Still in the game

I need to start by thanking you guys for the show and being out there as a source of inspiration for myself and everyone else. My story starts roughly 18 years ago at the age of 32 my wife Lesa and I were at yet another quarter horse show, the last of the year for qualifying for the world show. During this show not to get graphic but I started passing a ton of blood. By the end of the four day show and a 4 hour road trip to another show in VA to finish getting my favorite horse Gonzo finished qualifying, I had lost enough blood that my peripheral vision had started to go black. I like always kept my mouth shut and figured “hell it’ll get better, I feel FINE”. By the end of day 4 and on our drive back to NC early Monday morning I ended up spilling the beans to Lesa and after being told what a dumbass I was she informed me that if she didn’t kill me before sunrise, I would be at my Gastroenterologist first thing in the morning. The source of the blood was soon found and it was a tumor. I was now at the old age of 32, a cancer patient. The ride continued for roughly 6 years, 4 of those I was out of work going through surgery/recovery/surgery/recover ect., and to a much greater degree Lesa endured them all. After the chemo and radiation started I had the days of throwing up and falling asleep on the bathroom floor, the tile has a comforting coolness that I still remember. After that the hip replacements started, a result of radiation therapy, I had necrosis of both hips and one shoulder. Between right and left hip replacement surgery’s I fell and fractured my femur in two places, pelvis in two places, dislocated my right shoulder and fractured my T4 vertebra. It was during my stay in rehab after this accident while learning how to navigate stairs on my pinned up leg was my most miserable never quit moment. On my first full day in my therapist wheeled me over to the wooden staircase to practice climbing and descending them. As I got to the second of about 8 steeps I stopped, she quickly asked, have you had enough? I didn’t respond and she followed up with “where do you want to go” at which I responded, to the top, which I proceeded to do. It’s a small climb but at the time seemed like a mountain, in my mind my wife, my life and everything I needed to get back to was at the top of that staircase. During my illness and two brushes with not making it through, and I learned to separate myself from my body. I looked at it as a machine that wasn’t functioning correctly and honestly, it pissed me off. It couldn’t keep up with me, “in my mind”. My wife and I are now in the process of rebuilding the life we had prior to my cancer. We lost our financial security through this and I’m trying to find a way to rebuild that and I keep thinking that I had to have had cancer for a reason and my mind is often consumed with finding this reason. Your podcast is a great source of motivation and helps in keeping me focused on figuring that out as well as showing me how much we can truly overcome. Keep up the great work and God bless you guys.
PS. Does Dave ever sleep?? That guys needles seems to be stuck on 11. Don’t change Rut.

Author: Mike