Lung Cancer Soapbox

11/17/2011 - It's November 17, 2011 which is the date for the Great American Smokeout. It is also Lung Cancer Awareness month. (I'll bet you didn't know that did you?) November is also Pancreatic Cancer Awareness month and Movember (men's health and prostate cancer awareness). I don't do this very often, but I'd like to take a minute to climb up onto my soapbox.

A couple of days ago I read an entry on the Livestrong blog entitled "Please Don't Ask Me If I Smoked" that kind of struck a nerve with me. Whenever someone finds out that I have lung cancer the next question that comes up is invariably "Are (Were) you a smoker?" The implication being that if someone smokes they somehow deserve cancer because they did it to themselves. No one deserves lung cancer (or any other type for that matter) and to imply that if one smoked they got what they deserved is ridiculous.

In my opinion the stigma attached to lung cancer has to do with the American Lung Association's brilliant and effective marketing campaign linking smoking and lung cancer. The unintended side effect of that is the close association of smoking and lung cancer. The thing that many people don't think about is that there are plenty of never smokers that are diagnosed with lung cancer every year.

Lung cancer kills more people every year than the next three most common cancers combined (colon, breast, and prostate) yet receives the least amount of funding per death.

(Image linked to without permission from the Lung Cancer Alliance)

During my research for this post I happened to stumble across and social media campaign called "WTF (Where's The Funding) for Lung Cancer?" Stop by and you can read the story of never smoker Leslie Lehrman who has contracted lung cancer. It mobilized her daughter Jennifer Windrum to start the campaign to raise awareness, fight the stigma, and increase the funding for lung cancer research.

So the next time that you hear that someone has lung cancer (which I hope is never), it is my sincere hope that you think about this before you ask them if they smoke. Thanks for reading my rant. I wanted to make sure I got this out there before November was over. Finally, since today is the Great American Smokeout if you do smoke I hope you'll at least consider participating for your sake and the sake of your loved ones.

A list of cancer awareness months can be found here: http://www.cancer-services.com/cancer_awareness.asp

Medical Update

11/10/2011 - Monday afternoon found me back at the oncologist's office for my regular checkup before my next chemotherapy cycle. About two months ago I started a new chemotherapy called Gemzar. It is the last chemotherapy drug that is available for me and when I'm finished with it chemotherapy treatment will no longer be an option for me. After that it will just be a matter of managing the symptoms of my illness.

The following is intended neither to be too melodramatic nor solicit sympathy; rather, it is a set up for the second half of the story. The side effects of Gemzar have been positively miserable up until now. Extreme fatigue, body aches, a couple of bouts of nausea, etc. I had a couple of weeks where I was so weak I was practically bedridden. I even got to the point where I had to start using a cane to get around on the bad days. Needless to say, after two cycles of this (8 weeks) I was ready to throw in the towel. I had every intention of walking into the doctor's office and telling him I was going to stop treatment.

About every eight weeks (or after two chemo cycles) I receive a CT scan to check on the disease's progression. Lo and behold, the results of my latest scan which were reported to me on Monday were overwhelmingly positive. All areas of cancerous growth had decreased by 25 to 40 percent (depending on how they were measured) and there were no new areas of concern. I certainly realize that this is only temporary so I'm not getting too amped about it, but it's nice to occasionally get some positive news. So for now I'm going to continue the treatment. The doctor adjusted my dosage to help me with the side effects and I'm happy to report that this week has been one of the easiest that I've had (aside from off weeks) since I started Gemzar.

We'll see how things go after the next eight weeks but for now I'll just be satisfied with the fact that things aren't getting worse and that the side effects aren't as bad.

Last Three States: The Finale

11/05/2011 - We all unintentionally slept in on Saturday. We missed breakfast at the hotel, so we thought we'd get a quick morning meal at Krystal's across the parking lot. After waiting for ten minutes to be waited on and weren't even acknowledged by the staff, we said eff this place and just hopped on the road. Dan led the way using his GPS to get us around Nashville to US-31 E on the north side of town. Once we got on US-31 E we promptly stopped at a Dunkin' Donuts for a much belated breakfast.

Our ride on US-31 E was not terribly long and before we knew it, we were in Kentucky. Once in Kentucky we hopped on US-68 and were treated to some really fun and twisting two lane Kentucky back roads. The weather was exceptional which made for fantastic riding. The ride wasn't nearly as peaceful and isolated as the ride on the Natchez Trace Trail but the twists and turns more than made up for it. We rolled into Lexington past lots of horse farms and horse racing venues and made our way to Interstate 75. An hour and a half later we were in northern Kentucky and stopped for our last meal of the trip together. I thought we'd go all out and have something really nice. Since we were robbed of our Krystal's in the morning, I found the nearest White Castle right after I-75 and I-71 merged. We had our meal, and parted ways. Tim and Dan continued to head up I-75 so Dan could go home to Dayton. Kevin and I continued up I-71 to Columbus. We got through Cincinnati and dark fell and it got chilly really quick. To top it off, my iPod battery finally drained just north of the 'Nati so I'd ride the rest of the way home in relative silence. I didn't want to pull over and take the time to hook it up to the charger because it would have just delayed my arrival home and I was ready to be home.

I pulled in the garage at 8:30 Saturday night and was thrilled to be back at my house with my family. I logged 2071 miles on this trip and thus ends my quest to ride to all 48 contiguous United States on my motorcycle. It has been an amazing journey. I've seen and rode places that I'd only seen in pictures and never thought that I'd get to see them with my own eyes in person.

When it was decided that I'd no longer be able to leave Columbus without an escort, I thought that was going to be the end of my travels and that I'd end up leaving Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana on the table. With that in mind, I'd like to thank Kevin, Tim, and Dan for taking time out of their busy lives to accompany me on this final leg of my voyage. It means a lot to me that they'd spend the vacation and take time away from their families to make sure I was able to finish this out.

I'd especially like to thank Laela and Miranda for being patient with and supporting me while I traveled across the US of A. It's been a long year and there have been lots of ups and downs through it all, they've supported me and my silly wish to see all 48 states. Miranda even rode with me this past spring when we went to Florida. They both joined me this summer when I was on the west coast and spent a week with me while I traveled. I couldn't have done any of it without them.

As for a future goal, I don't have one in mind at this point. Last year when I was diagnosed, I didn't think that I'd get the chance to finish this one, let alone get an opportunity to choose something new. For now I'll just be satisfied with what I've done and be thankful that I was able to do it.

Last Three States: Day Six

11/05/2011 - After the lousiest continental breakfast of the trip, we left the Jackson Quality Inn at about 10:00am. We took a quick jog on I-20 and then exited the Interstate onto MS-25. Then, in another of my strokes of good luck when it comes to choosing motorcycling routes, we ended up on the Natchez Trace Parkway. The Natchez Trace Parkway is a national scenic road that runs between Natchez, MS and Nashville, TN.

It is a beautiful road and even better because it was showing it's full fall colors. We rode 310 of it's 444 miles in the perfect fall weather. We came to a point where we had to make a decision, get off of the parkway, follow Google's directions, and stop before dark or continue on Natchez Trace until we got to Nashville. We were enjoying Natchez Trace so much that we decided to stay on it. As soon as the sun started to set we began seeing deer on the side of the road. By the time it was all said and done and we reached Nashville we had encountered 53 deer. I made a game out of counting deer as soon as I saw the first one. I figured that would help me stay alert and on the lookout and it served me well. The last few that we saw were the scariest because the ran right across the roadway and were no further than three feet from my front fender. Truly terrifying. We pulled over at the first gas station after the Parkway so that we could decompress and I could catch my breath.

The interstate was about 5 miles from the end of NTP so we went to hop on that with the intent of getting off at the first exit with a hotel. We weren't on the highway too long before we found an exit with a Super 8 hotel. As we pulled into the hotel parking lot we encountered what would be our first and last motorcycle malfunction of the trip. All of the bolts but one that held Kevin's front fender to his Concours had fallen out, so the left side of the fender had started dragging on the front wheel. Fortunately the fender was plastic so it just melted under the friction. Had it been metal I shudder to think of what the consequences may have been. At any rate Kevin removed the fender, put it in Tim and Dan's car and that was that. We got our room, and then headed to Red Robin for dinner if you can call a meal at 10:30 dinner.

With our arrival in Nashville, we had about 400 miles left to get home. I was pretty confident that we'd get home on Saturday.

Last Three States: Day Five

11/03/2011 - Thursday morning, time to get up and get ready for the journey home. I woke up, got dressed and walked to Cafe du Monde on a solo mission. I had been told repeatedly that I needed to go there and enjoy a beignet. It was delicious; however, it just reminded me of a sopapilla served without honey. The clientele at 8:00 in the morning reminded me of sitting in an audience at a taping of the Oprah Winfrey show. When I got back to the Holiday Inn, the room was empty and all of the bags were gone. I momentarily thought that Dan, Kevin, and Tim ditched me. I soon received a text from Kevin that they had loaded up the car and went across the street for coffee, so I met them at PJ's Coffee Shop on Canal St. While sitting on the patio of PJ's, it started raining. I just figured that New Orleans was sad to see us go.

We left the parking garage and I was in the lead. As I've stated in the past, I'm an excellent pilot but a horrible navigator. This instance was no exception and I zigged when I should have zagged and took us out of the city the wrong way. We huddled up at a Shell station and came up with alternative route. It was still raining so I broke down and put on my rain gear and we were on the move again. We traveled the Interstates for the majority of the day trying to make up for some lost time. We only traveled about 200 miles today. There is really no easy way to get across Mississippi utilizing the back roads, but we have a plan from Jackson.

We got to Jackson, MS around 5:00 and had to decide whether or not to get a hotel or travel 90 miles to the next town that might have a hotel. We wouldn't arrive there until after dark so we decided to play it safe and get a room at the Quality Inn. Apparently their housekeeping isn't quite so quality because the room we initially got had not been serviced for the day. The beds were still in disarray and the room was filthy. We got another room that was in much better shape and set up shop.

We are staying across the street from the Jackson Coliseum which is hosting the "Mistletoe Market" which is some kind of Christmas Bazaar. I felt like all of the ladies from the Cafe du Monde followed me to Jackson.

We ate dinner at Wing Stop. It was really mediocre. As Kevin said "I could take some frozen Tyson Chicken Nuggets throw them in some Red Hot and have this at home." That was everyone's assessment of the meal. It was a far cry from last night's fine dining. A quick stop at the Shell station for some barley sodas and we were back to the Quality Inn for the evening.

Last Three States: Day Four

11/2/2011 - Left Biloxi, MS this morning. Perfect weather again. About 50 miles later, we crossed the Louisiana state line thus completing my quest to ride my motorcycle in all 48 contiguous United States. I felt quite accomplished.

New Orleans streets suck to ride on. They are almost all one way and they're never going the way that I want to go. I almost got peeled by a Nissan Armada (about 2 feet separated my front wheel from his bumper. There was copious tire squealing.)

Kevin and I met Tim and Dan at the Holiday Inn in the French Quarter. We got a room and parked the vehicles, and proceeded to go on a quick walk about on Bourbon Street. While resting our feet on the steps of the St. Louis Cathedral we were people watching. Met a homeless guy named Kevin Bennett. Tim says "Of all of the homeless people I've met, he's doable."

Interesting things we saw: Crazy drunk trio with wet asses and washcloths picked a fight with another guy drinking a can of Old English 800. Tons of strip clubs with barkers trying to pull us in with promises of the cleanest girls on Bourbon Street.

We ate dinner at the Pier 424 Seafood Market Restaurant. I had the Surf and Turf which was out of this world. After dinner we mosied back to the hotel and took a dip in the pool. It was warm as bath water and really relaxing. After swimming we really just spent the rest of the evening back out on Bourbon Street people watching. Finally I'd had enough so it was time to turn in. We leave on Thursday morning for the trek home.

Last Three States: Day Three

11/01/2011 - Day three was great riding. The weather was perfect and the roads were uncrowded. The ride from Bessemer, AL was rather uneventful. The roads AL-5 and US-43 were actually kind of boring. They were just plain straight roads through farm country; although, one advantage was being able to open up the throttle. We had a couple of opportunities to BRIEFLY hit the 100MPH mark. It was awesome. US-43 took us right into Mobile, AL where we picked up I-65 to I-10 so that we didn't have to drive into Mobile.

We made a quick pit stop at Subway for lunch/dinner at 4:00 and then proceeded to hop onto US-90 for the trip across the Gulf Coast. In 20 miles we were at the Mississippi border. We stopped for a quick photo shoot and were then on our way again. At fist, US-90 sucked. It was like driving on Polaris Parkway at rush hour; however, once we got into Biloxi, MS we were right on the Gulf of Mexico riding into the sunset. In fact, it was so pretty that is where we decided to stay for the night. We got a room at the Quality Inn with a view of the ocean. It was nice not to be riding after dark for two days in a row. We spent much of the evening hanging out at the picnic table looking out on the water. Ask me about the white Honda Odyssey sometime.

So the total mileage for the day was 291 and we have 81 miles to get to the French Quarter today. As of this writing Tim and Dan are 151 miles from New Orleans. They've been driving all night and we'll all meet up later today. So I'm off to collect my last state today. I'm beyond excited.