Gimme Five, Plus One More!

Today marks my six year anniversary date of officially being in remission from Hodgkin lymphoma! Last year, my five year mark, is the really big one, but actually, once you hit five years, you just want to keep going. My odds were pretty good – about 80% of surviving at least five years with stage 3 HL. I celebrated that milestone with a little get-together with my teammates after training with bagels and purple and green balloons, all organized by Coach Michal. Plus I really looked on participating in the Arizona Marathon about a month later as the true celebration.

This year is more laid back. My cold is over and I celebrated by feeling well enough to go out and run / walk 4 miles in the pre-dawn darkness. Although sleeping in always feels good (see my poem “Relentless”), I am so blessed and fortunate to be alive and healthy enough to do this. Then at lunch, I took a quick 2.5 mile walk down to Belle Isle and back. It feels great to start being active again after 3 weeks with a cold and one week on the road before that.

It is easy to take this health and level of physical fitness for granted, and I work very hard not to do so. Lots of people, never mind people coming up on so called “old age” in a few years, cannot dream of walking or running even five miles, much less a marathon – even if they have never had cancer.

I learned something pretty neat today – in 2012 on December 9, the 10th anniversary of my remission from cancer, the Honolulu Marathon will be held. How amazing would it be to still be healthy and fit enough to walk or run this, and what a great way that would be to celebrate 10 years remission! Plus I have never been to Hawaii. Now I know that is putting the cart before the horse and is assuming a lot of things, but it gives me something to think about and set my sights on for 4 years from now.

For now, I had better just concentrate on getting conditioned enough for Nashville and feel grateful for the six year remission mark. None of this was guaranteed, not by a long shot. I am very lucky and happy to still be on this amazing earth.