20 - Catching Your Stride But Time to Revaluate

Near Corner Reevaluation

When you are a few months into treatment and coming through the near corner of your bell lap, it is time to re-examine the assumptions that guided your decisions at the very beginning. Do this again each and every time a change in therapy is indicated. After the opening campaign in any war a good general will reevaluate their initial assumptions. By then the scope of the conflict is emerging, as is the character of the disease and the impact of therapy on stamina and lifestyle.

World War II was about so much more than what was obvious going in, the blatant conflict. It was also about trench foot, dysentery, frostbite, supply lines, fear, fitness and the Holocaust. When you're a few months into your cancer battle you may discover that cancer treatment affects your life in more ways than you had imagined especially the fatigue and other toxicities that are cumulative over time. It's time to reconcile the reality of treatment with one's assumptions and expectations.

      PREVIEW FAR CORNER ROUNDING DECISIONS

Every time the disease progresses, even though the finish line is not in view, the same kind of challenging decisions must be made as will be encountered when rounding the last corner. Practice thinking these decisions through with each progression so that you will be prepared if you reach that critical exit from the far corner. That is where many stumble. The belief that you will never progress is fine but it will not protect you from the Dragon who will haunt you anyway with the risk that you might. Don’t kid yourself- where there is risk the serpent will exploit it.

If you ponder these issues early you will be ready if that time comes because when it does it is often a surprise. The sooner you think it through the sooner you protect the quality of the rest of your life. The dragon will want to use it like every other unknown as a weapon to spoil your joy. So let’s review disease progression decision issues, then set that tough subject aside and return to running the near corner and to looking forward to a long, fun and meaningful backstretch.