#2...

Post number, not a poop joke. 💩 Though those have been a mainstay of my life for the past 3 years.

I'm reasonably certain that no other cancer carries a greater potential for humor than colorectal cancer...aside from anal cancer, perhaps. Sometimes the treatments/"cures" require humor to make survival worth the misery.

While I'm still not in a great place -- the constant fear of recurrence weighs so heavy, 24/7 -- the 2 years of near constant treatments and surgeries is somewhere I hope I never find myself, again. Stats are not in my favor. That lung met means that cancer cells were swimming around my entire body until filtered-out by an organ. A cell or two got trapped in my lung to develop into a metastasis. The odds of that being the only spot are slim. With every passing day my likelihood of having this in the rearview increases...but I'm still 2-3 years out from when my oncologist might deem me "cured". And I know FAR too many people who have received that "no evidence of disease" (NED) declaration, only to have cancer return 5-10 years later. Those were often cells that laid dormant for longer than expected. That's a truly terrifying thing to ponder.

Running and cycling have done more than keep me in the best health/strength, possible -- before, during, and post-Cancer -- they have also acted as great distractions from the reality of my situation. There's no time to dwell on the what-ifs while Zwifting with thousands of fellow runners and cyclists from around the globe. The same holds true when I run outdoors and let myself be absorbed by Nature and my favorite podcasts.

This year Derek and I will be raising money to Fxck Cancer with other endurance athletes. It seems to me that there's no better use of my time doing the beneficial things that I love than to also benefit others and help prevent more late-stage Cancer diagnoses.