Lets skip to the highlight of last weekend. I was in T.O. for the Nationals game on Saturday night. I had a 9:30 AM return flight to Philly on Sunday morning. After a late night at Hemingway's with Bevster, the Merrill brothers and a sleepy Willy, I returned to the hotel and requested a 6:30 AM wake-up call. I was in the lobby by 7:00 AM and grabbed a cab from the Sheraton and headed down to the Kensington Market to collect my prize. I was running a little late and asked the cabby to keep the meter running. Nothing better than a peameal bacon and cheddar on a bun. Lots of options at the market and I hit my personal favourite, the Carousel Bakery. Grabbed a large Sealtest chocolate milk and jumped back in the cab. So good!
Needless to say, the trip to Toronto was a success. I arrived to the stadium on Saturday in time for shoot-around. I jumped in the goal and coach Huntley opened up with 4 rounds of what I like to call the Six Nations warm-up. Twenty players in the semi-circle wiring balls at the goalie. The team showed mercy, but even at 3/4 speed it was great to face shots from guys who are playing at the pro level. My hands felt quick and my footwork wasn't bad. Somehow Snider slipped one by me...still work to be done! I was gassed after praccy. Have I mentioned cardio in my previous posts? Well, I actually started on Tuesday.
I flew down to Duke on Monday morning for a vaccine treatment. I requested to meet with my doctor to re-visit the idea of going off Temodar(chemo) for two months to accommodate my participation in the World Games. The original plan was to take June off to avoid the break in my training when I roll up into the fetal position for 5 days. Then I would have to skip July, as it falls right in the middle of the tournament.
I started to second guess myself about a month ago. Was I being stupid - jeopardizing my life to play in what will be my fourth World Games? There is no way to know why I'm staying ahead of the tumor and maybe the Temodar is reason we are defying the odds...you can understand my dilemma. And the truth is that isn't even a dilemma, because my only goal in this battle is to be here for my girls and lacrosse means nothing compared to that. Sorry to turn this into Brian's Song on you.
Anyway, Dr. Reardon and I had a great conversation and we decided to do a round of chemo this month, but dial it back to a normal dose. My protocol calls for a double dose each month - as I've shown a tolerance for the chemo(all that peameal bacon and chocolate milk!), but a normal does will limit my down time, allow me to recover quicker and calm my anxiety about a break. Its difficult to get a good read on doctors who deal with brain tumors and brain cancer because they are always juggling this "quality of life vs. treatment" question. I understand that most of their patients only have a limited amount of time left, and a trip to Manchester to play lacrosse would be a nice way to scratch something off the bucket list...but thats not my situation. I'm going to be a 1% that beats it. I'm confident the doctors and I are on the same page.
So, with the treatment plan set it is back to real life. I have hit the track the last two days. We finished our last session of Little Laxers last night and set a date for a camp for the same age group in August. I was hoping to see some rubber today, but it just starting raining.
Anyone for a Ceaser?
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