It was a tough spring around here with my recent MS diagnosis and all the associated bills that have been finding their way to my desk. What I needed was a road trip. Life can change in an instant, make the most of it.
So May 24th arrives and I jump in my trusty Fiat 500 and off to the Indy 500 I go. No real plan, no ticket, just flying by the seat of my pants. Arrived the morning of the race, parked reasonably close to the track, got a good ticket from a scalper below face value a couple of hours before the race. Had a great afternoon, sat with nice people. Success!
After the race I decide I'll head to Dayton for the night and visit the US Air Force museum on Monday. On the way I start to feel fatigued, really fatigued. I stop about 50 miles short of Dayton in Centerville IN and call it a day. I figure the MS has kicked my butt and some rest will do me well. Check into a cheap Super8 and off to sleep I go....
Four hours later I'm in the back of an ambulance on my way to the ER. Ruptured appendix AND when the pathology report comes back I find out I had colon cancer (Good news: what they found hadn't spread). Add one week long stay in the hospital to my trip. They discharged me on June 1st.
After discharge I catch a cab back to the motel where this all started and find that the folks that run the place kept my car safe for the entire week. Best people ever!
After staying in a hotel near the hospital for a few days I finally managed to find my way home in Connecticut on June 7.
Believe it or not I did manage to make it to the Air Force museum where I spent the day riding around on a electric scooter. Even better I manged to catch one night of racing at Eldora Speedway.
I guess the moral of the story is to keep finding ways to enjoy every day. Because in the end I've got some good memories from this nightmare.
Next year I'm watching the 500 on TV.
(sorry for venting)
