Ice Bowl

The end is near, the end of chemo!

chemotherapy, David Emerson, disc golf, Ice Bowl, PCa -

It’s been a long road, not too terribly difficult of a road, but long and arduous.
With today’s events, this post is a milestone. It is also the first of many significant posts in the upcoming days.

There are birthdays, anniversaries, and a number of key markers in this journey that are to be recognized. I hope you check back to live and re-live the events with me.

What a long, strange trip it’s been……and will certainly continue to be!

P.S. – It was 17 degrees when we started the Ice Bowl yesterday and 20 degrees when we finished at 12:15. We chose not to play the second round because they were running so far behind that it would have been after 3:00pm. The good news is they were running behind because they had an estimated 300 brave souls out to play Disc Golf!! Great news for this year’s benefactor!

The Dirty Dozen

chemotherapy, David Emerson, disc golf, Ice Bowl, St Peregrine -

On Monday I will undergo my 12th, and let’s pray, final chemo treatment. I am really looking forward to it’s conclusion.

The past 7+ months have flown by quickly. As my overall PCa experience over the last four years, the chemo experience has been full of ups and downs. I must say, that as I sit here tonight and write this, I feel great.

After slacking off my exercise regime over the holidays, I worked out four days both last week and this week. This week I even got back on the exercise bike three times. Though I only rode 10-12 minutes, it felt good to once again get my heart racing. However, even after 10 minutes or so, I can rarely get my heart rate over 130 beats per minute. This has always been a problem for me, I guess I’m just too laid back!

It’s that time of year again for the Ice Bowl (here are some previous posts about the Ice Bowl)
pain-in-neck

ice-bowl-video

i-am-such-wii-knee

The forecast this year is calling for a high of 26, but it looks like it will be 18 degrees when we get started on Sunday morning! Remember the motto of the Ice Bowl “No wimps, no whiners”!

Monday will be here before you know it and with that thought, I ask for your thoughts and prayers as I end one stage and enter another.

Prayer to Saint Peregrine ~ Patron Saint to cancer patients
O great St. Peregrine,
you have been called “The Mighty,”
“The Wonder-Worker,”
because of the numerous miracles
which you have obtained from God
for those who have had recourse to you.

For so many years
you bore in your own flesh
this cancerous disease
that destroys the very fiber of our being,
and who had recourse
to the source of all grace
when the power of man could do no more.

You were favored with the vision of Jesus
coming down from His Cross
to heal your affliction.

Ask of God and Our Lady,
the cure of the sick whom we entrust to you.
(Pause here and silently recall the names of the sick for whom you are praying)

Aided in this way by your powerful intercession,
we shall sing to God,
now and for all eternity,
a song of gratitude
for His great goodness and mercy.
Amen.

Pain in the neck

Advanced Prostate Cancer, APX, disc golf, hole-in-one, Ice Bowl -
Again, multiple meanings to the title.

First, I have been having pain in my neck, shoulders and back for the last few weeks.
The strange part is it moves around. What is most concerning to us is the fact that it is consistent.

Perhaps we’ll get some insight from today’s doctor appointment?

Meaning number #2: Me…being a pain in Mary’s neck! She put together a nice family evening Saturday night in celebration of her sister’s and my birthday’s. I don’t express my appreciation for her enough in this blog (or in person for that matter!). She does so much for me! She is the best. I am so thankful, so blessed to have her as mine!

Back to the pain; just to be clear on a scale of 1-10, we are talking 2.5, maybe 3. It is somewhat strange that after spending a weekend playing disc golf, I would have thought it would be worse this morning? Actually, it is better than it has been in weeks! Virtually gone.

Saturday it warmed up to the low 50’s so a few of us played disc golf in the afternoon. Nothing eventful, except I lost one of my favorite discs. This disc was given to me by Pete on my 40th birthday. This is the same disc I threw a hole-in-one with three years ago. I am really bummed out! Even with my name, phone number and “Happy 40th Dave” written on the bottom, no one has called!

Yesterday we played in the 21st annual Ice Bowl. The event raises money for local charities. This year FLHW was selected to be one of the beneficiaries. The weather was absolutely stellar, reaching into the high 50’s. Almost 300 players showed up, shattering last year’s record. I played well, but not sure were I placed yet. I was one of four players to make the shot (into the basket) on the ‘closest to the pin’ competition. I won a gift certificate to the Disc Golf shop, which I certainly appreciate. It was a great day, official scores and totals to follow soon.
In ten minutes I leave for the doctor. The appointment itself does not have me worried, the phone call with the results of my blood test is what does. The PSA results will not be available for 24-48 hours!!