I Run For Life

It's that time again: to add another song to my cancer-killing playlist. This one is particularly meaningful to me, and gets me misty just about every time I listen to it.

Melissa Etheridge's "I Run For Life" touches on her battle with cancer and is a call to arms for all cancer warriors. These are my favorite lyrics:

It's a blur since they told me about it

How the darkness had taken its toll

And they cut into my skin and they cut into my body

But they will never get a piece of my soul

And now I'm still learning the lesson

To awake when I hear the call

And if you ask me why I am still running

I'll tell you I run for us all

About a week before I checked myself in to Good Samaritan and began this whole cancer-killing adventure, Tim and I saw Melissa at The Orpheum here in downtown L.A. I remember the night like it was yesterday. We headed to McCormick & Schmick's, one of our most-visited restaurants, to grab a quick bite to eat before the show. I remember that despite only ordering a couple of appetizers, I couldn't eat much of my meal because I was nursing an upset and bloated tummy. Little did I know, my GI problems were being caused by a massive tumor in my colon that doctors would find two weeks later. Despite my rumbly tummy, we had a great time at the show. I remember rising to my feet during "I Run For Life," paying tribute to the cancer warriors in my midst...completely unaware that the disease was growing like wildfire in my own body.

And now, here I am. Only months older since that night at the concert but much wiser, completely healthy, proud to be a part of my cancer warrior family, and even more attached to this song. And running for life.