It’s January. In my dad’s world, that means just one thing….Football. Doesn’t matter that his beloved 49ers have been terrible for the past bunch of years, his weekends will still be all-day football events. With his trusty Pro Football Weekly and clipboard within arms' reach, he watches - sometimes with my brother at his side, sometimes with a miscellany of grandkids at his feet, sometimes alone. So normal and yet…extraordinary.
Extraordinary because he has multiple myeloma – an incurable blood cancer that stealthily invades bones, creating painful tumors and messing with the production of blood and immunoglobulins (important parts of the immune system).
Extraordinary because two years ago, he couldn’t walk, was in excruciating pain and spent 22-23 hours a day sleeping (from pain medication, radiation and an assortment of other drugs to help with nausea, pain and to treat the cancer itself).
Extraordinary because by most counts, he shouldn’t be here; his cancer was found when it had already infiltrated 70% of his bones.
As I reflect on how amazing his recovery has been, I know that I owe a debt of gratitude to every person who has ever written a check to organizations like the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (Dad’s cancer falls within their scope). Simply put, my dad wouldn’t be here but for their generosity. Their contributions (totaling $500 million since 1988) have helped develop the amazing treatments that allow my dad this time to live his wonderful and normal life, surrounded by his family who loves him so much.
I sometimes picture him, like the winning coach at the end of a come-from-behind, nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat game. (Feel free to insert your own hyphenated phrase that implies doing something against all odds or that resonates with the feeling of sitting by and watching helplessly as someone else struggles and wins). He’s held in the air, arms above his headin a sign of victory...supported by the countless people who have helped fund blood cancer research.
And…I realize that it is time for me to join the countless. On June 3, 2007, I will be riding my bike around Lake Tahoe (100 miles in a day) with thousands of other Team in Training participants to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This one is for my dad and for all of those coping with blood cancer; and in the hopes of someday, finally, finding a cure.
Anyone interested in joining my team, please visit my donation website.
http://www.active.com/donate/tntsvmb/tntsvmbRYarme
Oh, and Go Niners (next season, that is!).
1 comment:
Ruthie, what a great journey getting your Dad back to health. No doubt that science helped, but I am sure that your going there, and the presence of his grandchildren, along with a good dose of laughter says Patch Adams certainly encouraged his will to fight. We want to join you on this ride as you are companions with us in the Lymphoma/Leukemia struggle...a battle that brought us loss, and yet the journey and post-journey have been rich and I would love to share it with you some time. I'm so happy for you that you get to be with your Dad in a time of recovery!!! Oh that is sooooooo great!
Love,
Megan
PS, our email we are using for this entry is not our normal one, just one we used to register with Google.
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