That was the best surgery yet

Thursday 9 May 2013 - Filed under Uncategorized

This is what was inside me for the past two years:

Getting blood drawn before even checking into surgery, the lab tech missed the vein in my arm.  Of course.  I’ve lost count how many times that’s happened to me now.  And so after trying to wiggle things around while I started getting pale, he decided to take it out, get a pediatric needle and draw out of the vein in my hand instead.

Once changing into my hospital gown, my nurse started my IV in my other arm with no problem.  We only waited around a minute before being wheeled down to the small surgery room.  After having to rearrange the equipment in the small room when they realized my port was on my left side unlike most cases, they cranked up the sedatives, but a cover over me to seal off the work area, and the team of three got to work.

For all the other surgeries I’ve had, I was put completely under.  Partially due to the more complex natures of them, but being awake for the duration of a surgery sure was different.  Not that I was particularly lucid or felt any pain, but I definitely wasn’t asleep.  I felt a little tugging and pulling, and I could tell the moment went they actually pulled my port out, along with a couple times when a small trail of blood rolled down the side of my torso.

I was talking again before they even wheeled me out of the surgery room.  Back in my recovery room, I was unsure of whether to laugh or cry.  They had hold me for an hour before they could release me, but I was up and walking without problem, and didn’t have a hint of nausea either.  In total, I was in the hospital for less than 3 hours.  And just like that, I’m all done for real this time.  This feels a lot better than when I finished radiation treatments.

I’m still sore and waiting for the wound to heal, but it’s getting better by the day.  I can’t wait to comfortably do all the things I’ve had to avoid for the past two years:
-Wearing a seat belt on the left side of a car without constantly shifting position in my seat
-Wearing my messenger bags so they fall to my right side again
-Draping my camera strap across my chest so that it’s handy for right-handed operation
-Storing anything in the breast pocket of a button down shirt or my jackets/sweaters that have chest zip pockets
-Being able to go running without the unpleasant tight lump always making in awkward twist or turn or bounce too much
-And maybe most of all, since I’m a stomach sleeper, being able to lie flat in my bed again each night when I turn off the lights

It’s been a hell of a couple years.

 ::  Share or discuss  ::  2013-05-09  ::  Luke

Boston Marathon Thoughts

Wednesday 17 April 2013 - Filed under Uncategorized

On Monday, I was already thinking about Patriots’ Day in Boston, and following the marathon via live feeds/commentary, and of course Twitter.  I saw the elite men’s race from my desk at work, and reminisced about the time I witnessed it first hand 3 years ago.

Three years ago, Ian and I ran the BAA 5k the day before the marathon on these same streets.  I don’t remember my time, but I remember it was fun, if painful at the end.  I couldn’t quite hang on at the end, I don’t think.  But we stopped at a Starbucks on the way home after the race to warm up from the cold spring day, and everything was better.

The next day, we watched the marathon from Boylston St, over a span of exactly the two blocks where bombs were detonated on Monday.  We drank sangria on a patio before the first racers showed up.  We stood in the brisk air and tried to stay warm by shaking our cowbells for hours.  We waited and waited for the one person we knew to reach the finish line, all the time confined to a couple blocks on the north side of the street.

I went for a run yesterday, because I needed to, and all I thought about were the 4 marathons I’ve ran.  And the couple that I’ve spectated.  There was the Grand Rapids marathon, where I ran without training, because I wanted to see how far I could go.  There was Chicago in 2011 when I wanted to prove that I could do it, despite having chemotherapy 3 weeks prior.  And the Marine Corp Marathon, 3 weeks after that, to run with family, and, I don’t know, brag a little?  Two marathons in a month, after cancer treatments?  How hard is a marathon, really?  And Chicago again last October, where I for once actually properly trained for it and ran faster than I thought I possibly could, side by side with Ian, and just about everything went according to plan.  And I was still 15 minutes too slow to qualify for Boston.

Boston is still The One, and all I can think of was, I was right there, exactly 3 years ago, and maybe that could’ve been me too, next to a bomb on a public street.  And I don’t know how to process it.  So I’ll go for another run.  Maybe I’ll figure it out there.

 ::  Share or discuss  ::  2013-04-17  ::  Luke

A Year Ago

Tuesday 2 April 2013 - Filed under Uncategorized

A year ago today, we sit on the bank of a river and drink beer from the trunk of our rental car as shadows start to fill the valley.  And water runs vertically and horizontally, and I’m not sure which is better.

Two years ago today, I learned about Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and what it means to have a tumor in your chest, compressing vital organs.

This year, I’m riding my bike downtown to enjoy a beer with friends, and trying to figure out what I want to be doing in the next year that is more meaningful.

 ::  Share or discuss  ::  2013-04-02  ::  Luke

Better than the Super Bowl

Sunday 3 February 2013 - Filed under Uncategorized

Here’s me eating a free maple bacon doughnut before the Juniors Cyclocross World Championship race.  I wish the weekend didn’t end so fast.  I took over 1100 pictures and I’m traveling for work and away from home, so it’ll take me awhile to sort through them all.  Here’s Sven:

 ::  Share or discuss  ::  2013-02-03  ::  Luke

Tuesday 29 January 2013 - Filed under Uncategorized

It snowed every day last week.  I went skiing three times.  There is no snow anymore.

It rained in buckets today.  There was a thunderstorm last night.  I went for a bike ride in shorts and didn’t freeze.  But I did get wet.  Very wet.  There was a man walking on 66th St. who asked, “Is it safe to ride bike in the rain?”

This weekend I’ll be in Louisville for Cyclocross Worlds.  Bikes, bourbon, and beer.  This can only be good.

 ::  Share or discuss  ::  2013-01-29  ::  Luke

Lake effect

Wednesday 23 January 2013 - Filed under Uncategorized

So it’s finally cold enough for an extended period of time, and the winds have blessed us in West Michigan with the gift of lake effect snow.  It has been slowly snowing constantly since Sunday evening, and by tomorrow we should have a good base to make it feel wintery for a good long while.

Along with making every outdoor scene prettier, it has also meant that I can finally break in my skis that I got last month.  There are some groomed trails only slightly out of the way of my commute home, and they have lights on 3 miles of trails.  I got a good hour long workout tonight, just skiing in the semi-darkness, getting lost in the woods.  So much better than riding my bike on the trainer in my basement every night.

Keep it coming.

 ::  Share or discuss  ::  2013-01-23  ::  Luke

Friday 28 December 2012 - Filed under Uncategorized

 ::  Share or discuss  ::  2012-12-28  ::  Luke

YOLOrado

Wednesday 28 November 2012 - Filed under Uncategorized

The last time I saw a David Bazan concert in Grand Rapids in November, I was turning around and packing up my car to drive down I-80 to I-355 to spend a month in Illinois getting proton radiation treatment.  This year, after an loud and grungy Bazan show at The Pyramid Scheme, I hit the same road, but instead of going north on I-355, I went west west west.

So Adam and I are renting an apartment in Fort Collins now.  At least through July.  I loaded up my car with bikes and outdoor active wear and drove straight west along Interstate 80 for 15 hours from South Bend to Fort Collins for my first vacation since I started my new job last April.

I didn’t really have many plans aside from seeing some mountains and drinking good beer, but on those fronts, I was quite successful.  I rode my bike a few days, up canyon roads that climbed for 11 miles and 2,800 feet, and down the backside, hitting 58.4 mph on the descent.  My hands only froze from the cold on the first day.  I got used to the altitude.

I swung by Denver, and Boulder, hiked through Eldorado Canyon State Park, went backcountry skiing in Cameron Pass, trail running in the foothills near Fort Collins, and just generally unplugged from the modern world for awhile.

I visited 7 breweries and sampled as much beer as I could.  The New Belguim tour is the best brewery tour I’ve been on.  Brooklyn Brewery is still the worst tour.

I drove back across the great prairies of the Midwest, bookending my trip that started with wine tasting and dune hiking in Michigan and ending with hiking a “rugged” trail in Indiana meant for “advanced hikers”.

November has gone fast.

 ::  Share or discuss  ::  2012-11-28  ::  Luke

Pretty happy lately

Monday 29 October 2012 - Filed under Uncategorized

 ::  Share or discuss  ::  2012-10-29  ::  Luke

So what if it rains?

Friday 19 October 2012 - Filed under Uncategorized

So it has rained for nearly a week straight.  Tuesday was dry, I think.  It has been a busy work week, where I’ve hardly gotten home before dark most evenings.  And the sun sets by 7pm these days?  Doesn’t it seem like just a couple weeks ago where we didn’t even start our rides until 6:30pm and we could fit in 40 miles on the bike and still be home with copious amounts of daylight remaining?

On the Wednesday Dirty ride, it was just Joel and me, and we left late because I was rushing home from work and having to stop at the hospital for yummy CT contrast, but at least it was warm.  I didn’t pay attention to the weather forecast, because the sun was out most of the day as I sat at my desk and wanted nothing but to be on my bike, so that by the time I got home, the radar map full of green would never dissuade me.

We headed south and fought the wind until we got to the good gravel roads, where we already had to switch on our headlamps.  But we rode the dirt and chatted and tried to spot the sandy sections with what little light there was and it started raining but I honestly can’t tell you when it started raining.  We were just riding and that was all I wanted to do in the world at that moment.  And the rained began falling in buckets, and there was a fresh layer of ungroomed sand on 122nd Street to prepare for winter conditions so we dodged tire ruts and pushed onward.  And I threw on a jacket to keep warm, because we were still by Fennville, and even with the tailwind, we were nowhere near home.

I imagine the few cars that did pass by us in the downpour with our tiny front and rear lights thought we were crazy, but warm fall nights are a rarity now, and what else would you rather be doing but riding?  I couldn’t not smile.

We chatted in sand-covered legs over a beer with Jim about bikes and riding and Colorado and racing and cyclocross and who cares about the rain?

Pretty soon it will turn to snow and my only concern is finding the right pair of cross country skis to buy before that happens.

 ::  Share or discuss  ::  2012-10-19  ::  Luke