So, my doctor called this morning and said, "You have cancer".

This all started for me about six weeks ago when I sat down to dinner in Palm Springs. I ordered a chicken something, and I took a bite. It didn't go down too well. There was even a little pain when I swallowed. I decided to go to "Urgent Care" at the local hospital. You all know, there isn't anything "urgent" about it. You check in, sit for three hours, and the doctor told me, "I think you just have a sore throat, how about a prescription for cough syrup?" I didn't share his opinion.

A few days later, I went to my own doctor close to home. In his best Russian accent he said, "trouble swallowing, YES? We do upper GI, YES?" I said, "yes, we do upper GI, when? He said, "how about we get you in tomorrow".

I went in for the upper GI. The tech gave me a small Dixie cup that must have weighed a pound. He said, "Just drink this when the doc tells you to". I went through the motions and the test results came back. My doctor called me back in and said he wanted to do an Endoscopy. They put you to sleep and put a camera down your throat. I woke up and the doctor said "we found something. I need you to go in for a CT scan, tomorrow".

I went in for the CAT scan. The injection IV made me feel warm all over. A faint smell of copper, maybe even a salty smell. The scan took a few minutes. The doctor called the next morning with the results. "The bad news is that you have a cancer in your esophagus. The good news is that's all we were able to find. Everything else is clean."

So, that is my current challenge, I have cancer. I'll be going in for surgery, and for the chemotherapy very soon. Some of my friends and family can't believe it. They say, "you are the healthiest person I know. You work out, ride your bike, run. How can you get cancer?" All I can say is that no one is immune to cancer. There is no rhyme or reason as to why we get cancer. If you get the call, you can't back down. You can't curl up into the fetal position and give up. You have to take the fight to the enemy. You have to advance. You have to improvise, overcome, adapt.

You have to live.