This Isn't Over ... The Recovery Continues

To get the full background about my cancer, please go here.

From mid-February to early May, I had no hair due to a side effect of one of the chemotherapy drugs. My treatment included three chemotheraphy drugs. My hair is back in full and I've been hiking a ton. In fact, I've hiked over 260 miles this hiking season and even completed the famous Four Pass Loop in late August. That's 30 miles in a day, if you're counting. It was my 9th time and I felt great at the end.

People come up to me every day and comment about my hair and how I look. "You look great," they say. "How are you doing?" they ask because people genuinely care.

"Fine," I reply. "Just fine."

Is that really true? No.

A few months ago, I read an article in The Daily Telegraph about The Princess of Wales, who went through a cancer battle a while ago. You can see the article here.

She talks about the battle continuing when it looks to the outside world that it's over.

Yes, I completed my treatments. Yes, I'm in remission. Yes, my hair is back. Yes, I look a lot better than I did just after my final treatment session. And that's all great and I'm very lucky.

But the mental, emotional, and spiritual fight continues. I look at this like I would look at recovering from the flu. Recovery takes time and requires patience. But this phase of the recovery is really, really hard.

The wonderful people at The Shaw Cancer Center tell me it's normal to feel this way. But that doesn't make it any easier.

My sister set up a Go Fund Me and it’s here. Thank you to everyone who has contributed. Please share as you see fit.