Eight months after he was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma, Nick P. entered its local Dodge dealership in Colorado Springs, launched a few tires and drove with a new 2013 Ram Heavy Duty truck brilliant.
he pilot the month nearly 800 miles next to the Phoenix International Raceway, where he will meet his brothers and watch the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Advocare 500 race on Sunday before Veterans Day.
There is not sitting at home feeling sorry for himself. Far from there.
There will be standing and cheering, hooting and hollering, against his least favorite race car driver.
"I like someone beating the No. 18 [Kyle Busch]," Nick said Asbestos.com his home in Colorado Springs. "I'm looking forward to it." His name is withheld for privacy.
Nick, 62, is a tested combat veteran US Navy, longtime NASCAR fan and a strong will , do -it-yourselfer who slowly adapting to life as a survivor of mesothelioma. It was first diagnosed in July 2012.
"My life is a kind of dead right now" he said. "I'm not sure what my next step will be, but I'm not going to sit in disant` woe is me. Why do I have this cancer? The fact is, it's there. And it there is nothing I can do to change that, so I'm not going to sit and cry about it. I make plans. "
making future Plans
After the race in Phoenix, he promised his wife a week in a nice beachfront hotel in San Diego, where he has been since he left the Navy there are nearly 40 years. He also tentative plans for a spring cruise to Alaska.
He recently finished his last round of chemotherapy, and was last PET analysis showed slight tumor growth. It is still considering his next move, the possibility of finding a specialty mesothelioma center to make sure he gets the treatment he needs.
He shared some of its concerns and possible options during a session mesothelioma support group led by Asbestos.com in October. The sessions take place every month, but this was the first for him. He found almost invigorating, offering some advice for others in the group.
"It was good for me to talk with other people who have this disease. I know there were days (initially after diagnosis) when I do nothing, then went to bed feeling horrible. I could easily sit in my chair, watching TV and never move until I get up for another cup of coffee, "he said. "But I realized, you have to get past, push yourself and go live your life. It makes you feel so much better."
Frustrated by the slowdown
Nick found particularly frustrating to physically slow down as a concession to the disease. This is a guy who has renovated and enlarged his own house, turning it a home of 1000 square feet to 00 square feet, do a lot of carpentry, electrical and plumbing work himself.
He also spent 30 years in the maintenance department at a local hospital, the last eight years as supervisor, learn to fix almost anything. He repaired his own cars at home, do all the work handyman for him and his neighbors.
He recently struggled to pay someone else to help repair in his garage, then pay someone else to rebuild the sprinkler system and landscape of his front yard ?? chores that would have done much better himself.
He was too jack of all trades Navy ,. He called them "four years of my college" when he served as a technician of the boiler, mostly working below deck on a pair of ships during the Vietnam War. It was there where he with initially probably exposed to asbestos which eventually led to his diagnosis of mesothelioma.
He bravely served his country on the destroyer USS Everett F. Larson and ammunition carrier USS Kiska. his crew was part of mining Haiphong Port forcing North Vietnam to the negotiating table with South Vietnam.
proud of his Navy service
He always wears his pin Navy proudly, on the ball cap he will wear in Phoenix during the weekend Veterans Day. He proudly talks about his service in the Navy.
"We did not know how much asbestos was for you. He was an excellent insulator, a great product for the Navy to use, "he said." My time in the Navy was a good time. He taught me a lot. "
Although was given the diagnosis of typical 6 to 18 months to live, Nick believes he will overcome this prediction easily. His diagnosis was made earlier than most because of an unrelated lung problems that ultimately led to the shocking diagnosis. His wife, Terry, a former intensive care nurse who guided substantially through the process, help to understand what the doctors and nurses are trying to accomplish.
"When you are treated this kind of diagnosis, you really do not know where to turn, what to do. She was a great help for me," he said. " I learned more than I wanted to know about asbestos, mesothelioma, about the whole world of cancer. "
Her younger sister, who introduced him to his wife there over 35 years, was diagnosed with brain cancer, just two months after he was diagnosed. They supported each other, too, help each other through the process.
"We are talking about who will outdo the other, that will survive the other," he said. "She joked that I would not be the only one in the family with a problem, so she joined me."
Nick can not move as he once did, but that did not stop him trying. He made allowances, but it is far from having given up. There is no washing of the truck. And he sees nothing unusual about his plan to shop in Phoenix, something he has not done for many years.
"I had someone say" I can not believe you just went out and bought a nice new truck like that. Why would you do now [with this disease]? "He laughed." I said, 'because I wanted to. I bought a new coffee machine, too. It's just the way I am. I'm not giving up yet. "
