May 8, 2007
Dear Fellow Racers and Friends
I finished my 24th chemo treatment 3 weeks ago and was exhausted but recovering. The doctor said my body had taken quite a beating and so she was going to give me a 3-month hiatus to try to get some strength back.
David and walked into my oncologists office today to get the results of last weeks PET and CT Scans. Dr. Barve entered the room, looked me straight in the eye and said, Margaretta, you are cancer free. WOW! Talk about a stunning moment. When I was diagnosed, I was given what amounted to a death sentence. At best, the medical community would manage the cancer for a few years, which meant chemo, chemo, chemo. There is a phrase living with cancer which I suppose was meant to buoy our spirits. But in the deep dark pits of chemo I am sure that I was not the only cancer patient who thought, this is not my idea of living.
Actually I lived vicariously through TheAmazing Race All Stars kidding myself into believing that Bertram would have selected David and me to run that race. I actually dreamed it recently in the dream we won! My daughter Lauras reply when I recounted the dream to her was, mom, you have already won The Amazing Race. She was so right on. After we got the news today, Laura, Michael, David and I had an impromptu lunch at a local tony restaurant.
I honestly could not have done it without the prayers, energy, and encouragement from you and from so many people. At times when I was most down, that energy just took over and boosted my will to go on.
Now it is time to get into training to get that awful poison out of my system. David has his own ideas of what I should do and he has designated himself as my coach. As the late, great Gilda Radner was fond of saying, if its not one thing, its another.
My love and gratitude to you,
Margaretta
Dear Fellow Racers and Friends
I finished my 24th chemo treatment 3 weeks ago and was exhausted but recovering. The doctor said my body had taken quite a beating and so she was going to give me a 3-month hiatus to try to get some strength back.
David and walked into my oncologists office today to get the results of last weeks PET and CT Scans. Dr. Barve entered the room, looked me straight in the eye and said, Margaretta, you are cancer free. WOW! Talk about a stunning moment. When I was diagnosed, I was given what amounted to a death sentence. At best, the medical community would manage the cancer for a few years, which meant chemo, chemo, chemo. There is a phrase living with cancer which I suppose was meant to buoy our spirits. But in the deep dark pits of chemo I am sure that I was not the only cancer patient who thought, this is not my idea of living.
Actually I lived vicariously through TheAmazing Race All Stars kidding myself into believing that Bertram would have selected David and me to run that race. I actually dreamed it recently in the dream we won! My daughter Lauras reply when I recounted the dream to her was, mom, you have already won The Amazing Race. She was so right on. After we got the news today, Laura, Michael, David and I had an impromptu lunch at a local tony restaurant.
I honestly could not have done it without the prayers, energy, and encouragement from you and from so many people. At times when I was most down, that energy just took over and boosted my will to go on.
Now it is time to get into training to get that awful poison out of my system. David has his own ideas of what I should do and he has designated himself as my coach. As the late, great Gilda Radner was fond of saying, if its not one thing, its another.
My love and gratitude to you,
Margaretta
