Off season maintenance, don’t forget about your health…..

[Alan Roehrich]

Originally Posted by MR DERBY CITY

Engine, trans, rear gears, shocks, will all be scrutinized during the off season. Guys, how bout a health check up ? Are you visiting the doctor at least once a year for blood work ? Are you getting the minimum of TWO dental cleanings per year. A HEALTHY heart starts with your teeth. When you turn 45 it’s a good idea to get that FIRST COLONOSCOPY ….it’s not the COLONOSCOPY that you fear, it’s the prep work the night before. It’s always a good time of the year to get that PROSTATE checked out ….LOL !!!!!!!!!!! I have quite a few friends who are long time smokers. Did you know that for 150 bucks you can get a cat scan screening for lung cancer ? A little preventative maintenance can go a long way …..And for the WOMEN racers , do you think I forgot about you ??? don’t put it off another year, please get the Mammogram …..We can’t race without you '!!!!!!!!

MJ,
Well said my brother. There but for the grace of God go I. Or, as one of my oncologists told me a month ago, "A few years ago, as healthy as you are otherwise, and as good as your habits are, I wouldn't have been able to help you."


I'm getting the second chance, a second chance that too many haven't gotten, and too many still won't get. But if I had kept waiting.....and still, I waited way too long, stupidly, foolishly. I just went through thirty-five radiation treatments, on my neck, throat, and mouth. Five days a week, seven straight weeks. I've lost seventy pounds. I can barely taste food, and what I can taste, tastes terrible. I've had several chemo treatments. I will be MONTHS, even YEARS recovering from this.



I spent Thanksgiving home, too sick and tired to travel to see family. I'm sitting here, when I should be packing and loading the truck for the PRI Show, I'm not going, for the first time this century, actually more than 27 years. I'm not even sure that I'll be able to enjoy Christmas gatherings and dinners. And mostly because of my own stupidity, because this could have been easier, and been over a lot sooner.



I still have half a dozen follow up visits, and scans, and we're not even going to be sure that I'm okay for a couple of months. But God has blessed me, my prognosis is great.



We've lost too many already, because we're not taking advantage of early detection, we're not taking care of ourselves, and we're not paying attention. WE convince ourselves. I know. I did it. I knew something was wrong. I convinced myself nothing was wrong. It didn't show up overnight. It never really does.





So far, I'm fortunate, as bad as this treatment and recovery has been. I'm grateful to my God, my family, and my doctors. I didn't post this because I want sympathy. We had decided NOT to post this, and to keep this a private matter. I don't LIKE posting this, it's not something that I wanted to talk about. Honestly, I'd MUCH rather that no one else ever knew. But I'm sitting here watching and counting members of my racing family that I will never see on this Earth again, because they weren't as fortunate, or didn't go get checked. It doesn't have to be that way. Don't LET it be that way.