for.  But I can think of no more concrete reason than that as to why I choose to run my first.  I can with certainty tell you what kept me running my first marathon and that was my daughter.  I watched her go through 6 weeks of IV drugs for an infection and I have never seen someone so brave and the fact that she was 5 makes it even more amazing to me.  I remember her at her birthday party with a cover over her PICC line running around with her friends at Chucky Cheese.  I choose to run the race for me but my motivation through out the race was my daughter.  And this time my daughter has shown me the way to confront being sick.  So I will not be sitting around feeling sorry for myself but you may find me running around with my family and friends having fun when I can have it.          

Thursday is a group run

Thursday was a group run out of Off'n'Running.  Which is a great running store in town.  The run felt good.  I pushed a little but not too hard and finished 4 miles feeling good.  Tomorrow I meet my Oncologist for the first time and I am ready to get things rolling along again.  I don't like the periods of time where I am left wondering about things.  The worst time for me so far was the wait for the results after the biopsy.   Now that I am home from vacation and back to work it is the wait to get this staged that has me anxious.  I would just like to know how far along this is and what treatment I have in store.  I have found several sites of people going through various chemo treatments and wondering about training during the process.  I wonder why exactly we want to do it so badly, the training that is.  I started working out years ago to get ready for a hiking trip to Yellowstone.  It had been years since I had run or worked out on a regular basis.   This all just started off as a means to getting in shape for hiking.  But now running is a means unto itself.  I don't really need a goal race or a PR to break to keep me going out there.  I just love to do it.  For those moments when you are lost in the movement.   When you seem to be moving without any effort and you feel like you could run forever.  You also get to experience each season as it passes.  Catching the sweet smell of honeysuckle in the spring, the sounds of the cicadas in the summer, the cool crisp air in the fall that is so welcome after the summer months, leaves changing color and covering the paths in the fall, bright vibrant colors and in the winter if it snows the soft almost white noise of snowing falling through the leaves.  It is to me I suppose a meditation of mind and body.  And of spirit.
I started saying a new prayer each night since I found out I had this, "God grant me the strength to show love and happiness to those around me everyday."  So I will end with that and get some sleep.  

Tuesday is track day

I really enjoyed running with the group tonight. It really helped motivate me to run harder. I did a 1 mile warmup, 2 x 100 form drills, 6 x 400 and a 800 meter cool down. After I was able to get over to the park and watch my son finish up his first soccer practice. He is 4 and this is his first team sport and he did great. Watching the kids run around and have so much fun was great. I am really looking forward to seeing more practices and his first game. Tomorrow I will see my surgeon who performed the biopsy and Friday it is off to meet my oncologist at Duke. I have been reading more literature on Hodgkin's Lymphoma. We received a packet from Team in Training with resources. It has been a good read although it has made me more interested in the treatment as the different treatments have unique possible side effects and late term effects. I hadn't heard about as many of the late term effects before. I knew some chemotherapy could damage your lungs or heart but I had not heard about the long term cognitive effects from radiation therapy near the neck which is where the largest mass of lymph nodes seem to be infected now. I will keep reading and try to ask as many questions as I can remember at the doctors appointment on Friday. I am looking forward to getting on with staging so I can see where things are at. Still happy that this is has such a high cure rate and thankful for all the friends and family that have been offering support and prayers.
Thursday is a run at the local running store. Looking forward to a run around the parks.

Research

I have been spending some time online trying to get an idea from other's out there as to how much running/exercise people have been able to do while on chemotherapy and whether it helped or hindered. It appears from my searches that it depends on the person. I have seen posts from bodybuilders, runners and triathletes and some of them were able to continue normal routines and some were tired walking upstairs at home or down a block outside. I found one person who trained for a marathon during their treatment. I do not think that continuing to train for a marathon is right for me. I don't want to spend all my free time recovering from runs and missing time with my wife and kids. I have planned to drop down to a half marathon with the understanding that it is all open to change. The race I commited to is late October so I would be probably 1 or 2 treatments in. I will just have to wait and see on what I can do when I get to each treatment.
Last night while eating with my wife and in-laws my father in-law suggested that we do the Wilmington Beach to Battleship next year as a relay team to celebrate when this is over. It sounded great to me so 2012 Beach to Battleship is my first race commitment next year.