The Race

Twenty three treatments down, seven to go.  The finish line, for this phase anyway, is in sight and I must admit I'm pretty pumped!  I've spent so much energy training myself to take the "one day at a time" approach that it feels odd, and good, to mentally jump ahead for a change.
Looking at my journey as a race seems strange since I've always associated a race with speed.  This race has been far from speedy, but it has been a race, nevertheless.
Dictionary.com has a couple of applicable definitions for my "race":
"Any contest or competition, especially to achieve superiority."
"Onward movement.  An onward, or regular course."
"The course of time.  The course of life, or part of life."
All great definitions, but my favorite is the one about superiority.
My personal opinion, regardless of the valuable lessons I'm learning, is that not having cancer is better than having cancer.  My body is physically in competition with cancer cells and I'm in this race to compete fiercely against them and to attain victory over them.  But I'm also in competition to win spiritually and emotionally, so I pray that I will never forget the irreplaceable lessons I have learned along the way and that I will never cease to apply them in my life.

"Again I observed on this earth:  The race is not always won by the swiftest, the battle is not always won by the strongest...."-Ecclesiastes 9:11 (NET).

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?  So run that you may obtain it."-1 Corinthians 9:24 ((ESV).

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."-2 Timothy 4:7 (ESV).

"....and let us run the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, Who, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross..."-Hebrews 12:1b-2 (NKJV).

The race is on and the finish line is in sight!

On the health front:
Doctor Day  revealed that my numbers are holding steady and that my itching could be a Xeloda side effect or it could be a reaction to all the pollen in the air.
He ended the appointment with a fatherly smile and an encouraging, "You're doing very well!"  This struck me as funny since he's younger than three of my kids :)