A story for Freebird- Bike helped save his life

[Sparhawks Sue]

Last May, Sparhawk was riding his beloved Victory Kingpin home from work and had a little mishap. The 3 way traffic signal at the end of a long hill turned yellow as he was preparing to turn right. The car in front of him jammed on their brakes and so did Sparhawk, but he grabbed his front brakes, hit a patch of sand, and parted ways with his bike. He called me to say that he would be a little late for dinner, that he had a little accident, BUT his Kingpin was OK. He actually refused the ambulance and rode his bike home.

 

When he got home, I could see that he was not ok (the blood dripping down his sleeve and a lopsided walk were clues) so a trip to the hospital was in order. He had a broken collarbone, 2 cracked back ribs, a gashed elbow, and of course road rash on his leg. They stitched him up, put him in a sling and sent him home. Sparhawk was a hurting hubby and had to take a couple of days off to recouperate. A week later, during a followup doctors visit, we were asked if anyone at the hospital mentioned the spot on his lung (?)We were told not to worry, probably just a hemotoma from the accident, (try not worring for two weeks). Two weeks later, followup xrays, followed by a cat scan, pet scans, Mri's, biospys with cat scans, followed with a diagnosis of lung cancer. From there it was surgery, recovery, port surgery, followed by 3 months of chemo which he is still recovering from.

 

Today in the US, 82% of lung cancer patients do not survive 11 months after diagnosis due to the fact that by the time symptoms appear it is usually stage IV. Because of the bike accident, Sparhawk was diagnosed at stage IB. He is cancer free today, but we live our lives in 3 month increments (until the next cat scan).

 

So that is the story of how his bike saved his life - or at least extended it.

 

As you know, a cancer diagnosis makes you take a good look at your past, present and future. So we now have a bucket list, and this June hopefully, we will be starting on our cross country trip on our '08 Venture, realizing one more dream.

 

We should all have bucket lists - Life is just too short.

 

Sparhawk's Sue

[1sttenor]

Thanks for the story. We often overlook God's blessing, worrying about things that never happen...mmm...there's scripture in there!

[Mariner Fan]

Awesome post. Wow, what a blessing that the accident caused an X-Ray and a diagnosis of cancer in the early stage.

 

My dad died of lung cancer. It's great that Sparhawk caught it early.

 

Your right about a bucket list. We should all embrace life and all the things that bring us joy.

[ibents]

Sue, Its to bad that it takes an accident to find out things like this, that's why I think its important that men and women get yearly check up's. Through early detection of things like this, the treatment is highly successful.

I'm glad that he is doing well.

 

Ian

[Ole]

Excellent post, Sue. Ironically my wife and I had a discussion last night about putting together a bucket list. Your post reinforces the idea that a bucket list is a good idea. Good luck to you and your husband.

 

Ken

[Freebird]

Great story and I agree with you completely. It's funny how quickly your life can change. It was only a few weeks ago that I, like most guys, thought I was pretty much bullet proof. Hopefully I have MANY more years left to bother all you fine folks but the truth is, none of us know for sure how long we have on this old earth. There really are some changes that I need to make in the way I eat, exercise, etc. but the fact is you just never know. It will be 6 months before I go back and all the test will be done again to determine if they were successful in treating the cancer but I don't intend to stop living and sit around worrying about it no more than I have to. Yes, I feel very blessed that they found this when they did. The prognosis could have been much worse.

[Venturous Randy]

Last Friday I went to the funeral of a guy I had worked with for over 15 years. He, without a doubt, had the most common sense of anyone I have ever known. About seven weeks ago he started feeling funny and when tests were done, he was found to have cancer of the brain stem. They sent him to Duke Med center, but not much of anything could be done. He was 58, the same age as me.

He had spent most of the last three years in China setting up and running a plant over there. I am still wondering if something he may have come in contact with over there may have brought this on.

RandyA

[wasabe58]

Hello Sue,

 

That story of your husband's accident was super (to say the least). I am so happy for you guys that he has overcome the cancer. I lost my mom to cancer and it is so fantastic to hear of someone beating it!!!

 

Enjoy that cross country ride!!!!

 

Artie