London, Paris, and Madrid in one day!

No kidding! The title to this post says it all. Judy's direct flight from DFW to Madrid last weekend took on a different dimension when her original flight out of Lubbock on Friday afternoon was canceled and she thus missed the Madrid flight. American rerouted her to London, but since all British Airways and Iberia flights from Heathrow to Madrid were completely sold out she was routed first to Paris for a short stop-over before traveling on. We reunited in Madrid early Saturday evening...

We had decided to see our English/Mexican friends Howard and Lidya in the Spanish capital a few weeks back after being informed that we wouldn't work one of our favorite (and longest-running) races in Ruston. Oh well. Howard's sister, Celia (with Judy in the photo above), was to come down from Twyford near London for our Big Chill-like reunion. I flew out on Thursday, right after my last class. Judy's plans to join me on that flight were stymied by work schedules at MHMR.

Regardless of how much time we actually spent with our friends, it was worth the effort. Quantity does not always equal quality, and that was certainly true of this weekend. We made our time count, even though Celia had to leave for the UK on Sunday afternoon while we didn't fly back until Monday noon, getting home by 11 p.m. on Monday. The time spent with our friends and Howard and Lidya's great kids--Sandra, Karen, and Simon--was priceless. We went out to eat, we had great tapas at home, we took a long walk in beautiful gardens, we went to Karen's horse-back riding stables, we had sangria and Spanish ham in the wee hours in a small downtown bar. What better way to spend a weekend, eh?

Today was a normal workday for both of us. Indeed, sleep and cancer are overrated. :)

Jürgen





The best olives in the world--and even Judy enjoyed a Mahou beer

Oktoberfest precedes the next chemo

On Saturday, Wes and Susan hosted a small Oktoberfest party, and the surprise guest was Emily, who had come up from Stephenville and was taking a break from her studies at Tarleton State. Jerred and Jennifer had come over, too, and Wes' mom rounded out the company. (And of course, there were the rug rats.)

We all had a fun evening, with lots of brats, potato salad, and, yes, beer. Judy had dug out the customary Oktoberfest decorations, and as a special treat all of us--young and old--played a wild game of "Topfschlagen" where the blind-folded player uses a wooden spoon to find and bang on an upside-down kitchen pot that hides some trinket. We all laughed so hard that our bellies hurt!

After a dreary Sunday (drizzle, fog, cold temps) we're back to the normal routine: Judy is having her lab work done this morning, I'm grading papers, and the outlook for tomorrow is another round of chemo.

Jürgen

Judy is back from Bryan

While I was frolicking in Chile on UCI business, Judy traveled to Bryan to officiate the BTU Power Pedal mountain bike race.

From what she told me in her e-mails (I am still en route coming back from Santiago while updating this blog), everything came off fine, despite rainy and muddy conditions.

As a special treat, Judy got to spend some time on Sunday after the race with Michelle, Ken, Ian, and Cal.

Next weekend we're actually going to be home together, so that's going to be another big treat for us. We should also learn fairly soon when the next chemo will come.

I'm sure looking forward to get home after six days in South America, and Judy is ready for a good snuggle, too.

Jürgen

"Stable Disease," says the doc

So, there you have Doc Phillips' assessment of the state of affairs, one year--mas o menos--after diagnosis. Comforting? Not really. Positive? Well, that depends. Something we can live with? You bet.

Judy and I are coming off, or more precisely, are at the back end of a loooong run of travel weekends that started with Camp Eagle and is going to end with the BTU PowerPedal in Bryan for Judy and the Copa Chile XCO in Santiago for me. Interbike (as you can tell from the photos) was in between; Oklahoma City and Jack's Prairieman came before that. Dude, that makes it FIVE weekends!!! It'll be nice to be home next weekend, but first we're going to take care of business on the first October weekend, almost 5,000 miles apart.

We feel lucky to have these opportunities, and we both feed off the energy of the racers. The closer to home the race, the more energy. I'm updating this from the Atlanta airport, on the way to Miami and then Santiago. There won't be much energy from racers to feed on, but that's OK--the challenges and the environment I will find myself in are enough to wean Iran off its nuclear program. Judy will be great in Bryan as she has a good sous-chef in Darlene, great support in Tobin, Jen, and Cap, and end-of-the race cuddles from Michelle and her rascals.

We're lucky folks, "stable disease" not withstanding. We love what we do, even if we get a little tired once in while along the way.

OH, BTW, the pic shows us at the USAC booth where we spotted our little buddy Lilly Frasier from the TMBRA circuit.

Jürgen

After the OKC Redman

It is Monday and time to remove the red mud from our clothes, courtesy of the Oklahoma Redman triathlon. For the second weekend in a row we had a rainy race. On Saturday, for the Ironman and Half-Ironman distance races, it poured buckets, once again. The beautiful park around Lake Heffner was reduced to a red mud pit. So that's why they call it "Redman"!

Sunday was sunny and quite warm, and the athletes doing the Sprint and the Olympic distance races did not suffer from hypothermia as on the day before but rather from dehydration. Things can change so fast. We saw a few old friends, among them Donna P. from the metroplex and her "Ironox" husband, William (not in the photo).

Judy held up very well with just a few bouts of nausea after Tuesday's chemo. It seems as if the doc has adjusted the meds well. This week we'll be in Las Vegas for the Interbike tradeshow, so more travel coming up. At least this time it's not 800 miles of driving but rather a few hours with American Airlines.

Judy says thanks for all those birthday wishes!

Jürgen

So Far, So Good: Chemo #10 Benign So Far

Judy had a much easier time with her chemo yesterday than she did four or so weeks ago. Dr. Phillips apparently tweaked the meds enough so that the immediate nausea and general rotten feeling did not kick in. After chemo she went back to work, and in the evening we had a nice dinner on the porch with our friend Alan.

Tonight, 30 hours later, still no nausea--just a general feeling of being tired. But who wouldn't be in her shoes, even without chemo, eh?

Here's another Camp Eagle photo that our friend Kathy from the metroplex sent this morning.

If you didn't know: Judy's b'day is this Friday! Since we'll be traveling to OKC, we won't be close to a phone, but I'm sure she'll love e-mails or comments once we get to the Marriott!

Jürgen

One Year, 100 Blog Postings Later ...

It is hard to believe, but almost exactly one year has now passed since Judy went in for what seemed to be a routine colonoscopy and what turned out to become her on-going battle with Primary Peritoneal Cancer.

A year ago we sent an e-mail to our families and many, many friends, letting you know about our new situation. Our world had been turned upside down, and we had no idea where we would be a year later. Shortly after that e-mail I wrote the first blog entry, and now I am composing #100--it is such a round number that it does stand out. Initially we were worried that this electronic tool would be much too impersonal and sterile for such profoundly personal matters. Yet, as it turned out, it was the only practical means to involve those of you who wanted to follow Judy in her fight and who wanted to be kept informed on her progress (and setbacks).

Over the past year we have read your comments of encouragement and support that you have left on this blog, and we cannot tell you how important these messages have been and still are. Re-reading entries—just like those in a diary—and once again looking at the photos and your comments makes us even more aware of the journey that lies behind us. At the same time, we know that the journey continues, with no indication of its route or final destination.

I intend to keep this blog running for as long as is necessary because you have told us—often in person—how glad you are that you can participate and lend Judy (and me) a helping hand, even when you are far away. Your friendship is a huge factor in our ongoing battle as it strengthens us and provides us with the courage to go on.

Tomorrow Judy will have her overall 10th chemo treatment. We spent a rainy weekend in the Dallas area at the Praireman triathlon, where we saw Ester, Jack, Wanda, Cliff, Joanna, and many other of our strong supporters. Next weekend we will be in Oklahoma City, for two days of officiating triathlon competition. Our life goes on, as you can tell, but we don't forget that it almost stopped.

We love all of you!

Judy & Jürgen