It's been a while since I've shared any news about my friend, former Xterra World Champion, Jamie Whitmore. It would not be an understatement to say this past year has been the most difficult of her life as it began with hearing the words, "You have cancer." After two radical surgeries removed her left sciatic nerve and left glute, damaged a kidney ureter which provided several rounds of near toxic poisoning... the recovery of all this took months of miserable solitude, lying on her side, in a hospital room and the humiliation of constantly being poke and prodded... While her one wish, to keep her ability to normally answer the "call of nature," has been honored... She even had to fight for that!
Talking with Jamie yesterday, I heard an upbeat Jamie, like the season's about to begin and I'm almost ready for my first race of domination on the circuit, Jamie... for the first time in a long time, there is good news! A team of doctors at UCSF Medical Center will soon perform a kidney transplant of her own kidney in a new location of her body and she will no longer need a drain for that kidney... meaning she'll finally be able to get back into the pool and look forward to training and racing again as a challenged athlete. She already had been talking about relays, and trail riding and just getting back into the wild outdoors which has mostly identified her life but now it's looking more and more like a sure probability!
While talking, we groused about taxes, daily necessities, people who just don't get it and how thankful we should be for every opportunity in life. It was a delightful, upbeat chat... one I believe we both enjoyed. However, later in the day, as I was reflecting on our conversation, I was humbled by my own freedom, ashamed of my ingratitude of never having to spend a single day of my life in a hospital bed and my ignorance to believe nothing short of perfection is what I deserve for the remaining days of my life. It made me think... would I have felt this way had we not talked about it?
Early in the day I watched a homeless man eat breakfast at the Jamba Juice I frequent... at the end of the day I saw this same man standing on a very cold and windy street corner clutching a sack in one hand and managing a comforter with the other.
My worst day. What is that really?
