10 years cancer free, racing and more procedures…

10 years ago today I was on my way to the hospital to have my colon and two cancerous tumors removed.  Going through that surgery, and multiple others and 6 months of chemo was by far the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.   At most times it all seems like a distant memory but at times it still feels close.

I was on clear liquids yesterday in preparation for swallowing a small camera pill that would travel through my body taking a continuous video of my small intestine looking for any concerning polyps that may be hidden deep inside me out of reach of a normal scope.

I’m not really too concerned what they might find, well… maybe a little bit concerned.  There is always the waiting and wondering but for the most part I believe I will be fine.  Rather than freaking about this I am trying to ride the high from being cancer free for 10 years and from winning another mountain bike race on Saturday.

The race was a time trial event where a rider is released every 30 seconds.  The start of the race consisted of the toughest hill I know.  Its called Dreaded and it averages 14% grade over 1.1 miles with about 660 feet of climbing.   But worse is the 20+% grade over the first 4 minutes.  Talk about a warm up!

The course is not long and its mean to be a pretty much all out as hard as you can go race.  Its only 4.5 miles long but its tough.  Last year I pulled a 25:50 so I was pretty impressed with my time of 24:15 this year with personal records on every segment of the course.  Oh and I took 1st place too!

So its a mixed situation.  My health is great, I’m riding faster than ever and I feel great.  But… I still have continued tests to ensure I do not get cancer again.  With FAP I have to stay on top of things medically so that is what I will continue to do.  And in the mean time, I will keep racing to prove to myself (and others) that I am healthy and am not going anywhere.