First, I want to thank everyone for the kind words.
Second, stay in touch with your body, listen to the signals it sends to you.
DO NOT to ignore symptoms, even if you think it's nothing to worry about. Inventory them and if the symptoms repeat themselves or other symptoms present themselves, connect the dots and seek the appropriate medical attention, especially if there's a medical history in your family. Don't ignore signals, medical or architectural.
In the ultimate, you have to be your own patient advocate.
Trust your instincts, don't ignore them.
My determination, my stubborness helped me in my battle with Stage III cancer. Whether it's a form of denial or just part of my fabric or a combination of the two, I don't know, but, it's served me well in life, with a few bumps along the way.
A sense of humor is also a great ally.
When they put me on the operating table they asked me to place my arms alongside my body with my thumbs under my body, which I did.
Then they began wrapping my arms to my body with a sheet, immobilizing me. I didn't like that. I didn't like being confined and unable to move.
(read, loss of control)
I asked them why they were doing this to me as I didn't recall this when I had my last procedure 14 years ago. They said it was to prevent me from rocking and rolling off the table.
I told them to go down to the pharmacy and get a dozen Viagra pills, give them to me, and in a half an hour I assured them that I wouldn't be able to roll anywhere.
They thought I had a unique sense of humor.
Just so you don't think I'm totally crazy, on Saturday I went to my office for a few hours, then I went and chipped and putted for a half an hour.
Sunday, I hit about 60 lob wedges from 20 and 40 yards and then hit 10 Sand Wedges, Pitching wedges, 8, 6 and 4 irons, then another 20 Lob wedges.
Monday morning I swung a weighted iron and felt great, so I decided to go ahead and play.
I think there's a similarity in managing your medical condition and managing a round of golf, at least for me it seems that way.
First, you have the ultimate responsibility for your health and your score.
Second, I believe in positive reinforcement to almost total exclusion of any negative information.
When I was undergoing full dose chemotherapy they started to describe all the things that could happen to me. I told them to stop, which they did.
I told them that the same chemo drugs couldn't affect 800,000 annual patients in the same way. They agreed. I then told them to ONLY tell me what I had to be cautious about MEDICALLY. And that my body would react uniquely to the chemo drugs and that I didn't want to be predisposed to adverse side affects that might never happen. I wanted to stay positive.
Setting goals is also important, striving to achieve them is equally important
I held my GCA.com get together at Baltusrol five weeks after I had major cancer surgery in 2004. While my wife was upset with me for working hard to insure that the event went off smoothly, she was really upset when I had her drive me to NGLA two weeks after surgery to see that they had removed all of the trees on the golf course.
Stubborness at its finest hour
I consider the round I shot at National when I was in the end stages of post operative full dose chemotherapy to be one of my finest achievements in golf. I had lost 70+ pounds, couldn't walk 50 feet without getting fatiqued, couldn't get a long iron more than 10 feet off the ground, yet I scored rather well.
I think it was a matter of being comfortable in my environment.
I love NGLA. I think I understand it and I think the great CBM designed it to accomodate higher handicap players, so I took some of the alternate routes he offered, with some modifications.
When you can't hit a ball 180 yards off the tee and your 4-iron barely does 150, you have to ACCEPT your limitations. At least, that's what Clint Eastwood told me. Once you accept them, you have to compensate for them by altering your plan of attack and by taking the clubs that will enable you to execute your revised strategy.
As I began to gain weight and strength, the biggest problem was trying to muscle the ball instead of swinging within myself.
Yesterday, I just tried to swing within myself because I didn't want to strain anything, muscles, stitches, etc., etc.. And, I hit the ball more solid in doing so. I hit some incredible three woods and 2-irons. I hit one 2-iron shot that may have been amongst the best shots I ever hit, because I didn't try to kill it. I also played the shot such that a miss-hit wouldn't be disastrous.
For some reason I've enjoyed really good rounds on a course that I was playing for the first time. Part of that I attribute to NOT knowing where the trouble is. When I get a caddy I tell him that I only want to know where to hit the ball, and NOT where NOT to hit the ball. That's important, for ME.
When I'm on the tee I visually receive the tactical signals, intended by the architect, based on the presentation of the features he designed and built.
I then ask the caddy where I should hit it. Most of the time we agree.
On the times we don't, I ask additional questions.
Approaching greens, I go through the same process, but am less likely to ask the caddy where to hit it unless the signals aren't perfectly clear.
I'm also a margin player, that is, if there appears to be trouble short, I'd rather take a little more club. Or, if there's trouble flanking the green, I'd prefer to be short or long of that trouble if possible.
I also like to experiment and hit "ginky" shots.
I think it's fun.
When you can create an unusual shot in your mind, and then execute it, that's really satisfying, irrespective of the score you make.
There are so many ways to get from Point A to Point B, you just have to do it YOUR way.
To be clear, just because I may recognize the signals and make the proper decision, doesn't mean that I'm going to execute properly, but, if I've built in ample margins for that, the consequences aren't so severe, and I can make a reasonable score.
GOLF is a great medicine.
The desire to play is positive.
It places many of the issues and problems we face on the sidelines, and allows us to focus on our passion, playing the game.
Remember, you CAN'T play enough golf.
Thanks