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Just got back from my rock climbing trip. Wow. Just wow. I really could not recommend rock climbing (on real rock) to cancer patients enough. I celebrate a year in remission tomorrow and spent the week with 9 AMAZING young adult survivors, 4 great staff members/volunteers, a team of the most supportive, effective guides possible, and the only two chefs who I would ever trust to serve me vegan chocolate mousse without refined sugar made with avocado.
A year ago I could not lift 10 pounds. This week, I hauled all 250 pounds of me up the cliffs of the Gunks in the Catskills. I might not have gone the highest or the furthest, but I topped out my climbs and learned to trust my feet and conquer my fear of heights. I also hiked 6 miles (5 uphill) when the furthest I have walked since getting sick was about 2 miles of flat ground. I hurt all over but am so proud of myself and my fellow young adults on this trip, who are each inspirational in their own way. One woman has had a recurrence of breast cancer 4 times in the last 4 years and was on oral chemo during the trip, still managing the 200 foot multi-pitch graduation climb. Another guy lost his leg a few months ago and still put us to SHAME on his prosthesis on the rock. He is 21 and has fought cancer 4 times since he was 16, but did not stop cracking jokes the entire time. Another woman was diagnosed with Stage III ovarian cancer at 30 during her 2nd pregnancy and has less than a 20% survival rate based on current factor, with two babies at home. She had a rough go but despite having never climbed anything before, looked like a professional on the rock. I am so honored to have shared this experience with them.
Rock climbing requires you to learn to trust your own feet and your own muscles, while trusting the rope and the person belaying you. This is quite hard for cancer survivors, but it has put a lot of things in a different light for me. If you can at all find a way to do it, outdoor rock climbing is life changing, even outside of the group. If you are a young adult survivor (18-39), check out First Descents which offers these group experiences. I am a changed person.
Quite an accomplishment, char. You can stand tall and proud. I'm way over the age (and inclination!) to go rock climbing, but I can admire you from a distance, can't I?
charolastra, that sounds so cool. Who knows, maybe when I get through all this I'll look into doing it.
Got my surgical drain out yesterday, which hurt a bit, and then 20-30 minutes later it hurt A LOT. OW... today the pain is not so bad though. Surgeon didn't have the final pathology report in yet but he spoke to the pathologist and they had not found any evidence of cancer in the breast so far. "And they aren't going to!" the surgeon stated. I am so excited...I hope he is right. It will be such a relief to have this confirmation that the chemo worked.
Brought my mom to the airport this morning; she is on her way back home. Just enjoying the weekend! The weather is great.
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