Rollie
Well-Known Member
Well , it's been a long year for this old fart. In mid- March I noticed some blood was coming up when I coughed and my wife insisted we go to the Emory Hospital Emergency room. They did some preliminaty tests and referred me to a head and neck specialist at Emory. I was seem the following week and the Dr. stuck a tube up my nose and into my throat. He diagnosed me with cancer of the tongue and decided to have a biopsy and full body scan to confirm what he suspected , and if I was worth fighting for. The biopsy and scan revealed the cance was present ( approximately 3 centimeters long ) , but could not be detected anywhere else in my body. They followed up quickly with 7 straight weeks of chemotherapy 1 day per week and radiation 5 times per week to the base of my tongue . I had to have a stomach feeding tube inserted as I couldn't swallow anything for almost all of that time , plus about 12 weeks afterward. The chemo and radiation basically cooked everything in my mouth. Taste buds , tongue muscle, throat . I got a cold / flu about 1/2 way through treatment and had to be admitted for a few days to make sure I didn't have or get pneumonia . Finally , after about 6 weeks after the treatmenta were over , I got the second body scan and was told they couldn't see the cancer on my tongue anymore , and it still was not seen anywhere else in my body . I finally was told I could start working out as soon as I could learn , all over again , how to swallow and begin eating real food again , instead of the liquid meals that kept me alive , and to try and put some weight back on. I went from 215 to 165 during treatment. My hair didn't all fall out , but it was pretty thin and almost completely gray . Looking in the mirror was very painful , as I was looking at a really old man who almost didn't make it.
About 5 weeks ago , I picked up a 50 lb. bag of horse food for my wife and threw it over my shoulder , and about 2 weeks later I thought I had pulled a groin muscle. Turned out , that was a double hernia and had surgery for them last week . I'm feeling much better today , sun was out , had a steak last night for dinner , and I could actually taste it . I decided today was gonna be my first ride of the year. After basically 6 months of inactivity , I backed the Blue '90 out of the shop and struggled to keep it upright . It started right up , thanks to the non-ethanol gas I get from a marina about 20 miles from the shop. Headed out for a quick run through town and was feeling so elated , I headed for the outskirts of town , when the low fuel light came on. Must be a sign I guess , so I headed toward Lake Jackson and the marina and fueled up with 90 octane non-ethanol. Blasted back across the dam at about 125 , scared a few fish and fishermen I guess and headed back to the shop.
It's a great day to be alive and I'm damn thankful for my first ride of the year.
unk:unk:unk:
About 5 weeks ago , I picked up a 50 lb. bag of horse food for my wife and threw it over my shoulder , and about 2 weeks later I thought I had pulled a groin muscle. Turned out , that was a double hernia and had surgery for them last week . I'm feeling much better today , sun was out , had a steak last night for dinner , and I could actually taste it . I decided today was gonna be my first ride of the year. After basically 6 months of inactivity , I backed the Blue '90 out of the shop and struggled to keep it upright . It started right up , thanks to the non-ethanol gas I get from a marina about 20 miles from the shop. Headed out for a quick run through town and was feeling so elated , I headed for the outskirts of town , when the low fuel light came on. Must be a sign I guess , so I headed toward Lake Jackson and the marina and fueled up with 90 octane non-ethanol. Blasted back across the dam at about 125 , scared a few fish and fishermen I guess and headed back to the shop.
It's a great day to be alive and I'm damn thankful for my first ride of the year.
unk:unk:unk:
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