Tuesday, March 07, 2006
ROCKY IN TRAINING FOR HIS BIGGEST FIGHT.....
Rocky and I have both been through a valley since I last posted. We were making what we thought was a routine visit to our family doctor to be informed of something like “irritable bowel syndrom.” However, we were presented with the fact Rocky has colon cancer which has metastasized and has gone to the liver.
At a time like that, you tend to sit looking at the doctor like he just said Mars had invaded the U.S. The statement is so out of the realm you have been expecting it’s like putting mustard on ice-cream. Nothing made sense. Did we just hear what we thought we heard?
Dr. Lowendowski’s demeanor told us we heard right. He is a young doctor and a very good one. He is a runner and has always celebrated John’s caliber of running. He humbly says he is only about a 5-mile a day guy. We brought him a tee shirt from the Boston Marathon last year which he was so proud of he still tells everyone about it. He is always bragging on Rocky’s weight lifting achievements and says he is his prize example of living well at 74. He is a friend as well as a doctor. To tell us what he had to was incredibly hard for him.
We had about an hour with him and came home stunned. The world turned upside down and the normal activities planned for the rest of the evening seemed rather inappropriate in view of the weight we now carried. It seemed a cruel sentence for Rocky who has survived two heart attacks, prostate cancer, and a brain tumor as well as dealing with diabetes.
The next day we began trying to form a marginal line of action. We decided we were not going to let this “invader” ruin our lives. We took the first volley of the surprise attack but it wasn’t going to send us on the run. We would stand and fight and maybe go down, but fight we would. I’m sick and tired of cancer and what it’s done to our family and some of our friends.
You may be thinking we should have had a colonoscopy which would have warned of the impending danger. Think again. He had one two years ago and when I mentioned this to the doctor, he said one out of every three diagnoses fail to find the cancer. I asked why his PSA count was zero when he had colon cancer…..the doctor told me he was only cancer free in the prostate……it wouldn’t tell about the rest of the body. So, if you are carrying false ideas around…..you’d better check it out. I also had heard that older people have slow growth rates so therefore the cancer grows slow in us older types. Think again!! Old wives tales and old medical views. Cancer is totally individual to the person who has it. There is no way to compare and certainly no way to cliché’ your way out of it.
Our education was beginning. We had a visit to the surgeon yesterday and came home somewhat hopeful. Again…..the doctor was younger than my youngest child. He came into our room armed and ready for action. He won us over in the first 30-seconds……he had a little booklet with pictures of before and after diagrams and we sat mesmerized as he went on to tell us of the surgery plan and what we could expect. He and his pictures made perfect sense. Rocky told him he planned to compete in the Power Lifting Meet in Rolla this Saturday and the doctor said… “fine……when do you want to schedule your surgery?” We both said, “The sooner the better…how about Monday?” It was agreed.
Rocky has been training hard for this Meet. He knew his level of strength was low compared to the last Meet he was in. He kept working harder and harder to bring it up to where he wanted it. When informed the cancer has been there for quite a while which would have diminished his strength, I am amazed Rocky could be lifting at the level he is. He has truly been training under a handicap. Rocky isn’t competing against anyone else…he wants to beat his own record.
He is the “old guy” at the gym who trains with “kids”…….but he is respected and has inspired all those who hope they can still compete when they are his age. He will do his best on Saturday and on Monday the surgeon will do “his” best to make sure Rocky is at the next Meet. I began this by saying, “We have been through a valley” so please notice it is past tense. We are through the valley and on the other side and we are hopeful.
I’ll keep you informed as we take this next journey together.
Until then,
Essentially Esther
At a time like that, you tend to sit looking at the doctor like he just said Mars had invaded the U.S. The statement is so out of the realm you have been expecting it’s like putting mustard on ice-cream. Nothing made sense. Did we just hear what we thought we heard?
Dr. Lowendowski’s demeanor told us we heard right. He is a young doctor and a very good one. He is a runner and has always celebrated John’s caliber of running. He humbly says he is only about a 5-mile a day guy. We brought him a tee shirt from the Boston Marathon last year which he was so proud of he still tells everyone about it. He is always bragging on Rocky’s weight lifting achievements and says he is his prize example of living well at 74. He is a friend as well as a doctor. To tell us what he had to was incredibly hard for him.
We had about an hour with him and came home stunned. The world turned upside down and the normal activities planned for the rest of the evening seemed rather inappropriate in view of the weight we now carried. It seemed a cruel sentence for Rocky who has survived two heart attacks, prostate cancer, and a brain tumor as well as dealing with diabetes.
The next day we began trying to form a marginal line of action. We decided we were not going to let this “invader” ruin our lives. We took the first volley of the surprise attack but it wasn’t going to send us on the run. We would stand and fight and maybe go down, but fight we would. I’m sick and tired of cancer and what it’s done to our family and some of our friends.
You may be thinking we should have had a colonoscopy which would have warned of the impending danger. Think again. He had one two years ago and when I mentioned this to the doctor, he said one out of every three diagnoses fail to find the cancer. I asked why his PSA count was zero when he had colon cancer…..the doctor told me he was only cancer free in the prostate……it wouldn’t tell about the rest of the body. So, if you are carrying false ideas around…..you’d better check it out. I also had heard that older people have slow growth rates so therefore the cancer grows slow in us older types. Think again!! Old wives tales and old medical views. Cancer is totally individual to the person who has it. There is no way to compare and certainly no way to cliché’ your way out of it.
Our education was beginning. We had a visit to the surgeon yesterday and came home somewhat hopeful. Again…..the doctor was younger than my youngest child. He came into our room armed and ready for action. He won us over in the first 30-seconds……he had a little booklet with pictures of before and after diagrams and we sat mesmerized as he went on to tell us of the surgery plan and what we could expect. He and his pictures made perfect sense. Rocky told him he planned to compete in the Power Lifting Meet in Rolla this Saturday and the doctor said… “fine……when do you want to schedule your surgery?” We both said, “The sooner the better…how about Monday?” It was agreed.
Rocky has been training hard for this Meet. He knew his level of strength was low compared to the last Meet he was in. He kept working harder and harder to bring it up to where he wanted it. When informed the cancer has been there for quite a while which would have diminished his strength, I am amazed Rocky could be lifting at the level he is. He has truly been training under a handicap. Rocky isn’t competing against anyone else…he wants to beat his own record.
He is the “old guy” at the gym who trains with “kids”…….but he is respected and has inspired all those who hope they can still compete when they are his age. He will do his best on Saturday and on Monday the surgeon will do “his” best to make sure Rocky is at the next Meet. I began this by saying, “We have been through a valley” so please notice it is past tense. We are through the valley and on the other side and we are hopeful.
I’ll keep you informed as we take this next journey together.
Until then,
Essentially Esther
