Day 70

The short story: We made it to Anchorage!!

The slightly longer story: We got up at 6:30a this morning, packed our bags and grouped up for the ride dedication. It was by far the most powerful ride dedication we have had all summer, and I think almost all of us were in tears for at least some of it. When it was my turn, I dedicated my ride to Barb Grisham, the wife of Paster Dan who is currently battling cancer. I then took a minute to tell everyone about my application. On my application, I wrote that I rode for six people: my four grandparents, my aunt Rose and my dad. But after that I added that I had enough anger in me to fuel an entire ride to Alaska because of something that happened to me a few years ago.

About three years ago, I went into the doctor thinking I had a cyst on my shoulder. He thought I had skin cancer. Being told at 24 that you have skin cancer (let alone any other age) will make your life seem to stop in its tracks. I didn't really know what to do, so I called my mom. Moms are great resources when you have problems and you don't know what to do about them. The doctor scheduled me to see a surgeon, and the appointment was set for two weeks from that day. In the interim time, my brother bought me an umbrella hat so I didn't have to be in the sun and my mom started sending me all sorts of links to websites that had clothes with high spfs. The day rolled around when I went to see the surgeon, knowing that he was likely going to do something to me that I didn't want to happen. Instead of just doing a biopsy, he cut the whole offending piece of my shoulder out and stitched me closed. I was pretty traumatized. I went home and sat around worried for a couple days before one of my roommates told me that I should just start calling the doctor and asking what the results were. Why the doctor had told me I had to wait for more than a week for the results I have no idea. I called and was able to get through to a nurse. She told me I didn't have cancer. I had a cyst and scar tissue. While I should have been sighing with relief, I was actually really really angry. For those who don't know me well, I get annoyed but I very rarely get angry, so to make me angry you have to have done something bad. I was angry for being misdiagnosed. I was angry for the doctor not telling me he misdiagnosed me. And a couple months later, as my scar turned into a keloid scar and kept getting bigger, I was even more angry that he messed up my body and never apologized for it. I didn't (and still don't) understand why doctors are so eager to put people under the knife and do more than is necessary (in my case a punch biopsy would have been a lot smaller that what was actually done). And I really didn't understand why there was not a non-invasive technique to decipher cysts from blisters from cancer from tumors or what have you.

Fast forward to this spring. I enrolled in my first biomedical engineering core class for grad school. We had to do term projects and many of the students in the class did their projects on something related to their research. It turned out that several people in the class were doing research on ultrasound...and its use in detecting tumors versus cysts. So to return to that other reason why I rode this summer. I rode for my classmates. They are the researchers developing and refining the technology that will prevent cases like mine from happening. I am so grateful for their work, and I am proud that we are donating to organizations like MD Anderson and the American Cancer Society who are helping fund this type of research.

I was one of the last people to actually leave the church this morning because I decided to ride sweep today. Dane and Alberto also accompanied me (whether or not that was intentional I don't know). The first segment of the ride went very quickly as we were talking about all our plans for Anchorage and our excitement to see our families. We had at least one flat and then it started raining, so we were soaked and covered in mud...somehow though this didn't affect people's spirits. We arrived at the first rest stop and celebrated the last rest stop we as a team had to man. We thought our next rest stop would be 20 miles later, but after a few miles on the road, we discovered that our next rest stop, which was to be hosted by the Texas Exes, was actually less than 10 miles from the previous stop. We rolled into Mirror Lake and were greeted by friends, family and a bunch of UT alum. We also received the gift of non-roaming cell phone reception and I called my parents to let them know I was almost there.

A UT alum led us the rest of the way into Alaska Pacific University, the official finish line of the ride. We wandered around bike paths through Anchorage and after what seemed like forever, we finally arrived. We were again greeted by friends and family. We all jumped off our bikes, exchanged hugs and did one last haka in celebration.

The Texas Exes had prepared a feast for us and we sat and dined with our family and friends. Chris, Keat and others got up and said a few words. The president of APU even came out to thank and congratulate us. I was interviewed by ABC (?) and was actually on the news in Anchorage (and I believe Austin) either that night or the next morning.

While all of this celebrating was occurring, it started raining more and more. While some thought this was a bit depressing, I found it oddly appropriate. The day we left Austin it had been pouring down rain and we thought we might have to just drive everyone out to Cedar Park. So we started as we finished...in the rain.

After dinner I got to take a very hot, much appreciated shower. Many people went out for a night on the town to celebrate. Todd, Brooke and I went to the Moose's Tooth and had appetizers and drinks. We shared fun stories, laughed, complained and compared. For me, it was great to sit with them and review the trip. Sometime after midnight we headed back to the gym to sleep. I hadn't been in a great mood earlier in the day for various reasons, but by the time I fell asleep, I was a much happier camper.

Thank you all for your support this summer. It has been greatly appreciated. I hope you have all enjoyed reading about the trip and were able to get a sense of what life is like on the road.

I now return to my irregularly scheduled blogs.