I haven’t blogged in a while – over four months. A lot has been going on in my life, mainly trying to get back into the groove of things following my cancer treatments.
I finished chemo treatments on February 18 at 2 p.m. My life is, well, almost back to normal. That is if I had a normal life to begin with.
I still feel the affects of the chemo some three months later and was told by my oncologist it could take as long as a year before I wouldn’t feel anymore affects. Maybe longer.
So in the meantime I’m just trying to gain my strength back. It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since I was diagnosed. Actually one year ago today, May 21, 2009; the tumor in my left calf was malignant.
Synovial Cell Sarcoma is a rare type cancer affecting soft tissue. It very rarely strikes someone my age but it did and the surgery to remove it was quite complicated. The surgery, which included a “free flap”, took over seven hours – an hour to remove the tumor and another six hours for the plastic surgeon to do his thing. Free flap is a fancy term for a skin graph and was taken from my back.
In the last 12 months I have had major surgery, chemo, radiation and hyperbaric oxygen chamber treatments. I have had numerous shots, blood drawn and a blood transfusion. But now I’m better and despite walking with a limp I’m alive and I still have my leg.
After being off from work for six months I am now back in full swing and contributing at my job. The AirHogs, Grand Prairie’s minor league baseball team, have started their season and I am a part time employee operating the scoreboard.
And on Monday I start at a new health club in Grand Prairie called The Summit. It is for Grand Prairie residents 50 and over. It’s time to get rid of my “cancer weight” the 20+ pounds I gained while on medical leave.
I will also be a grand father in September. My oldest daughter Amanda is pregnant with my grand son. Yes it's a boy.
Life is good again.
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3 comments:
Greg, God is good! Thank you for sharing your blog. I look forward to reading more and have bookmarked your blog.
Wow, Greg, that's quite an ordeal you've been through. Glad you are doing better. Our son had a similar situation a couple years ago and he is only 33. He had a melanoma in his leg and they had to remove lymph nodes and all that stuff. He went through a year's worth of immunotherapy they called it, where he has to get a shot three times a week. But, it was almost a year ago that the therapy ended and he is doing great now. Hope you continue to do the same.
Grace, yes God has blessed me and this helped renew my faith...I had tons of people praying for me not to mention my mother's hand helping the surgeons...we had just lost her to pancreatic cancer three weeks prior to my surgery..I know she was standing next to the doctors and telling them "that's my baby boy you take care of him" LOL...
Jim, I'm sorry your son went through that and glad he's better...cancer, any form, is not fun but I'm glad he's much better...
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