Before 2008 I never gave much thought to being fit. Sure, I was concerned about my weight and made some half-hearted effort to keeping it down and maybe I was somewhat successful. I felt pretty good and was satisfied with my situation.
Everything changed that May. I visited my family doctor and he informed me that my prostate gland was abnormally large but smooth. He didn’t think there was a problem but he suggested I have a blood test to check my PSA. I didn’t think a simple blood test was a big deal so I did it. I learned I had a PSA of 7.5 so my family doctor recommended I see a urologist. I agreed but still wasn’t taking any of this seriously.
My family doctor arranged an appointment with Dr. Frank Tamarkin with the St. Luke’s urology group. He reviewed my case and conducted some tests and told me the likelihood of cancer was low. He wanted to be sure so he ordered a biopsy. I agreed to have it done.
In July 2008 Dr. Tamarkin told me the biopsy was positive for gleason 6 cancer. Ultimately I chose to have the prostate removed via DaVinci robotic surgery. The surgery was scheduled to take place in five months.
My family decided it would be in my best interest to improve my fitness prior to surgery. Doing so would probably improve the outcome. I agreed. My daughter wanted to take up running and convinced me to train with her. We started with a program called “Couch to 5K”. 5k? I remember how painful it was to run for 20 seconds!
The training was hard. We often repeated some weeks of the schedule because it was advancing too fast for us. Eventually we completed the training and found out we could actually run a 5K distance! We signed up for the Nazareth YMCA Pumpkin Pie 5K race. It was held on Thanksgiving Day 2008. We both completed the race, had a lot of fun doing it, and were both very proud of ourselves.
I lost weight, my fitness improved immensely, and I could run a 5K with ease. My surgery took place on Dec. 10, 2008 as scheduled and was very successful. Dr. Tamarkin told me there was no fat to be found around my organs. Mission accomplished, time for convalescence until spring.
As spring approached, my daughter and I thought back to our running experience and how much fun we had. I was pretty much healed from my surgery and was getting stronger. We signed up for the Run For The Red 5k in Stroudsburg in May to give us a goal to train for. This time it was much easier. I even won first place in my age group!
In May of 2011 everything would change for me again. During an examination at my family doctor’s office it was discovered that my white cell blood count was too high.
After six weeks of tests, the diagnosis was stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. A bone marrow biopsy revealed that 90 percent of my bone marrow was involved, as well as several lymph nodes, my spleen and my blood. I was started on chemo the next day.
Each treatment session took about 5 hours and was repeated 3 times a week. The following week I received 4 shots, 1 each day, to rebuild my white cells. The week after that was an examination by the doctor along with more blood tests. This cycle was repeated for about 6 months. Numerous side effects slowed me down but didn’t stop me.
While the chemo treatments were being administered I couldn’t run outside by myself. We figured it was just too dangerous. My balance was off and general fatigue was a problem. I have a treadmill and I found I could do easy runs on it. I felt much better after an hour long run on the treadmill but there were times I had to drag myself down there to do it, however I was convinced that running would give me the strength to beat this beast.
In 2012 along with the training both on the treadmill and on the road I ran four 5K races, a 10K race, the Runner’s World half marathon, and the Reggae half marathon in Jamaica. I was feeling much better and my strength was improving. Any time I was on the road my daughter was by my side. I completed my chemo treatments and was in full remission.
It’s 2014 and I’ve completed my maintenance doses of chemo and am still in remission. I’m training for my first full marathon that takes place in May. I firmly believe I have left cancer behind me in the dust.
My slogan is “Running Away From Cancer”.
Oh, by the way, I’m 74 years old!