Sparhawks Sue

Dave and I started our grand adventure of zig zagging across this great country of ours last Thursday. Today after a beautiful riding day we found ourselves in Kentucky and we had the pleasure of meeting Joy and Wayne (Joysboy). Joysboy pulled up beside up after following us on route 92. He asked where we were heading and how much pressure we had in our back shocks. Now my butt knew the the pressure was low, but I hadn't convinced Dave of that. Dear Wayne offered to meet us ( he actually came to our hotel) with a handy gadget that checked and added air pressure to the shocks. The shocks are so much better now. Imagine going over bumps and having them not HURT. Thank you ever so much, Wayne, for all your help. Everytime we hit a bump in the road I am going to think of you. And you were right about the cafe. The catfish was wonderful. Have fun riding the Parkway, it is a beautiful ride. Sue T

It was so easy that I put one on Sparhawk's new 08 RSV. I had to drill out one of the holes for the bracket, but that was a piece of cake. Sparhawk loves his.

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

Thanks ever so much for sharing your story. I needed a good laugh today and the lambskin wash did it.