So tomorrow I have another “checkup”. I have had alot of anxiety the past couple of weeks. This always happens when a “checkup” gets near. Of course, because of the anxiety little aches and pains start to pop up. This gets you thinking … “Is it back?

I have been irritable, depressed, and have just had a general sense of malaise. I catch myself constantly prodding my neck, underarms and shoulders area wondering, “Is that a lump? Is it really sore there or I am just thinking too much?” It’s exhausting.

I wonder if some of it is just my body displaying its displeasure at the fact that I have stopped biking. I have every intention of biking indoors this year, but have yet to set up the bike. Because of this I have packed on a whopping TEN POUNDS. This will more than likely make my Oncologist happy because I have not been putting on weight like he was hoping.

I remain fairly positive that my cancer is gone this time and I don’t think there is anything cancer can throw at me that I cannot beat into submission, but no matter how confident I am these “checkups” seem to rattle me to my very core.

310 days out from my Stem Cell Transplant and still going strong. On this weekend last year I was receiving my first ICE chemo.

I cannot tell you how NICE it is to not get CHEMO on my birthday for once. It has happened the last two years.

Oh yeah .. today is my 37th birthday!

Carrie and I have just been spending some time together. I did not want to do anything crazy this year for my birthday. I just wanted to spend some quality time with her.

We ended up going to The Windmill saturday morning with Carrie’s parents. Saturday evening we went to the new Chicago Uno’s in Webster with my parents.

We had a really great time both places! We even saw Anita & Rick Dibble AND Tyler & Jill Sweeting. So it turned out to be a really great night.

Sunday Carrie and I just hung out. We went to CompUSA to buy some Drive Trays for my PC. Carrie also picked up Quake 4 for me!! After CompUSA we headed to Pittsford and had a quick bite to eat and then hung out for awhile at Barnes and Noble. There I picked up the new Wheel of Time book: Knife of Dreams!! I have been waiting a LONG time for this book to come out. I also picked up a new book: Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling. So far it is a good book.

Tonight we’re going out to dinner and possibly a movie.

I have to say this is the best birthday I have had in a long time. Not that the last two birthdays were bad … I just did not feel that great.

I just wanted to say how much I love my wife. She is my bestfriend. I could not imagine my life without her nor do I want to. Just being with her this weekend and not really doing anything was possibly the best present I could have received. There were no doctor appointments to worry about, no chemo drugs to take, no anti-nausea medicine to administer, and no cancer to beat. Life was normal for a change.

Thank you Carrie for making my birthday so special. I love you.

So my birthday is in 3 days (11/07) …

Since I won’t be at work and I will be in the hospital on my birthday the people at work decided to take me out to lunch (Pizza Hut!) and they got a cake for me afterwards.

Mary (our resident director of non-sense) sang to me and attempted to give me a lap dance!

I just wanted to thank every one at work for making today alot of fun and special.

I consider myself very lucky to work for a company where you get treated like family.

Cancer Survivor or not … if you have a chance to attend this event once in your life time .. you should. I do not think I can do the event justice here in my journal.

The four of us (My wife Carrie, and our friends Pete & Brenda) arrived on Thursday in Austin, Texas to a record high temperature of 90 degrees!

Here is a look out our hotel window. We stayed at the Woodward Hotel.

Friday morning we decided to head over to the LiveSTRONG Village in the Palmer Events Center.

We checked out the various vendor displays, bought some goodies, and then headed back to our hotel to rest up for the Peloton Appreciation Dinner.

We arrived at the Peloton Appreciation Dinner to the sound of Cowboys playing guitars …

Here is a blurry photo of one of the items up for bid in the silent auction.

A look around the outside area….

A photo of me …

Inside the dining building …

A VERY blurry photo of George Hincapie …

Robin Williams! I took that photo from my dining seat. Carrie almost was able to get her photo taken with him. His handler swept him away once the crowd got a little big. Mr. Williams seemed very personable though. We always saw him chatting with people here and there.

Lance and friends having dinner …

This next photo is of Kevin and Kathy. Both of them are cancer survivors. I found Kevin’s page on the LAF site and noticed that he lived in the town I grew up in. So on a whim I tracked him down and called and suggested that we try to ride together on Sunday. We met for the first time at the Peloton Appreciate Dinner. I was very glad that I contacted them.

My best friend (Carrie my wife) and I. I couldn’t imagine anyone else sharing this experience with me.

Since I have alot of photos to resize I am just going to put a link directly to the images …

LiveSTRONG Village & Peloton Appreciation Dinner

Gruene, Texas & LAF Mission Event

2005 Ride for the Roses!

I rode 74 miles in 5 Hours and 6 Minutes and raised $10,490!!!

I have known Brenda since December 1989 when she was my supervisor at Detection Systems, Inc (Now Bosch Security). Alot has changed since then, but through all these years she has been a great friend to Carrie and I.

So I just wanted to take the time today and say ….

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOB!

You really mean ALOT to Carrie and I.

Love,
Shannon