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Go 1-0

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   On June 11, 2019 I completed 278 days of cancer treatment with chemotherapy, surgery and radiation.  Earlier that morning my wife gave me a Stand Up 2 Cancer t-shirt with big yellow letters across the front reading "Survivor."  She asked me to wear it on my last day, but I did not.  I put on my go-to, a worn down red t-shirt that said "Mr. Incredible" - in my mind I was not a survivor until I completed that 30th round of radiation and rung that bell.  As I rung the "finished" bell, I was immediately overwhelmed with sadness, joy, gratitude, all of the above and I paused there standing weeping in my own tears.  As I looked up towards my doctors and my wife, a little boy on a hospital bed wheeled past me, with his 4 doctors in toe and a crash cart.  The patient had been in the adjacent radiation room getting treated for brain cancer, he couldn't have more than 7 years old.  Here I was finishing my treatment at age 42, there he was at somewhere on his treatment journey with 35 years between us - this struck me.  From that moment, I wanted to become a patient resource and share my success story for others. 
June 11, 2019 - Rung That Bell

   Thank you to all the doctors and nurses, technicians and staff that provided a highly skilled focus on my health and heart felt welcoming experience every day.  Thank you to all the volunteers friends and family that supported me every day.
   Celebrating.... I mean I just beat fucking cancer!  That evening, my son had a baseball game, and my family surprised me with Stand Up 2 Cancer t-shirts of their own and parents had brought in pizza, cake and champagne, definitely one of best days I'll always remember. 
My Family with Stand Up 2 Cancer t-shirts
  As the year pushed on, celebrations helped with me introduce myself back into reality, my comeback was on!  For so long, my calendar had been filled with appointments and now it was empty and I could finally begin to restart my life after cancer.   One of the first celebrations I did, was take a Family Road Trip.  You know that excitement that you get of planning somewhere you have never been, now imagine you just beat cancer and dong this.  We drove north to Acadia National Park in Maine, where the mountains meet the Atlantic Ocean, where the night sky is filled with galaxies and where you can be surrounded by nature.  Surrounded with all the nature, my mind spoke to me about the idea of donating my body to Science and asking people to plant trees in my honor, asking them to explore and push out, make the world better, volunteer, be an advocate...  
Acadia National Park, Maine
   As 2019 neared October, time caught up, while I only finished final treatment 4 months ago, it was already time for my 1 year anniversary of starting chemotherapy.  This was a hard moment for me, still riddled by a healing scar on my upper right chest of where my port was, I looked back at the photos; was that me, holy shit that was me, oh god and I look like I had cancer, I was pale out of energy, sometimes struggling to stand.  But if I measure of how I feel now to then, I feel pretty fucking great and guess what, one of those celebrations was starting up - the Washington Nationals MLB baseball team was in the Postseason.  The Nats had a motto, "Stay In The Fight / Go 1-0" I mean wasn't this my motto, I knew I came back from cancer for a reason.  My wife and I attended all the postseason games, but at NLCS Game 4, as we held up the "Stay In The Fight" sign, the Nats punched their ticket to the first World Series in franchise history, October 15, 2019 and on October 15, 2018 I was 3 days into my first chemo, likely the day I yelled out at home "I want my old life back," but here I was one year later celebrating.  I attended Game 4 of the World Series, brought a sign from home and it just happened to be Stand Up 2 Cancer night.  I held that sign proud, was spotted on the jumbotron and tipped my hat to the crowd.  The Nats went on to win the World Series in Game 7.  In November, I got a chance to meet the manger, Dave Martinez at a public autograph event.  I told him, the autograph wasn't important, I told him that I was a recent cancer survivor and the motto Stay In The Fight, go 1-0 really resonated with me. 
Dave Martinez, Nats World Series Champions Manager
NLCS Game 4 - Stay In The Fight Sign
  So I return to that image of the little boy and all of this treatment I have been through.  I deal with struggle of not remembering things, vibrating sensations in my arm, loss of patience, not sleeping, among others, but cancer is not winning, I'm winning and celebrating each day, going to go 1-0.  
Matt Parker, Cancer Survivor '19
HammerOn!
World Series Game 4 - My Homemade Sign on Stand Up 2 Cancer Night

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