Because of the snow and ice, I haven’t been riding my bike like the Seattle-ers/Seattle-ites. I set up a bike on an indoor trainer to do my rides inside about a month ago. So far I have completed one hour long ride. Pretty pathetic.
In the mean time, I am continuing my weekend long runs with my friend Corrie and watching the snow slowly melt beneath our feet. We run about an hour or 6-8 miles (11 one time) on the back roads or trails of Sitka. It’s March and the roads will start to clear soon. I’ll get outside on the bike then.
I tried to find a picture of our usual running route. This last weekend it was beautiful and sunny. We actually had to wear our sunglasses because of the light reflecting off the snow! Here is the description of the area instead of a picture.
Got out yesterday for a spin around Mercer Island. It was a beautiful day in Seattle and the rain held off just until I got home. Even got a chance to catch the end of the Tour of California. The tunnel leading to I-90 looks like the entrance to a fortress.
I got in 36 miles averaging 15mph. My average cadence was 96 which for a 2:20 ride means the pedals spun over 13,000 times.
20 plus today on the Gilman. Averaged over 17 miles per hour and went from the lower parking lot of Magnuson to Wayne Golf Course in 1 hour and 10 minute. Not a bad ride. Felt good to keep the cadence up for that long.
Will be out of the saddle for a week as Beth and I are off to the Florida Keys for a little sunshine! YEAH! Will try to get some swimming in, maybe a group swim with some manatees!
Today’s commute home was a good one. I love riding on Sundays as it is relatively quiet, certainly a lot fewer trucks on lower Spokane St! Made it a long ride home, 13.1 miles, and went around the point along Alki and then south again to meet up with Erskine for the climb up to the house. I have to work on some climbing strength as that was a slog! Maybe I can convince Michael and Mary to head out with me sometime and we can do a nice long climb, say up into the mountains one sunny day… What do you say you two?
Doing some quick figuring from my averages now, distances 10 miles or more, my 15 mph average will make the 70 miler almost 5 hours… That has to come down!
I recently sent out a second message to our supporters and have heard back from a few already with enthusiastic cheers for our effort and lots of love sent towards Beth. It feels great to be rallying around her like this, and I know for myself the riding is giving me a little more energy in life lately too!
Pass on the word to your friends and family too! Team Bear thanks you in advance for your help and support.
According to the American Cancer Society, about 21,000 malignant tumors of the brain or spinal cord will be diagnosed during 2008 in the United States. With about 50% of them being Glioma type tumors and less than 50% of those being anaplastic astrocytomas (the kind that Beth has been diagnosed with. About 13,000 people will die from these tumors. This would account for about 1.5% of all cancers and 2.3% of all expected cancer-related deaths in 2008. Malignant tumors are most common in adults ages 45-55, and affect more men than women. Anaplastic astrocytomas occur more often in younger adults.
Last month I wrote about the fact that the first round of chemo treatment that Beth started last year was determined to be ineffective. She has been through a couple of rounds now of her new treatment. The new protocol is somewhat new in the worlds of brain tumor treatment and there have been some great anecdotal stories about its success. Hard data though isn’t yet available from most sources.
Twice a month we will be making a trip to the hospital for infusions of her new chemotherapy drugs. Once a month it will be a combination of two different drugs, Avastin and Carboplatin. Then two weeks later we will be back for a single infusion of the Avastin. Both of these drugs have been around, used with other forms of cancer as treatments and have been recently been approved by insurance companies and Medicare for use with some types of brain cancer. The FDA hasn’t officially approved the combination, however reviews are in progress to have Avastin approved.
Avastin is a drug from the cytostatic group, and works to interfere with a tumors ability to develop blood vessels to it, effectively starving the tumor. It also makes the tumor more receptable to any cytotoxic agents, like Carboplatin, helping to kill tumor cells.
Our days at the hospital can be long when we go for the combination of infusions. The first time we went in we were there for 6 ½ hours. We hope that those times shorten as the process becomes easier for Beth to tolerate the drugs. The days where only the Avastin is administered we expect to keep under 4 hours, providing all is going well in the various departments that have to interact during the treatment (lab, pharmacy and the infusion unit). One nice thing about the location of where we spend those hours is that they have a great view of Montlake and Mt Rainier!
One other fact about Beth’s current treatment… Avastin is possibly one of the most expensive drugs out on the market right now. We just got the first notice of billing from the UW; almost $9,000 each treatment! So that would total almost $18,000 each month! Remains to be seen of course how much the insurance will reimburse. Good thing Beth’s treatment team worked on getting the pre-authorization before hand! I feel sick thinking about those who don’t have insurance, or can’t get it covered….
Went for a quick 45 minute ride at St Edwards Park and Big Finn Hill with Luna. With the snow still falling and a chilly 37d in Kenmore we had a blast in the woods and mud. Not sure what kind of mileage we put in but the mud on Luna and my face says it was a good time!
Luna picked up all that mud on her face because she insisted on running directly behind me through the whole ride. She doesn’t like to lag behind!
The morning commute was chilly today, but it looks like it’s going to be a snowy ride home. Since I’m too lazy to swap my pedals from road bike to mountain bike I’ll be braving today’s snow a little less than prepared.
Today’s commute home was a good one. I love riding on Sundays as it is relatively quiet, certainly a lot fewer trucks on lower Spokane St! Made it a long ride home, 13.1 miles, and went around the point along Alki and then south again to meet up with Erskine for the climb up to the house. I have to work on some climbing strength as that was a slog! Maybe I can convince Michael and Mary to head out with me sometime and we can do a nice long climb, say up into the mountains one sunny day… What do you say you two?
The morning commute was chilly today, but it looks like it’s going to be a snowy ride home. Since I’m too lazy to swap my pedals from road bike to mountain bike I’ll be braving today’s snow a little less than prepared.
