I Picked a Hell of a Time to Stop Drinking!
Confluence - An act or process of merging.
Sadly the month of March brought a different kind of confluence. A confluence of negative events and I’m not sure those are strong enough words.
As soon as we heard he had passed my niece and I went out and each got one of his favorite beers to toast his memory. Clarence Green did the same thing in Athens, Georgia when he heard.
So! About that confluence! In previous posts I’ve talked about rehabbing my knee with hopes of getting back to running. While that’s still an eventual goal I was still planning to participate in races by fast walking which I had been doing since November, at least one a month was my goal and I accomplished that right up until March 8th when I did a 5k in Eugene. Then all hell broke loose! We as a world were hit with a global pandemic, the Coronavirus and man did our world change!!!
The first two weeks of the month my focus was on my own health issues that I’ve talked about in previous posts. Testing continued to happen with labs for both my oncologist and my primary doctor. I had multiple blood tests as well as a urine test for the Willamette Valley Cancer Institute and blood tests for the VA. By the time the results were back everything was being done over the phone. I talked to my oncologist on the phone, had my primary care appointment over the phone and even my mental health counseling over the phone. Going forward right now all of my scheduled in April are phone appointments.
Now we’re under a stay at home order by the governor like most of the country. It didn’t change much for me because my doctors had already told me to stay home and avoid people because of my age and underlying health issues. And those health issues? Anemia - cause still undetermined. My body is destroying my red blood cells and interfering with oxygen production. I was told that it was like I was down 2 units of blood and operating at only 75%. At least that explains the fatigue and lack of energy I’ve been dealing with but not where the anemia is coming from.
Nonetheless Spring is here and things will get better. We have to follow the guidelines and believe that.
Generally when I hear the word confluence I think of two rivers coming together. For example this picture was taken of me standing at the confluence of the Little Colorado River with the Colorado when I rafted the Grand Canyon in 2000. The turquoise of the Little Colorado is so obviously different than the muddy water of the Colorado.
Sadly the month of March brought a different kind of confluence. A confluence of negative events and I’m not sure those are strong enough words.
On March 1st my youngest brother Rob passed away from cancer in Buffalo, New York. While it was expected that the cancer would win the end came much sooner than expected. There’s no point in going into specifics it was just to early and he was too young. He wouldn’t have even been 63 until the 27th of this month. I last saw Rob on one of my road trips in 2017 when I left Stacie’s after we ran the GO St. Louis Halloween run and then decided to travel and spend a couple days in Niagara Falls with Rob and his wife Cindy. That was the second time that I went to Niagara Falls in 2017. In April I was on another road trip when I was in Florida and heard that my Uncle Bill didn’t have long to live. (Also cancer). I made the decision to go to Massachusetts to see him on “the way home “ to California from Florida. 😄 since I was in New England I decided to continue my roundabout trip home to see Rob in Niagara Falls. We went to the Falls and spent some good time catching up. The last pictures of Rob and I together were taken on that trip.
As soon as we heard he had passed my niece and I went out and each got one of his favorite beers to toast his memory. Clarence Green did the same thing in Athens, Georgia when he heard.
So! About that confluence! In previous posts I’ve talked about rehabbing my knee with hopes of getting back to running. While that’s still an eventual goal I was still planning to participate in races by fast walking which I had been doing since November, at least one a month was my goal and I accomplished that right up until March 8th when I did a 5k in Eugene. Then all hell broke loose! We as a world were hit with a global pandemic, the Coronavirus and man did our world change!!!
The first two weeks of the month my focus was on my own health issues that I’ve talked about in previous posts. Testing continued to happen with labs for both my oncologist and my primary doctor. I had multiple blood tests as well as a urine test for the Willamette Valley Cancer Institute and blood tests for the VA. By the time the results were back everything was being done over the phone. I talked to my oncologist on the phone, had my primary care appointment over the phone and even my mental health counseling over the phone. Going forward right now all of my scheduled in April are phone appointments.
Now we’re under a stay at home order by the governor like most of the country. It didn’t change much for me because my doctors had already told me to stay home and avoid people because of my age and underlying health issues. And those health issues? Anemia - cause still undetermined. My body is destroying my red blood cells and interfering with oxygen production. I was told that it was like I was down 2 units of blood and operating at only 75%. At least that explains the fatigue and lack of energy I’ve been dealing with but not where the anemia is coming from.
Like everyone I’m having to reevaluate travel plans as information about my health but more importantly this pandemic we are in becomes available. I had planned to hit the road for a big extended six week road trip after my May 1st oncology appointment. I was literally hoping to leave that afternoon to be in St. Louis in time to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with Stacie and Tom. Race in Michigan on the tenth and then after going back to St. Louis head south to Florida and Georgia before doing a multi state trip to race and being back home in time for the Olympic Trials here in Eugene. Well now the Trials are off the table until 2021 so there’s no rush to get back to Oregon. The big question now is when my next trip might happen. It will be what it will be but I think it’s time to wrap up this post.
Nonetheless Spring is here and things will get better. We have to follow the guidelines and believe that.
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