BLUF: Radiation symptoms are fading: nasal secretions starting up, my gums look almost normal but my tongue still feels burned and my taste is not yet normal, especially for salt. My upper lip (great--don't have to shave!) and nostrils (not so great) are still totally exfoliated. All small stuff.
Downer today. Was reminded how fleeting our life on this earth really is. Clarence Kealoha, our friend who was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer about the same time I was diagnosed, passed away this morning. Please keep his wife, Pohai, and two teenaged children in your prayers. we're comforted by the belief that Clarence is no longer suffering and is in the loving arms of our Father.
Clarence, millions of others and I are the reason a bunch of us got together over this past weekend for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. We had nine official team members, including Jonathan, my five year-old grandson, and Jansen, a 10 year-old nephew (we didn't let them walk by themselves). This overnighter was not a running relay but simply a track around which we walked, to beat cancer, in memory of those who lost their battle with cancer, and in celebration of people like me, who are survivors of this insidious disease.
Thanks to all who donated and helped our team almost double our original goal. It was a bonding, inspiring event which we all agreed we want to do again next year.
One of the things we heard at the Relay was there is no finish line with cancer until a cure is found. How so very true! I'll be lighting a candle in memory of Clarence at next year's Relay, assuming the Good Lord allows me to live that long.
"Lord, remind me of how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered and that my life is fleeting away. My life is no longer than the width of my hand. An entire lifetime is just a moment to you; human existence is but a breath." Psalm 39:4-5
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