A little bit about me

I was diagnosed with stage II testicular cancer in 1988 at the age of 16. After a left orchiectomy and 3 rounds of chemo I relapsed the following year. This time my treatment would be for more aggressive and I had to drop out of high school my senior year. I underwent a retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLND), 3 rounds of high dose chemo and a bone marrow transplant. After all of the fun was over I returned to high school one year later and graduated.

Fast forward 18 years and here I am. Still going strong. Who says you can't lead a normal life after cancer? I am living proof that you can. For the most part life has been as normal as anyone else's. I'm married to a wonderful woman I met in high school the year I returned after my treatment. We have a beautiful daughter together that we conceived naturally. Life is good.

So now I am at a point in my life where I want to help other cancer patients and survivors. I came across a great site a few months back that really opened my eyes to the difference caring individuals can make. http://www.tc-cancer.com/ This site is filled with tons of important information regarding testicular cancer but more importantly the support found here is simply amazing. Truly one of the best groups of caring people I have come across. This site is where I first learned about the LiveStrong Challenge and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. I took part in the Philly Challenge 2007 and was blown away by the number of people affected by cancer. Even more so was I amazed by their willingness to help others and raise cancer awareness. I took part in the 5k walk/run and that is where I decided that not only would I ride in the following years event I would do the 100 mile course. Yes I know in the back of my mind that I may have bitten off more then I can chew but I survived cancer and I'm sure I can survive a 100 miles on a bike. Not long after returning from Philly I went out and purchased a road bike. Nothing special, an entry level bike. But I enjoy riding it. After about 4 weeks of training I completed my first organized ride. A hilly 33 mile ride in PA called the Covered Bridges Ride. Great event by the way and I will be returning to do the 63 mile course next year. For now I will continue to train for the liveStrong challenge and I will be riding for those that can't.

To Be Continued..

First Entry

I decided to create a blog today and hope that it will offer hope and encouragement to other cancer survivors.