
It’s time! Getting ready to rejoin the Condors tomorrow in Naples, Italy and start year 19 at Rose Bowl, and it has me lost in what this crazy journey called life puts us through. Just a quick update on life!
A year ago I had to give up my shot at leading the Condors, heartbreaking at the time, as I had another fight to focus on, and what a year it has been. A year that almost doesn’t seem real or even that it could have all happened in a year. From just the basics of doing my best to lead 380 swimmers (and of course their parents) through a global pandemic like never seen, to fighting stage 4 adenocarcinoma (my second time through a stage 4, a special kind of mental torture) and getting to do the first two weeks of trying to recover from losing like 60 lbs leading up to it and surgery to allow me to eat, because of Covid and being stuck in a hospital. Then we get into month 2 by adding in chemo and the fun that comes along. One of those being a side effect that left me taken to the emergency room with tachycardia of almost 300 bpm and needing 2.5L of blood drained from around my heart. Taking that all the way to a clear scan. It’s been a ride for sure.
But then we know life is always unpredictable, and if you believe you are tested with the things you need most, I apparently need to work on my mindset and dealing with unknowns. My most recent scan showed the slightest of a new nodule (2mm) in my lower right lobe. The Dr isn’t too concerned at this point given the size and other old nodules in my lungs from before, so for now we just wait and see.
Knowing that will be tough to ignore over the next few months, but at the same time I find myself so grateful for life. For my family and the ULA that we share. My friends that are always there.
Life is a crazy journey but isn’t it amazing? There will be highs and lows, you’ll understand some but not all, but in the end we just need to enjoy the journey the best we can. For me it’s the same as I try to coach, we just need to focus on controlling the controllables. Such a simple statement, but does two crucial things; 1) you put time into the things you can control to any degree and not waste time/energy worrying about other things and 2) by nature of focusing on the things you control, you automatically set your mindset to a more positive place by taking action.
So now it’s time to live life and make the most of every experience we have. Thanks all!