Breast Cancer Awareness Team Daily Rowing Diary

[Kona2]

Brian -

Sharing your mission with all of us is surely impacting every one of us as we row. I don't know if your computer is set up so that you can get a beep or a ding every time a message is posted - but if it could be, then I think we could get a lot of people to log on and wish you well. You would be rowing to the persistent sounds of incoming messages.

When you first started your blog, I for one had no idea that your quest would become so inspirational. Your cause and your relentless pursuit of a seemingly unattainable goal has captured the spirit of all of us who row. It's like standing back to recognize someone who is truly giving it all he's got. Leave at least 10 percent for you, for recovery, for continuing the quest.

We row with you. We share your message of awareness with others because of you. Thanks for that.

Kona2

[Toothdoc]

Ooops, computer skills strike again!!

Thanks

Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep on keeping on; your almost there. Hell of an effort I've got say. When I tell people about what you are doing they just stare in amazement with the lower jaw hanging open. I think you are getting the attention breast cancer deserves! Great job!!

toothdoc Posted: Jan 25, 2008 8:22 am Post subject: Brian

[thestorck]

Brian,
Keep it up. My sister died from breast cancer at 42, and left a husband and three children. Her daughter was diagnoised with bc at 23 years of age, but now a 5 year survivor. My wife's mother and sister have both been victims of bc also. My wife, an RN, because of family history is a participant in a bc research program in CO. This is not a women's disease as it effects entire families. My dad was devestated to have a child die before him. And as you stated men can become bc victims also.
You are a superman, my goals pale in comparison.
God Bless your efforts - stay strong and healthy. You are an inspiration.
Bob
Denver, CO

[Dave_H]

Brian - your committment and stamina are beyond inspirational... I would echo Eugene's comments, you have already achieved amazing levels of endurance!
Please be careful in your assessment of your health for the remaining days... ending up in hospital is not the outcome we want to hear!
Having said that - hope the 5" foam gives you an armchair ride to the end!!
All the best,
Dave

[Bill Hawthorne]

Brian:

Go! Go! Go!

...A great Einstein quote for you, appropriate to the topic of compassion - and passion for others.


"A human being is a part of a whole, called by us _universe_, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." Albert Einstein

everything we do matters!


Bill

[BlindManNoFish]

To be clear about this point, I would like to mention more particularly why I made it.

It has seemed to me in the past that we live in a very aseptic world; that we rarely see the things that in some ways ought to jolt us into a sense of the reality we seldom think about. Car accidents are one such example. They happen so frequently, are one of the leading causes of death in the age range of 1 to 35, and yet rarely do we ever see the aftermath--so quick we are to ferry people off in ambulances and sweep up the broken glass. We don't see the hazards until it is, in some ways, too late.

When I went to work for a hospital in Buffalo, a year ago this February, I began to see these things on a daily basis. Working a renal unit, a stroke unit, another dedicated to surgeries for hips, knees, and spinal fusions, and most recently a medical intensive care unit. To see 40 or 50 patients per day, in various states of disrepair/despondency, much less to see and talk to their families--this gets you thinking if you're the type to think. I imagine I'm at least that--the type to think.

And so, on the silent rides from Batavia to Buffalo and back again, 40 or 45 minutes either way depending on traffic (which I fully realize is faster than it ought to be) I think. I don't blast the radio and figure that anything will be accomplished other than to wind up in the hospital some day with a sign over my head which reads "patient is HOH/deaf." I wonder about a lot of things, and I come up with my own logical explanations (that is, explanations that are to me logical, if not technically so) for why I ought to do this or that. The statement about the hospital was exactly one of those things; I don't have any delusions about dying in my sleep someday after reaching a ripe old age. I don't know how I will die, except that it appears to me somewhat likely that I will do so very much like most people do--in a hospital or on the way to one.

When I made the statement, the 1% jesting part of it was that I work for a hospital, so there is no doubt in my mind that that is where I will end up at the end of this. The other 99% was simply to say that in my view, we most often end up there when we've used up our time for better or for worse, and considering that we don't know when our time will be up, it perhaps should be now rather than later that we put our efforts in.

[Kristine Strasburger]

Please contact the Lance Armstrong Foundation for support and information about living with and beyond cancer. Go to www.livestrong.org/cancersupport to read the emotional, physical and practical topics related to cancer treatment. Please also view the survivor stories. You are not alone!

LIVESTRONG,

The Lance Armstrong Foundation

Posted by Lance Armstrong Foundation on Friday, January 25, 2008 at 11:56 AM

[Kristine Strasburger]

Day 25...+79,694 to 2,365,190. 306 meters short of what was scheduled for today, taking a couple extra minutes off prior to last set before midnight. Thanks go to my boss, who, in addition to being the best I've worked for, trusted me enough to grant me half the day as paid time off without even asking why I needed it. That means I'm comparatively well rested and will enter day 26 with a head of steam in the next few minutes. Total row time: 187 hr 45 minutes, average pace ~2:22.9/500.

Posted by Brian on Friday, January 25, 2008 at 9:45 PM

[Yankeerunner]

That means I'm comparatively well rested and will enter day 26 with a head of steam in the next few minutes. Total row time: 187 hr 45 minutes, average pace ~2:22.9/500.

Go Brian!

[bg]

go brian..you are such an inspiration...barbara team luna-tics and breast cancer survivor

[PJM]

GO BRIAN!!!!




PJM

[Kristine Strasburger]

I have never posted a comment on myspace before, but I think what you're doing is so extraordinary that I just had to write. Several of my friends have had breast cancer, and thanks to better awareness and treatments, most of them have survived. Every effort to fight this disease, no matter how large or small, has made a difference. You are now a part of that, and the most impressive thing about all this is that you've done it alone, without the support of a team or organization. I'm sure the publicity about your efforts will continue to grow and will bring even more good results. If you ever decide to do this again (maybe for a future team challenge?), I bet you will find that others would be eager to join your team and work with you. On the personal side, you have inspired me to row more than I ever have before - though it's only a small fraction of what you're doing, I have already passed my goal for the month and am working toward a new one. Carry on!

Posted by Susan on Saturday, January 26, 2008 at 7:08 AM

[Kristine Strasburger]

Day 26...+152,293 to 2,517,483--my third best day. 78.18% done. Woke up feeling terrible this morning, ate, got back in bed for a bit and contemplated things some more. Talked to my father on the phone for a few minutes, confessing that I was on the point of considering Motrin to cut down swelling/irritation especially in/around my knees. He reminded me that doing so would mask symptoms that I might better pay attention to. I thought about that, and, not liking the thought of 'buying on credit' with respect to my health (and also having nothing like Motrin in the house aside from baby aspirin) abandoned the thought. Sciatic impingement on my right leg was quite a bit better today; the biggest issue turned out to be gripping the handle for so long...12 hr 15 min, rounding out a full 200 hrs. It looks like I'll need 56 or 57 more hours in the remaining 5 days to finish it out. Tomorrow? Church, to thank God for getting me this far and ask that He keep me in one fairly solid piece for the remainder. Just 5 days...it seems so close.

Posted by Brian on Saturday, January 26, 2008 at 9:18 PM

[Kristine Strasburger]

Hi Brian,
thinking of you in the home stretch. There is a Chinese proverb: 90% of the journey is half way. Sometimes its harder to see the peak when you are so close to it. Keep it up! Jane

Posted by jane on Sunday, January 27, 2008 at 11:39 AM

[Kristine Strasburger]

Brian,

I hope you were refreshed today.

During the final week of Basic Training in the Army you have to pass a physical test: push-ups, sit-ups and a 2 mile run. If you don’t pass, then you are stuck there to recycle into the next Basic Training class, starting all over again. Needless to say, nobody wants to have that happen.

I had injured my leg a few weeks prior to this final test, but did not really know the extent of my injury. Somehow I convinced the Drill Sergeants to allow me to take the final physical test even though I was still on crutches (I was able to get around without the crutches, but was supposed to be using them to keep load bearing off the leg.)

On that day, the push-ups went okay; the sit-ups were not quite as good; and then came the 2 mile run. Every step hurt. I started that run knowing that a few minutes of suffering were all that stood between me and another 8 weeks of Basic Training. I was determined to finish that run.

It was only a short 2 miles around the track, but it seemed like an eternity. I was doing my best to just keep going; willing my body to move by sheer determination of mind. By the start of the second mile I was the only one left on the track (that’s how slowly I was going.) Then, from the sidelines, one of the Drill Sergeants came running up alongside me. He didn’t do any “cheering me on”, so to speak. No, “You can do it….just a little bit farther…” or anything like that. He just ran with me; alongside me the rest of the way to the finish line.

I think of this every time I face a challenge. I think that Drill Sergeant did exactly what Jesus Christ does for us during challenges. He is there, going alongside us to the finish line. He doesn’t cheer us along…he allows us to draw upon his strength and very real presence…so that we are able to endure whatever we face, and that not alone.

Philippians 4:13 - “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

p.s. Weeks later I found out I had a stress-fractured femur - no wonder it hurt!

Posted by Kristine on Sunday, January 27, 2008 at 5:44 PM