Corey, Climbing and Chemo

Thursday, August 4

My long weekend started on late Friday morning as I launched from Eugene up the I-5 corridor through Portland en route to Seattle. I was happy, so much so, that I did not mind the ubiquitous traffic. I had big plans: spend the weekend with Corey (and the ‘rents), a much-anticipated Climbing date with Chris and Linda and then my sixth and final Chemotherapy infusion – the end to phase I of my cancer treatment.

At almost 21 years old, Corey is one of my favorite persons on the planet! I’ve known the boundless energy and relentless spirit of this young lady, ever since she unabashedly crawled onto my lap at an Ashland family reunion in mid 1990. I vividly recall the scarlet red shirt, her big brown, bright eyes and a smile full of fun. As we played, I knew, we were destined to be buds. Our spirits just joined!

Over the years my visits with Corey have always been delightful. She would climb onto my shoulders to go hiking. We walked hand-in-hand to her elementary school. I would read her to sleep. We played countless board and card games on the floor. We kicked the soccer ball on the beach. We’d ride bikes together. We’d lounge on the coach and watch sports. I’d go to her bassoon concert, her lacrosse games, her HS soccer practice and even one of her college soccer games. I’d religiously follow her European travel blog. The list goes on and on and on. Most incredible to me was when her parents would thank me for playing with her, as if I were doing the favor, but unbeknownst to them the joy was always all mine.

Corey was and is the quintessential energy source. Her big broad smile boasts zest, vigor and fullness of life. She is simply a bundle of joy. I got to spend the full weekend with her. We laughed, hugged, played, hiked, talked, watched sports and ate together. All to soon it came time to say goodbye. I waved as she pulled her car out of the driveway en route to her summer job. She had the perfect job – playing with the kiddies at a local day camp:  Lucky her -Luckier the kiddies.  As I waved, she called out: “Don’t worry Mike, it’s OK to say goodbye, because if we don’t, we cannot say hello again.” I loved it!

I exited Seattle into the sea of traffic and made my way down to the generous hospitality of my dear friends Chris and Linda in Portland. Presently, they are definitely enhancing my life in a major way. Unselfishly, they take time from their frantic schedules to arrive home early, hang and reminisce with me, serve up appetizers and take me Climbing to Planet Granite, their amazing climbing gym. It felt so great to be with my climbing buds in their home environment, scaling the super long walls of sustained climbing. Perhaps climbing hard in spite of intense chemotherapy coupled with the ‘soft’ rating made me all the more smug. Nonetheless it was Fun, Fun, Fun! We closed them down at 11pm – the last to leave! The guest room was set up for me and I got to sleep in. Delightful!

Fresh off the BOLT bus, I picked up Laurie and we were off to the sixth Chemotherapy infusion. It went real well. I passed the doctor exam. My panel of blood test showed healthy liver function and adequate blood cell counts. As always the OHSU entire staff was friendly, helpful, efficient and extremely professional. I exited feeling just fine and quite chipper.

I sit home now. I seem to be digesting all the much-appreciated medical speak and analysis I received from the doctors and scientists (including friends Chris, Susan and Manfred). I also am trying to dodge the post chemo crash. I am excited to be done with phase I, especially since it ends with the news of another 22% decrease in PSA. Admittedly, I am a little anxious about proceeding into the unknown of phase 2. I am unsure how those pesky tumor cells will react. It feels like we got them down and running for their lives, but I am under no illusion that they are wily and tricky and will not go down without a fight. Now, without chemotherapy on my side, how will I my body respond? I guess we shall just have to wait and see. In the meantime, I’ll be climbing from bolt to bolt and enjoying the view – just like in the old days.