MJD's dad

Just got an email from MD... He just let me know his father passed away 6 weeks ago. What the heck? When it rains, it pours. MD only has like 2 friends cuz he's kind of a jerk on the surface and hard to get to know, so I think he told me because he considers me a close friend. He also just found out that I'm getting married, and congratulated me too. He really wrote to congratulate, but the father thing was a btw. Funny how people work. :(

:(
Jean's mom's funeral is this weekend.

In the mean time, we are going to an art show sponsored by Ben's mom in honor of her grandmother's life work.

AD is not doing well, and neither is his father.

The best adjusted person is really Joe. He is able to talk about losing his mother now, but yet he's never visited her grave, so that's debatable too, I guess.

And of course, this follows B's loss of her father this summer....

1st day of training...
Topic: On the way to Triathlon
I said to myself - okay, March 1st, time to start training officially.

I didn't get very far. Will find out in 2 days if it's broken.

Then on Friday I had a biopsy and just got the results. I'm all clear :). There was more pain and discomfort from the knee then the biopsy, which is good.

But enough about me. I'm more concerned about my friends.

A family member is about to go into a dangerous back surgery.

Another, who might as well be a family member is going through a lot of pain because a loved one has passed away. This led to some revelations and a painfull decision. I'd trade my second knee in if I could, for making a friend who is in a lot of pain right now start feeling better, which only time can do :(. I feel that I should be there to comfort the person, in person, but that is not going to help the person right now. Sure, it would make me feel better, but it wouldn't make the person feel better, and that's all that's important right now. Of course, that's getting more complicated by the minute.

Well, it's a new month, so hopefully it's just off to a late start, and going forward, all will be okay.

The year of the dragon has been dark so far, hopefully there will be some sunshine in there somewhere soon.

Reborn
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Day to Day
Today I woke up feeling reborn.

5 weeks ago, I found a lump in my breast. I had my annual exam just 3 months before, and this was not there.

I had to wait 14 days to see a doctor, to make sure it is not cyclical.

I went to the radiologist first, who did an ultrasound, and told me something I couldn't repeat out loud for a minute. I have a tumor. I have 20% chance of having cancer.

I then went to the best Breast Surgeon in town. She told me, it's probably not 20%, it's a fiberadenoma (what??? I've never heard that before) and that it's pretty common in women, in fact in Europe this just gets left alone, but here they poke it 4 times and make sure it's okay, with biopsies over 2 years, every 6 months. But since I have only one, she advised me to just get it over with and pull it out.

The week after this, I had my wisdom teeth pulled out.

The week after this, I was out of town for work. When I was in the shower, I noticed another lump, on the other side. It was even scarrier to find it then the first. Everyone I know thought I was a hypochondriac. We had to wait a few days before another ultrasound could take place. I had surgery scheduled for today, and the second ultrasound took place yesterday.

The radiologist confirmed that I have a second lump, in the other breast. I begged him to check for more, as the first radiologist would't check overall. He found 3 more. I have 5 total. While he was finding more and more, and I was lying there on the examination table, I thought that for sure the first lump must have been cancerous, and must have metathesized and gotten everywhere. I was doomed. But this was not so. After he finished his work, the radiologist said - why are you upset - and who told you that it's 20% chance of being cancerous? You have nothing to worry about, and I don't think you need this surgery tomorrow.

What???

Turns out if you have them on both breasts and if you have more then 2, it means they are all okay. Some women just get them. I didn't know any of this, have never heard of this before. I hope that if women get one fiberadenoma that they find, they come to this page and learn that they should check for others. If you have a lot, then you just leave them alone. Some women just get them. I am one. I am ... one in 3, because technically this counts. I am one in 3 women you'll know in your life time that have a tumor, and it ain't that bad. Now I'm still a little nervous about the biopsies, but I am told they are only precautionary. I'll do one, don't know if I['ll do all 4. We'll see. Better safe then sorry.

The moral of the story is that radiologists won't look outside the lump the order is written for. If you have one lump, ask your doctor to write the order to check for more. It doesn't cost you any extra if you have good insurance (and you can check on yours). But it's worthwhile - peace of mind! If the first guy would have just checked all of it, I wouldn't have almost gone under the knife!!!

The other moral of the story is that a top breast surgeon who examined me one week, coudln't find a lump that I found myself the following week. Shows how important self-exams are. Make sure you, your friends, and family know how to do it.

But the good news here is that this morning, right now, I would have been going into surgery... And I'm not. I feel reborn, with a new chance, a bigger chance then ever.

I don't know why it takes events like a friend dying or this to realize how precious life is, but I guess this all had a purpose, to remind us.

Triathlon season - you are officially in full swing for me. Though I missed some early indoor events, I'm not planning to miss any more. I'm back to a regular do or die schedule, as of right this moment.

Nothing makes me feel more alive then that right now.

work
Topic: Joblog
In the last 3 months, I've probably spent about 20 days in different hotels, and have been on probably over 15 flight segments.

Again, I quote my boss from this fall. We are not here to create road warriors.

Bull!

Last Tuesday, I found out I have a breast tumor. That night, my boss calls me around 10 PM and asks if I can be in Vegas first thing Thursday morning. Then off to Palm Beach for my fiancee's father's surprise b-day party. Then home to get wisdom teeth pulled. All four, thank you very much. I've almost recovered, and Sunday I drive off to spend 4 days on a client site. Only to return for blood work and to take out the stupid tumor.

Guess how much training I'm doing this month???

0. 4 months before the tri season starts, and I have nothing to show for it.

The wedding planning not going so well either, due to all of the above: finally met with a judge and planned the reception, made plans to looks at invitations, and picked out a hotel for the guests. That's about all.

And the home decorating has taked a backburner to everything else, so absolutely nothing has happened in the last 2 months.

That's about all I have to report.

Storing Race Memorabilia
Topic: On the way to Triathlon
Since it's the off-season, I've spent some time looking at the past year. What do you do with all those race numbers and race photos/results?

I devised a scrap-book like system minus the pain of scrap-booking. I bought a binder and sheet protectors, and just simply filed all the race numbers into the sheet protectors, along with other race memorabilia. It's neat, it's nice, and it's a way to keep all those race mementos tidy instead of having a junk drawer full of them.

Road Warrior
Topic: On the road
"We are not here to create road warriors" - quote from my boss of 2 months ago. (do you see the correlation between that and the pool absence?)

This month:
Jan 12: DC
Jan 17: Vegas
Jan 23: Newark
Jan 25: Galena IL - only self inflicted trip this month
Jan 26: Bloomington
Feb 04: Palm Beach - family obligation

How the heck am I suppose to train with that kind of a schedule? Good thing we are still in the off season here...

But coupled with the: new house, wedding planning, and a social life... how's a person suppose to get anything done?

I guess, when you work hard, you got to play harder. Let me superimpose known major social events onto this calendar:

2 planned dinners with friends,
2 marjor family events
Jan 12: DC
1 planned dinner
Jan 17: Vegas
1 major family event
Jan 23: Newark
Jan 25: Galena IL - only self inflicted trip this month
Jan 26: Bloomington

Somewhere in there, I'm suppose to buy 4 sconces, 1 couch, 1 dining room table, a veil, hire a band, pick a ceremony, send out wedding invitations, a photographer, and a florist.

I have to catch up on things after the holidays, figure out a way to take all that in stride... and pick and achieve some major goals this year.

How do you cope with stuff like this? And don't tell me to cut back! Cuz I can't!

back to the pool
Topic: On the way to Triathlon
It's resolution time, so I was back at the pool today for the first time since October. Nice to know I can still be put in the best lane :).

I still haven't sat down and given this year any thought. Shame on me.

The plunge pix - see I really did it!
Topic: On the way to Triathlon

Polar Bear Plunge
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: On the way to Triathlon
What's the best way to ring in the New Year? Well duh, the Chicago Polar Bear Club Annual Plunge! I've been thinking about doing that for a few years now... (This is something I did it by accident when I was 6...)

So... What better way to start making resolutions then to resolve to go into the icy lake and then go through with it? That's like instant gratification - if I can do this, then I could do just about anything, no matter how difficult the task!

And really, there couldn't be a better day for it - it was a high of about 40+ degrees, and the lake didn't have any ice on it. So it wasn't a big deal at all. I mean, the lake doesn't get any colder then about 40 degrees, and there was no wind.

The trick about this, the only rule about this, is that you have to go completely under the water, head and all. Of course, that part sucks - who wants to be in the cold with wet hair? Since I've had to go into pretty cold waters for some of my swims to practice for the triathlon, and since my very first triathlon actually had patches of 40 degree water, it wasn't that big of a deal at all!!! How sick is that? Is this what I have to do to get my thrills now? Is this what it's come to?

Anyway, it was actually much easier then I thought - once you are taking your clothes off, you get so cold so fast that you just want to get it over and done with as soon as possible! And once you are in the water running, you want it over and done with as soon as possible, so of couse, you dive in as soon as you can!

I strongly recommend this to EVERYONE - it's fun, and as I arrived at the lake, I got this goofy grin on my face and I knew I did the right thing by coming because it's so crazy. There was like a 1000 people there and people were having a lot of fun - many people wore crazy outfits and stuff, many people cannonballed in. It was fun to watch, and so I had to go through with it. The things you need to know about it are:
1. Bring two towels
2. Bring dry clothing including a hat and a warm ski jacket that can be washed easily
3. Have a get-away car near so that you can get into the warmth quickly.
4. Bring a thermos.
5. Put your stuff as close to the water as possible without it getting wet
6. Bring a camera!!!!
7. Don't plan on doing anything else the rest of the day besides a hot bath, sleeping and eating - this is like getting beat up - at least it was for me - you get really tired afterwards from the shock of cold water. But not in a bad way!!! Look at it this way - it'll be the fastest workout with the most results - I dunno if it works out you muscles or just fatigues them, but it can't be all bad.

Pictures coming soon as well as a list of goals. (Surveys say - you are like much much more likely to accomplish your goal if you write it down, so write down yours!)

Happy New Year!!! Hope all your goals are accomplishments same time next year.

Related links (ed. 01/02/06):

trib article

Chicago AA pix