Wednesday, July 21, 2021
Cancer sucks! Long story short, although my cancer had metastasized to my lungs many years ago, it remained stable..... until 2021. One pesky nodule was slowly growing so my Ohio State University oncologist decided to use radiation to cook it. Four treatments were prescribed, but one needed to take place during my Alaska trip timeline. Therefore, the oncologist decided to do three longer treatments before I left the state.
The radiation technicians asked what type of music to play during the treatments and I immediately responded, "Classic Rock!" I will never forget my first treatment. As they laid me gently on the irradiator table Ted Nugent's Stranglehold began grinding out of their sound system. There is no such thing as coincidence and I took this as God smiling and nodding his head in my direction. The song lasted eight minutes and twenty-four seconds as did my time on the table. No coincidence there. My last treatment took place two days before I got on the plane to The Last Frontier. Fortunately, I experienced no pain, fatigue or skin irritation from these treatments. Alaska here we come!
My daughter Laura, our twin grandsons and my two dogs dropped us off at Dayton International Airport. After a few "lump in our throat" good-byes, we headed for check-in. If you've read any of my past trip journals, you know I despise air travel. Long TSA lines, checked baggage fees, crammed overhead storage bins, limited leg room, and "puddle jumper to the hub to the sardine jet" concept just sucks. And then, the COVID-19 nightmare invaded our lives. Airlines demand masks must be worn at all times unless actively eating or drinking. Muscular dystrophy killed a bunch of muscles in my right diaphragm, and wearing the mask made it difficult if not scary at times to breathe.
Additionally, my muscular dystrophy had progressed to the point where I could only walk 200-300 feet using a cane. This qualified me for a wheelchair throughout the airport, TSA pre-check lane and early airport boarding. Bonus! Although wheelchair travel can be limited, it still ran better than the government.
Right on time, our 2:00 p.m. flight taxied down the runway while I watched episodes of Railroad Alaska on my iPhone. We promptly arrived in Chicago and spent the next five hours in layover purgatory eating overpriced food and people watching. As we boarded our flight to Anchorage, Terry's carry-on bag was flagged by TSA for an explosives check. This seemed nonsensical to me as it was already checked by TSA in Dayton, but security is a top priority in today's environment.
Once on the airplane, Terry stowed our carry on bags and we found our seats. If you remember reading my 2004 trip report, a Gargantuan Man sat next to me, his body overflowing the seat whereupon he sweated and snored for the entire flight. A similar Gargantuan Man walked down the isle toward us, and I breathed a sigh of relief when he sat behind us. The flight went fairly fast as I watched airline provided movies Blade Runner and Batman Begins. I actively ate and drank almost the entire flight. Bwahahaha!
At the Anchorage baggage claim area we met our dear friend Jim Somerville. It was great to see him again! Saint Jim would be loaning us his Honda Pilot for the trip. After dropping Jim off at his house, we drove four minutes to Rudd's guest apartment. We arrived at 11:15 p.m. which was 3:15 a.m. our time, so there wasn't any energy left for train chasing. Ah, tomorrow is another day!
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