Closing thoughts from Todd

So there you have it. Karen wrote a pretty good summary of our week riding (and some times walking and tubing and being shuttled around) from Cumberland, MD to Washington D.C.

So what more can I add?

I guess there were two things that neither Karen nor I feel we’ve been able to aptly express in all of this blogging.

The first was just how incredible the experience was from a “connecting with the sarcoma community” and “interacting with other survivors” aspect. I think that’s really been the most difficult thing to put into words – especially for me. Karen has at least had some online interaction with sarcoma groups and she was thrilled to get the chance to meet them on the tour and get to know them as people and friends rather than just other “caretakers.” I, on the other hand, have only had a very limited connection with other cancer patients to this point. Other than maybe one person, most of the cancer survivors I knew before this trip were people I knew before either of us had cancer, so it was a new experience to meet so many new people with the only connection between us being cancer (at least initially, anyway).

As many of you know, I really like being as “normal” as possible and not considering myself a “cancer patient” so this was not something I was entirely comfortable with. What I discovered is that while I may not consider myself a “typical cancer patient” (and really, what is that?) neither did any of these other people. (Well except maybe one person – that’s a little inside joke for our fellow riders.) What I found is that these people weren’t there to talk about their cancer (although it was a convenient ice breaker); instead like me, they were there to make sure that other people wouldn’t have to deal with the things they were forced to go through by helping raise money and awareness of sarcomas.

That really blew me away. I don’t know why it should have or what exactly I was expecting, but what I found is that they just want to live as much life as I do and have a great time and a ton of laughs doing it. So very cool. And fun. So much fun. I know I will be in touch with many of those incredible people for a long, long time (of course, Facebook really helps too).

The second thing that has really hit me since I’ve gotten back home (and subsequently down to Houston) is how much of a “karmic trip” the tour has been as well.

Back in January, I had a scan that showed my lung nodules were stable. Knowing that surgery offers those with osteo mets the best chance for long-term survival, Karen asked Dr. Skubitz about it. He told us that given my history with lung issues (being on oxygen just a few months earlier) and heart issues (cardiac tampande and periocardial effusions) it wasn’t a great option for me and he wanted to see a longer period of no growth to even consider it. In February, I submitted my essay to The Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative about my “Moment in Sarcoma” as well as a short note about why I was hoping to participate in the bike tour. At the end of April, I was informed that my essay (along with one other) had been selected and I would receive a sponsorship to participate. So I figured I needed to get training for what I thought would be an easy ride (I used to do much longer rides when I was a kid, how hard could this be?).

So in between continuing rounds of chemo I managed to get in some “training” in the form of our stationary bike, walking some 10-12 blocks to and from work each day, borrowing my dad’s mountain bike for rides around the lake and walking the occasional stairs at my work parking ramp.

Long story short, the training to make it 185 miles on the tour fell a wee bit short.

However, in early July (before I even left for the trip) when a new scan showed tumor growth, Dr. Skubitz asked about my “activity level” and after telling him how I was preparing for the tour, he readily suggested that I do a surgery to remove the growing tumor. Given his relatively conservative approach to my past treatments, the fact that he even thought it was a possibility again said a lot. And while we won’t actually find out until Monday if I really am physically able to have surgery, if it was not for this tour… Well, things might be looking MUCH scarier.

So yeah, overall, I would say the Team Sarcoma Bike Tour was ... um ... Worthwhile? Incredible? Uplifting? Potentially life saving? No matter what I say, it's a huge understatement ... in fact, everything you have just read or anything Karen or I may have told you about the trip in person falls into that same category. :)

- Todd

P.S. If you are interested in seeing more photos from our trip, go to:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029883&id=1253310134&l=18bce65332 (part 1)

and

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029902&id=1253310134&l=7906608126 (part 2)