I need to learn to keep my mouth shut

Several months ago several individuals alongside the UMCCC develoment office had the idea of getting a team of dominators together to participate in the Annual Dexter-Ann Arbor Run who want to take on the mission of Cancer Kicker: Inspire others and Kick Cancer...specifically Multiple Myeloma.

I thought this was a great idea and that if 10 people signed up, I would run the 5k. I also foolishly said if 20+ sign up to take on this charge, I would run the 10k. I must admit, I was expecting just a handful of people to be up for this challenge. Well...guess again. We already have 50+ people signed up and I am sure that number will continue to grow.

That means....I need to start running some serious miles over the next 4 weeks. The race is at the beginning of June and right now I am slugging through 3 miles, once per week. Before I started the onslaught of chemo I ran in the Big House Big Heart 10K with a bunch of friends and we managed to push strollers the whole way and finish right around 50 minutes.

My goal this time is to finish. To keep my body moving forward the whole time, without walking. If over 50 people are willing to join the momentum we are building to dominate MM for good, I can find a way to get through this race! If you want to join, it's not too late (instructions here).

Time to go for a run. -Phil

In a funk? Run 3 miles.

Some reason over the last two days I hit a foggy funk where my glass has not been 99% full. For those who know me and probably even those who follow this blog have learned that I am very optimistic and it isn't far fetched to think that maybe I had lasik eye surgery one day to fasten on those rose colored glasses.



Well, yesterday and today I could not find my pink tinted glasses and I had a hard time snapping out of my funk. There has not been anything specific weighing on me, I just felt blah and 6 cups of coffee, dominating water and hugging my kids couldn't get me out of it. I asked Cassie how long she gets in these sort of funks and she said that her whole pregnancy has been a funk! Oh man, I would not survive! More of a reason why Cassie is a champ.

As I was wasting away I decided that I would do the one thing I have stayed away from since starting chemo almost four months ago...excercise. Prior to starting chemo I ran in a 10k as my way of preparing my mind, body and soul for chemo. Since starting I haven't run once.....until today! I bundled up, strapped on some music and scooted down the street in the snow. It was very freeing and I felt like it gave me back some control. My energy level was also elevated after the run and the night culminated with a great dinner with some good old friends.

I don't plan on making running a habit, but I am willing to do whatever it takes to avoid losing my pink shades.

Time to work on my Kick!

(Phil speaking)

I think about my cancer about .00138% of the time, which is probably aboutt 1 minute every 13 days give or take some math. The reality is that the cancer is present in me roughly 100% of the time looking to find its way in my body, primarily my bones. 

If you have been following along you know that three years ago (Aug 2006) while living in Charlotte, NC we were caught off guard by a Pulmonary Embolism in my right lung, which can be very deadly. The following year after a return to Ann Arbor I had two more blood clots, one in my left leg and a second in my right. Two years after the PE (Aug 2008) we learned that the recurring blood clots in my body had a partner in crime called Multiple Myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cell that originates in the center of your bones. And now three years later (Aug 2009) we have learned thanks to some help from our peeps down at UMAS hospital in Little Rock that the cancer isn't smoldering, but actively spreading. What's with the month of August anyways?!?! Can't we just reserve this month for the good news of the birth of Phil??? ;)

I have heard it is good to keep your mind off of your disease so you can continue to live your life fully and I guess that is what I have been doing naturally. I mean who starts a business during the worst economic times just months after they find out they have a serious cancer stewing around? I think it's in the core of my DNA to keep dominating because it's all I have ever known.

So what about dominating cancer? Well, since the blood clots and the diagnosis I have naturally not thought about the health issue staring me in the face, partly because I still feel great! The reality is that over the last year the cancer went from just over 10% in my bones to 30%, so it seems to be doing just great too! 

I am sensing that it's time to kick it....what do you think? I have been much more conscious about eating colorful vegetables, which is harder than you think for a vegetarian with the assortment of carbs that flow through a supermarket. Cassie has been a champ though and I am eating better than ever! So the diet is where it needs to be and I have returned to dominating water which is really crucial in keeping my kidney from getting wrecked by the excess protein (and potential calcium) floating around in my blood stream. 

Sooooooo....to start kicking it, I am going to go back to my roots and work on my kick. Not my football kick, but my running kick. Thanks to my running buddy, I have been consistently running one day a week. To put my feet to the fire I officially signed up for the Big House Big Heart 10k run on 10/4, which  may be my last weekend of my treatment free self!  I still have the belief that my disease can be supernaturally dominated and we have a couple of months for that to happen!

If you ever want to go for a run, just give me a ring! I have a lot of work to do....and I can't do it without the influence of others. Thanks!!!!