The Importance of Sport

I don't know how else to put it: today, I was a sporty little machine.

• For breakfast, a brisk 1.5 mile walk.
• For lunch, basketball.
• For a mid-afternoon snack, some tennis.
• And for dinner, Educogym.

Once I got the green light from Dr. Lenz on tennis and hoops, it was just a matter of hours until I was going to do my thing. Tennis because Ruth is here and, given her former college tennis star champion status, I knew she could teach me a thing or two on the court (and she did). Basketball because it's one of my great loves and I've missed it dearly over the last month and a half.

Working out for the better part of the day felt great. I felt strong and healthy during my walk, learned that I haven't lost much on my three point shot (preserving my long-range shooting is key), and found that I'm a pretty quick study with a tennis racket. The gym was awesome tonight as usual -- graduated to benching 120 pounds, worked my triceps until they were burning like nobody's business, and engaged my chest muscles without irritating the portacath. 

Today was awesome not just because I had so much fun literally playing around all day, but because I reunited with my old self. The tough athlete and serious competitor version of myself that, while always a part of me, doesn't really come out until I'm actually playing a sport. Basketball was particularly satisfying, mainly because I've been itching to get back to it since the day I checked in at Good Samaritan. Ironically enough, just a few days before I walked into Good Sam's ER, I had just come off one of my best games of my life. 19 points. Lots of threes, but I was pretty much hitting from everywhere on the court that night. Before today, I had to close my eyes and remember that feeling of shooting a ball and watching it swish through the net.  

But today, I got to experience it again. And -- wow -- it felt so good.

In my view, sports are one of the great equalizers. It doesn't matter what you look like, or what language you speak, or whether you've got cancer or not. All that matters is if you can play. Today, while I played, it was all about the game -- I felt totally and utterly cancer-free.  

And one day, I will be.