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I want to take this opportunity to thank all the people who have responded with kindness, well wishes and prayers and contributions to our medical necessities.
To say the events in my life since February has been a life changing experience would be an understatement of some magnitude.
I have sent private communications to those who have made contributions to assist in our medical needs, and the extent to which these contributions have been helpful is beyond words to express.
But there is something that I need to say to each and every one one of you, and while it is something I find extremely difficult to express, it is at the same time something I must get off my chest.
In February 2010, after a year long adventure with back pain which forced me to eventually curtail almost all of my racing activities, I was told by the head of neuro-surgery at The University of South Florida/Moffitt Cancer Center that I had a large tumor in one of my lower vertebrae.
In February I underwent two major back surgeries at Moffitt to remove the tumor and to rebuild my back. I have been at home recovering for the last three weeks. I am doing good with the recovery.
Over the course of the last two to three years, I have found myself quite disgruntled with the whole racing deal and as many of you know, have moved away from much of the former activities I had previously been involved in.
The next thing I know I am in a major cancer center, not sure if I am going to even make it home alive, much less resume any semblance of my former life. My children and other family members and close friends came to my rescue, both emotionally and physically.
But something else happened which has changed my life forever.
You.
The outpouring of support from members of the racing community has completely overwhelmed me and not only made me confront some of my own wretchedness, but has given me a hope and joy in people I have not had ever in my life, at least not as an adult.
To read the letters sent to me, the comments posted on racing's message boards and the phone calls wishing me well, have made me realize what a truly lucky person I am.
I still have a fight on my hands physically, dealing with the possibility of a return of cancer, but I am in far better shape now. Knowing that I have you on my side has given me not only a bigger sword with which to fight, it has given me the courage to fight the fight.
In the hospital there was a point where I lost my courage and it took a combination of the brute force of my family and the love expressed on these message forum pages to rekindle the courage needed to survive the brutal nature of the surgeries.
For that I am forever in your debt. You have given me hope. You have given me love.
"And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to the love you make"
-Lennon/McCartney
To say the events in my life since February has been a life changing experience would be an understatement of some magnitude.
I have sent private communications to those who have made contributions to assist in our medical needs, and the extent to which these contributions have been helpful is beyond words to express.
But there is something that I need to say to each and every one one of you, and while it is something I find extremely difficult to express, it is at the same time something I must get off my chest.
In February 2010, after a year long adventure with back pain which forced me to eventually curtail almost all of my racing activities, I was told by the head of neuro-surgery at The University of South Florida/Moffitt Cancer Center that I had a large tumor in one of my lower vertebrae.
In February I underwent two major back surgeries at Moffitt to remove the tumor and to rebuild my back. I have been at home recovering for the last three weeks. I am doing good with the recovery.
Over the course of the last two to three years, I have found myself quite disgruntled with the whole racing deal and as many of you know, have moved away from much of the former activities I had previously been involved in.
The next thing I know I am in a major cancer center, not sure if I am going to even make it home alive, much less resume any semblance of my former life. My children and other family members and close friends came to my rescue, both emotionally and physically.
But something else happened which has changed my life forever.
You.
The outpouring of support from members of the racing community has completely overwhelmed me and not only made me confront some of my own wretchedness, but has given me a hope and joy in people I have not had ever in my life, at least not as an adult.
To read the letters sent to me, the comments posted on racing's message boards and the phone calls wishing me well, have made me realize what a truly lucky person I am.
I still have a fight on my hands physically, dealing with the possibility of a return of cancer, but I am in far better shape now. Knowing that I have you on my side has given me not only a bigger sword with which to fight, it has given me the courage to fight the fight.
In the hospital there was a point where I lost my courage and it took a combination of the brute force of my family and the love expressed on these message forum pages to rekindle the courage needed to survive the brutal nature of the surgeries.
For that I am forever in your debt. You have given me hope. You have given me love.
"And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to the love you make"
-Lennon/McCartney
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