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Stand Up 2 Cancer

As many of you probably know, tomorrow evening, all 3 major television networks are airing a special titled “Stand Up 2 Cancer”. Despite the fact that this is yet another place that fails to recognize orphan cancers like mine, they have good intentions and anything that brings money to additional cancer research will eventually impact the research and funding towards orphan cancers. I guess in some ways we are fortunate because drugs and treatment options for colon cancer often provide a little help for Appendix Cancer. It’s not quite the same as money dedicated to research strictly on Pseudomyxoma Peritonei, but hey, beggars can’t be choosy can we? So I thought I would share with you, what I recently posted on the interactive section of the website www.standup2cancer.org :

I jumped out of an airplane this past weekend

Got your attention? Good, because it’s true. I did jump out of a plane on Saturday, as did Pat. And no, it wasn’t on fire or crashing – we jumped on purpose. Tandem skydives to be exact at Jumptown in central Massachusetts. And it was AMAZING. And I will do it again. Who knows I may go so far as to get certified to jump on my own? But for now I’m still feeling the adrenaline rush from free falling at 13,000 feet. INCREDIBLE… Breathtaking (literally – I couldn’t breath for the first several hundred feet)….Totally AWESOME. Get the picture? I loved it! Pat did too – enough to agree to go again.

How did we end up jumping out of a perfectly good plane on a beautiful Saturday morning in August? I think most of you know that this was probably not Pat’s idea – it wasn’t, I take full credit. And I told him he did not have to do it with me – it was something I wanted to do. Yes I preferred if he was up there with me, but it wasn’t a requirement. I know he isn’t fond of heights, OK so he’s a bit terrified except when hiking or skiing, but take away the solid mountain of earth beneath your feet and it’s a different story. Poor guy – first the Eiffel Tower now skydiving – he must really love me or something. But he went willingly and in the final images of each of us prior to leaving the plane, he looks calm considering he is about to plummet several thousand feet in a matter of seconds – perhaps it’s because his eyes are closed and he (smartly) decided not to look down 13,000 feet. Me, not so much. This was my idea and even up into the plane as I watched others jump before me, I was smiling and enjoying myself. Then the first of the 3 tandem divers went, then Pat went, and next thing I knew I had to walk 3 feet from the end of the bench to the open cargo door. Yea, right. They have you cross your arms across your chest, to prevent you from grabbing the bar and stopping the jump. I don’t think I could have moved mine to grab that bar, though the thought definitely crossed my mind. And I didn’t walk those 3 feet – uhuhh. Al, the certified (40 years experience) jumper I was attached to basically carried me. And then there we were, at the open cargo door, the last ones to go. My cameraman was already outside the plane door, catching images of me that show a look of sheer terror on my face. I was never so afraid in my life – nothing and I mean nothing I have gone through, cancer included was as terrifying as standing there knowing I was about to jump, or to be more accurate be carried out into the open skies. My eyes are open and my face, well you really have to see it to fully understand. Al decided it would make a good video if once we stepped out of the plane we back flipped – in my mind I’m thinking, what happens if I throw up? Where does it go? Does it hit Al in the face and what will he do to me if I do that to him? Oh wait a minute, throwing up isn’t an option – I can’t breath – what if I lose control on the other end? Do I have a change of pants with me? Are they used to getting these jumpsuits back wet? Or even worse – what if I get hit with a bout of diarrhea…yikes…what did I eat last night and this morning? Is it going to hit me? Get the picture? Oh yea and this all happened in a matter of say 15 seconds – I’m a fast thinker.