At the beginning of our cancer journey, a dear friend, whose husband has been battling various cancers for nearly six years, shared the best piece of advice she was given about coping with cancer: Remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint.  This week, those words have rung true in several ways.

The Chicago Marathon is two weeks away.  I’m so excited to participate that I can barely stand it.  Last Sunday, I ran (perhaps traversed would be the better verb) 22 miles.  This is the longest distance I have covered in the four years I have been running.  If you haven’t tried it, trust me, it is an undertaking.

It was a pleasant surprise to wake up last Monday and still have the ability to walk…and without pain.  This is surely a sign that the training has paid off. And, as my physical therapist says, the hard work is now done.  From here on out, we taper, which means running short mileage until the day of the marathon.  (Physical therapist, you ask?  Yes, I am going to complete this marathon while coping with tendonitis in my left knee and foot.  It is taking a village to get me to the finish line.)

The hard work may be done in terms of running, but it is unfortunately not done in the area of finding a cure for multiple myeloma.   As I mentioned in a previous article, I quickly achieved my initial fund raising goal, so I have increased it to $5,000 and am very close to achieving this new goal.  It also comes as great encouragement to read the words on my fund raising page from those who are supporting me…and a cure.

While I am not a fast runner, I have come to realize I will need to run more slowly than my normal pace if I am to have the energy to complete the marathon.  Frustrating indeed, but I keep reminding myself that this is a marathon, not a sprint.

On the Deana front: She was given cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan) on Thursday, September 15, and two days later she was in the emergency room as a result of side effects from the perchlorperazine (Compazine) given for nausea.  Thankfully, she was treated and discharged.

However, cyclophosphamide was not done throwing roadblocks.  Deana had a rough night that Sunday and was unable to join me Monday morning on Liz Talk, a radio show hosted by a dear friend, Liz Dalton.  Liz was kind enough to devote her show on September 19 to multiple myeloma.  Special thanks to Joan Levy of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation for calling in and to Drs. George and Susan Dougherty of Athens, Georgia, for giving the perspectives of patient and spouse.   I look forward to working toward additional opportunities to bring awareness to our community.

By Wednesday, Deana was running a fever and was back in the emergency room.  She was admitted to the hospital, with a hemoglobin level of 7 g/dL and no white blood cell count.  Obviously, this was not an ideal situation.  I was a mess and torn between racing up to Pittsburgh to take charge of Deana’s team and staying put, given that I had a lot of important things going on at work.

The family assured me there was little I could do by coming up there, and my husband reminded me that this is a marathon, not a sprint, and that I cannot hop on a plane every time my sister has a sniffle.

To me, this was far more serious than a sniffle; since it was the first time Deana was hospitalized following her diagnosis, it seemed like a very big deal.  For goodness sake, she was in isolation, and the family who visited had to wear gowns and masks!

Nevertheless, I stayed put, did the work in front of me…and called very frequently to be sure there were no changes that warranted my heading up to Pittsburgh.  Deana was released from the hospital on Saturday and is happy to be home.  I hope that this is our last drama for a while.

Several years ago, Hamilton Jordan, President Carter’s Chief of Staff and a University of Georgia (UGA) graduate, sent me a copy of his memoir, No Such Thing as a Bad Day. Hamilton battled several different cancers throughout his life before he passed away a few years ago.   I was fortunate to be present for his last public appearance, when he accepted UGA’s Alumni Merit Award, the highest honor the university bestows on a graduate.  At that time, I had yet to read his book.

Last Thursday, I was browsing in a local thrift store when I spotted the audio book version and took this as a sign, since I was coming to the end of my current audio book.  While I am only on the second tape of a four-tape set (crazily enough, my car has a tape player), it is already proving helpful.  At one point, Hamilton expresses concern for his wife, noting that at times, fighting cancer can be more difficult on the caregivers than the patient.

Well, I certainly don’t know the patient perspective, but this week has been very stressful for me.  The physical distance has nearly brought me to tears on several occasions.  It is so hard to be a plane ride away when the situation changes overnight.  It is a challenge to make decisions about the best course of action, not just for Deana, but for me as well.

After all, this is a marathon, not a sprint.

We’re going to continue running, even if the pace is not what we desire.

Slow and steady, we’ll win this race.