My wife was diagnosed via test as positive yesterday for COVID19. Given she's been at home sick for two weeks and I've been working from home, so chances are very high I also have it (no symptoms though). My wife is currently in quarantine. Fun!   -s   ... View more

Hi Phil, I'm the same, I really need music in my life. I don't have an ounce of musical talent in my body though. I listen to all sorts of music; grind core, classical, trance, experimental electronic, you name it.   It's funny the way that if you listen to a song from your past that you haven't listened to in a while, and it instantly transports you back in time. You can almost see and smell what was happening at the time.   -s ... View more

Hi Sarah11, I had chemotherapy, not immunotherapy. I found one of the biggest challenges for me was fatigue. After each round, I would be more fatigued and tired than the last round. Worse was the day of the chemotherapy. It was hard to tell just how much tired I would be. The increase could be large or smaller. Some days I would just sleep all day afterwards. I couldn't get enough sleep.   So that makes the balance really difficult. It really will fall down to how you are handling the treatment (this is going to vary largely from person to person).  So the rest can be really important, and it really is so important that you get all the rest that you need. So do what you are able and comfortably able to do but don't push yourself too hard, because the more tired you are, more likely you are to get sick.   -s   PS. I never held back on the hugs and kisses    ... View more

Hi Lindsay,   Thanks for the message regarding completing the ultra marathon. At the end of the day, I run for no other reason than the fact that I love to run. That is all. I love the journy. That is my only motivation. To get outside, running with sun in my face and the wind in my hair and the feeling of freedom. There is nothing that feels so satisfying than that moment. The further I run, the more satisfying and rewarding it feels. I don't know if that makes any sense or not. If I get good time, then that is just an added bonus.   One day I'm sure I'll have to give up running, and then I'll find another hobby/sport.   Barefoot running? Is this where I tell you I used to run in Merrell Vapor Gloves on the streets? If you don't mind me asking, has cancer affected your ability to run?   -s ... View more

Hi Shane,   shit mate, I'm sorry. Keep us all posted please. We're all here for you and following your story. Your attitude in the face of all this is amazing. You should be proud and hold your head high for the amazing example that you've set for everyone else. Best of luck for Monday.   -s ... View more

Hi Phil,   I don't have a Thursday song, but I do have a Friday song for tomorrow. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGgMZpGYiy8   -s ... View more

Hey Phil, It's great to see you around when you pop in, and pardon me for saying so, but you look fantastic! Nothing stays still for too long. New faces arrive, new threads start up. That's the funny thing, right. Life goes on, whether we're here or not. How is your wife?   -s   ... View more

Hi Lindsay, It's great to hear from you again. I don't resent my cancer. It changed me and has helped make me into who I am today. If I resented the cancer, then that would mean that I resented who I am today, and I can't spend the rest of my life resenting or hating myself. These experiences make us who we are today and we grow as a result. Life rarely goes the way we want it to.   In my late 20's I had a hobby that I really enjoyed. Riding and racing motorcycles very fast (just club racing). That was who I was. I was a motorcycle racer. One day I had a very serious accident doing something I had done many times before. But I made a simple, but catastrophic mistake.  I came out of the corner accelerating too hard, and holding too much speed (speed started with a 2) for my lean angle, which resulted in a high side (OK, so it's not that simple, but will suffice for here). I spent the next 2 months in acute care of a major trauma hospital with a severe TBI, in a pretty bad way. I was lucky to survive. I can remember the day that it was broken to me that I wasn't going to be racing a motorcycle again. I was mortified. But I'm a motorcycle racer. How can they do this to me?   Prior to the accident, I was overweight and unfit. Literally just weeks before the accident a friend had introduced me to a book "Training for endurance" by Philip Maffetone, and I had got a couple of 2 km jogs in. When I was learning to walk again after the accident, I remembered this book and the training.  I started to jog 1 km very slowly on the treadmill and increased my mileage gradually. After a few years I'm running 120 km a week and I love it. I'm no longer a motorcycle racer, I'm a runner.   Fast forward to a couple of years ago. I'm planning to complete my first ultra marathon later in the year. But then I was diagnosed with bowel cancer and they want to completely remove my large bowel.   I'm no longer a motorcycle racer because of the head injury. I over came that (sort of) and redefined myself as a runner. Can I still run long distances without a large bowel? I was shattered. Who am I now?   Probably the longest distance I've run since the surgery is probably 6 km. A mixture of a lack of fitness, kids and work has made it hard to build up my aerobic base again. But I'll get there. It's another hurdle to over come.   But I don't resent what has happened. I wouldn't take back the head injuries or the cancer, because the experience has made me who I am today.   -s           ... View more

Hi Phil, Glad to hear you're back with us mate. I thought we'd scared you off.   I did the whole work from home thing before I got sick. I worked from home for a couple of years. The novelty wears off pretty quick, but that might be because of how many hours I had to spend glued to my screen.  After a while, I would go into the office just to have a break. I'm currently working from home again (thanks to the virus) for the past couple of weeks. I make sure I do the school drop off to school each day just so that I get a bit of face to face social interaction.   Best of luck with it.   -s     ... View more

Hi Mummy1, I was wondering how the fatigue was going? Is there improving any? What ended up happening with the surgery? Thinking of you. -s ... View more