RECOVERY - Week 6, A Word from Peter

Getting Back On The Bike

Yesterday Susan and I took a ten mile bike ride on the flat, mostly-paved American Tobacco Trail in Chatham and Durham Counties. Informed about the route by daughter Amanda, who lives nearby in the Southpointe area, it proved an excellent way of resuming a sport I'd left behind in the difficult days of chem and radiation several months before. For most even casual cyclists, a ten mile ride is like a walk to the mailbox and back, but it felt like an honest workout to me, lending visions of the more challenging Orange County hills in the future.

Having the ten-inch feeding tube taken out earlier in the week was a relief and a gift. I was told that I can resume pool swimming in a week and pond swimming two weeks after that. The concern for both is bacteria and infection. Eating is challenging and problematic, as it stays down only when I eat extremely slowly and in small portions. The stomach is simply much smaller and functions not unlike it does for those people who have had gastric bypass surgery.

Susan has written clearly of the dark, latter days in the hospital, where I was beginning to worry about my mental status. The Duke nurses could not have been more professional, attentive, and kind in their work, but the hospital routine of little sleep, constant interruptions, the placement and removal of catheters, tubes, and needles, uncomfortable beds and general lethargy contribute mightily to the obsession of returning home ASAP.

When I was at the hospital last week the Duke student newpaper had a column by a 29 year old Duke grad named Gloria Borges, also a graduate of Stanford Law School. With life looking good at age 28 (a promising law career, a new marriage), she was hit with a diagnosis of Stage 4 colon cancer. In her on-line site www.wunderglo.com, Gloria details her furious fight against cancer, her three surgeries and 20+ chemo sessions. She is tireless in her enthusiasm for the fight and has even established a foundation to raise awareness and funds around colon cancer. Her most recent event was a 3-on-3 basketball tournament at Duke called "Go To Hell, Cancer!" Her positive energy and outlook made me feel a little sheepish about my own occasional pessimism and passivity and more resolved to emphasize the wonderful gifts I have received from so many.

I encourage all readers to attend the amazing Murphey School Radio Show on May 5 and 6. It will be the third production of the highly successful and entertaining series. In the format of an old-time live radio show, MSRS ( www.murpheyschoolradio.net) features comedy, music, and skits, plus it benefits the Coalition to Un-Chain Dogs and Eyes, Ears, Nose, and Paws of Carrboro.

On May 12, Red's Rhythm returns to The Depot in Hillsborough at 8 PM. Our last show there on January 28 was incredibly fun and had crowds into the street. We've got some nice new material- a Roy Orbison song by Roger, a sweet old soul duet by our wonderful singers Stacey and Frank.

Friends and family continue to lift Susan and me with cards and emails, food, favors, and words of hope, patience, and love. - PK