Andy Rooney
I ventured over to Burlington to see Dr. Doug Henrich, my Ear, Nose, Throat doctor, this week as I was due for a checkup, and I had a couple of questions to ask him. We chatted a bit and then he put that darn scope up my nose and wherever else it goes to get a good look at my tongue and throat. He said that everything looked good, and unless I had an issue he'd see me in four or five months. He also told me that the first year has the highest rate of reoccurrence of my type of cancer and if you get through year two then the recurrence really drops off and if you get to five years, well; that is just the best news possible. I am at 17 months so let's hope the good news keeps coming.
I continue to make what I refer to as modest improvements. Ever so slightly but taste buds and salivary glands are, I believe, getting better; however, the progress is slow hard as to be imperceptible except when viewed longitudinally over the passing of months. When I look at things this way, I am way better than I was a year ago. This week I reached another personal milestone. I went slow (10 minutes a mile), but I jogged three miles in the Spencer Student Recreation Center. I only jog once a week or so due to age, knees, whatever, but this was the first time I had reached the three mile mark since this odyssey began almost two years ago. I continue to walk an hour every day which is good but I do so at 5:30 a.m. which is a little (ok, a whole lot) crazy for a retired guy but my new biological clock is now set for a 4:30 a.m. wakeup whether I like it or not. My weight remains in the160 pound range which is a little light; both my local doctor Mike Waters and Doug Henrich tell me not to worry about it as I look fine so there you have it.
Now about this issue of aging--I think about it these days as it is all around me. Diane's parents are 90 and 87, my two surviving brothers have had some health issues, and I have now entered the stage in my life when some of my close friends are having "health issues" as well. It is a new threshold in life when you attend far more wakes and funerals than weddings but in a melancholy way, it makes sense. At age 65 and having had a nasty cancer, what would mortality tables tell me? I shall not look to find out; I am clearly in the last third of my life. No complaints here, just a statement of fact. None of us gets out of this alive, and I trust I am not in the Last Act but you do tend to take stock of things as you speculate about what lies ahead.
To quote from a Frank Sinatra song, "Regrets, I have a few, but too few to mention" sums it up nicely. I have been blessed and continue to be blessed with a return to good health, a fabulous family, a rewarding career, and continued involvement in the community and, of course, the Across the Miles TV show that completed interview #182 last week. I sometimes wonder, "If I don't keep active in some way, is that the beginning of the end." I refer to both physical activity and mental stimulation as ways to keep us perpetually young at least in terms of how we utilize our time. I can't help but think of Andy Rooney who retires and then dies a month later. Yes, he was 92, but did Father Time finally catch him or was he really ready to give up what he loved to do and had been doing for over 60 years? We'll never know. It does at least beg the question.
I do ask myself, and Diane too, if I should end "the blog" but am told by people that they find our story enlightening and informative in terms of how one deals with cancer and its aftermath. Thus, I view my musings as part of that on-going process and will continue to "post" though maybe just not as frequently. Have a great day. You are a part of the reason I am happily where I am today. Many thanks.
