Why I Ride

Today, I went on a 108-mile ride from Columbus to Cincinnati with 11 other Pelotonia cyclists.  It was my longest ride of the season and despite an inauspicious start--went down in a pile-up at mile 2 and hurt my hip, and the group had some trouble maintaining any pace the first 25 miles--it ended up being a great ride.

At mile 25, I was able to join up with a faster group.  During the first 25 miles, we averaged about 12 mph.  Over the last 85, we averaged 17 mph, including cranking it at about 20 mph from mile 104 to 108.  It was a great group.

During the lunch stop at mile 66, I was feeling pretty rough--my hip hurt from the fall, my hamstrings were reminding me how much work they'd done and it felt like a red hot ice pick was jabbing me in my right trapezius.  I was lying on the floor of the picnic pavilion where we'd stopped trying to not think about how much my body was hurting.  While I was lying there, I was scrolling through Facebook and saw this post from my nephew's wife.  My nephew, Seth, has been through a tough battle with cancer over the last 8 months--two surgeries, two rounds of really rough chemo, multiple hospital stays.  It was tough to see such a young man, with two young children, go through such a hard battle.  But Amanda's post says it all.  THIS is why this group of people, and so many others, ride Pelotonia.  To see someone diagnosed with cancer, and have an effective treatment available that allows them to return to a normal life.  Every mile I put in, is in hopes that I can pay it forward for someone who is diagnosed after me.  That they'll have the ability to return to a full life that they find enjoyable and meaningful.  Like I did, like Seth did.

Please consider a gift to Pelotonia to help others who face a cancer diagnosis have hope of a full recovery.  You can donate here  pelotonia.org/kat4gators

Still Going Strong

I'm writing this post from Sandy, Utah on the last day of a fabulous ski vacation.  My husband, two daughters, son in law and brother in law skied for four days at three different resorts and it was fantastic.  The weather was great--3 days of nice snow and bluebird skies, and one day of constant snowfall.  We are all about the same level skier and so it's fun to just chase each other down mountains.

We stayed at an AirBNB that was awesome.  It was a 4BR, 3Bath home located about 25 minutes from the slopes and 5 minutes from the grocery store.  It has a lovely hot tub and is really comfortable and cozy.  Of course, the best part was just spending time together. Our older daughter, Amy, and her husband, Sean, live in Florida so the times when we're together with them are really special.

We skied at Solitude, Alta (2 days) and Snowbird.  Each day and resort was special. Here are a few photos.

Me and my brother in law (top) and me and my husband

My daughter Amy and her husband Sean

One of the mountains at Alta

Claire, me and Amy

We had the GoPro recording at various points.  I haven't had a chance to compile the overall video but this 45-second excerpt was too good not to share.  Thankfully, Amy is ok.  You can see the care and compassion inherent in our family as we all double over in laughter at her misfortune.  As she watched the video, she commented, "I really like how you're practically contorted with laughter."  :)  Amy's Crash Video

As you might expect, I gather my stats as I ski so I can see number of runs, distance and speed of my day.  I'm proud to say that I set a new land speed record this year.  My previous record was 42mph on the bike, the ski record was 38mph.  This year, I hit 48mph on skis.  Boy did it feel good to be able to go that fast!

This time of year is always a time of reflection for me because I received my Amyloidosis diagnosis on February 25, 2013.  I think back to those scary times when I wondered if I'd ever be able to do active vacations with my family ever again.  I think about the ski trip we took between my chemo and stem cell transplant with the 30 pounds of fluid in my abdomen.  I couldn't even buckle my ski boots but I skied every morning with my family even though I could hardly eat because of the pain from the GI involvement.  I remember the grief I felt when I was too weak to ski down the final day and had to ride the gondola down the mountain.  I wondered if that would be my last act on a ski slope....one of defeat.

But, that wasn't the case and I've been able to continue doing the activities I love--cycling, skiing, and most importantly, traveling with my family.  Several times a week, I see a post on the Amyloidosis Facebook page or an online forum about someone dying from the disease or being permanently incapacitated.  I am so thankful for every day of health I have.  I lost something I took for granted and I try to savor its return every day.

Next month, I'll be speaking with my physician, Yvonne Efebera, MD, to the board of directors for the Foundation of the cancer hospital where I was treated, Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute...aka The James.  My message will be one of thanks, thanks to each person there and the millions of others who have supported cancer research in the past.  Research into my chemo drugs and the use of stem cell transplants many years ago is the reason I can savor my health and the life it affords me.

If you'd enjoy the opportunity to give that gift of health and hope to someone in the future, please consider donating to my Pelotonia ride.  pelotonia.org/kat4gators 100% of all rider donations go directly to cancer research.  To learn more, you can read some of my previous Pelotonia posts here--http://katseyeview.blogspot.com/search/label/pelotonia 

Your donation could fund the research that creates the treatment that returns health and hope to some person in the future.  Let's End Cancer!

Hey look it's me!

The winter newsletter of the Amyloidosis Foundation featured my story.

You can read it here.  https://origin.library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1103817697559-49/Dec_2014_newsletterfinal.pdf

A Fun Complication

I've been looking for hairstyles now that my hair is starting to grow in. A lot of people tell me to leave it really short but for me, that will just be a reminder of when I was sick so I need a style that's more like something I'd normally wear.

When looking for hairstyles in the past, I'd look to Mariska Hargitay (you know, Olivia Benson on Law & Order).  I think Amy came up with the original suggestion for me.  She usually keeps her hair somewhat short, has a face shaped similarly to mine and has fine, thin hair like me...or, rather, like I used to have. 

Claire was watching an old episode of Law & Order the other day and said this hairstyle would look good on me. 

I agreed and, in the past, could have easily styled my hair like that.  However, as happens with many people, the chemo has changed the structure of my hair and it's now pretty wavy, maybe even curly. Any wave or volume in my hair in the past required liberal use of heat and product. Not now.  I tried to style my hair like that on Friday and Al said I looked like Elvis due to the pompadour-esque volume on top. This morning, I put some gel in it hoping to tame it a bit but the wave will not be tamed.

Yeah, not even in the vicinity. I'm hoping to see my hairstylist next week but I don't think she's got enough magic to get me back to Mariska. 

Guess I'll need to find someone new for hairstyle inspiration.  Just not sure who.