Rowing again!

I couldn’t resist. The water has been absolutely flat the last three days, and the weather warm. I’ve watched it each day wishing I could be out there rowing. Today I decided to join my rowing buddies, who were kind enough to carry the boat for me, so I kept to my “nothing heavier than 20#’s rule.” I was able to go out in a double with my friend Karen, and we actually rowed our usual course. Along the way we did a few “pyramids” of somewhat more aggressive stroking—actually since she was stroking, I told her to set the pace and I’d just fall in behind her with as much effort as I thought felt okay. Got back to the boathouse safely, and I don’t seem to have hurt myself. Major triumph! The picture I've included is actually from our rowing camp at Parker Island in Canada, but its a double and my partner is the same person I rowed with today.

Otherwise, I’m regrouping. On Friday I connected with my GP at Group Health (GHC), who set up a referral to a GHC oncologist, with whom I have an appointment on May 7. She’s also agreed to initiate an outside referral for me to talk again with the UW oncologist I saw before my surgery. His long years of experience plus being on the forefront of national research should be a significant help in thinking through treatment options. I’ll also go see the oncologist who was part of the Tumor Review Board, to get more detail on his thinking. The contest is to try to see the “2nd opinion” people before I meet with the Group Health oncologist.

Phil and I also both had an additional consultation with the retired oncologist in my rowing group—and that was very helpful. He took the time to interpret a bit more of what was on the pathology report and also explain some of the options the oncologists are likely to consider. He also indicated what’s likely driving the recommendations from the Tumor Review board—the fact that the tumor is high grade, and undifferentiated, all of which translates into aggressive and unpredictable. Add to that the somewhat narrow margin between the tumor and surrounding tissue, and that’s likely why they are suggesting getting chemotherapy to increase the odds that I won’t have a recurrence.

Phil and his buddy Shack took off this morning for their annual camping trip to visit Phil’s brother in Utah. They’ll be gone about 2 ½ weeks. They’re headed down to the Washington coast tonight—and it looks like they may be motel camping because our beautiful weather is deteriorating a bit. Going to be a bit lonesome in the evenings, but I think I can manage—we’ll talk every day, so if I need his support, I can get it. I certainly have plenty to keep me busy during the day.

Here’s to that DaVinci robot (and the surgeon who drove it), which helped me go rowing just 3 weeks after surgery!