On Tuesday of this week (11/10/2026), I was rock climbing—indoors at SportRock Alexandria with my UpEndingParkinsons group. For an hour, this group climbs walls that rise 60 feet (a couple routes maybe 65 feet). Those who know rock climbing know that’s a pretty tall wall. Anyway, I made it to the top of a few 5.9 rated routes and two 5.10 routes. I was tired, and my fingers had cramps. But I did it.
On Wednesday of this week (the next day if you’re keeping track), I was walking around the floor of the Inova Fairfax Hospital surgery recovery room—with help from the wonderful nursing staff. I was told that was about 1/15th of a mile.
The difference between these two days was the before and after of abdominal surgery. I had (I hope that is the correct tense of the verb) colon cancer. The third of my big illnesses that afflicted me at one time. This was quite unusual since I don’t get sick much—but when I do, it can be big, such as the summer before ninth grade when I spent three weeks in the hospital fighting typhoid fever. How many of you know anyone who had typhoid? But I digress.
In mid-September, I arrived home from a visit to New York City with a case of COVID. For those who have known me for the past half a decade, know I wear a KN95 mask whenever I am indoors. (Yes, I climb those 60-foot walls wearing a mask.) But I tend not to wear the mask outdoors. And this has served me well for many years. But while in New York, I walked around Times Square. Now, a crowd of people such as you get in Times Square after the Broadway plays let out is probably worse for disease transmission than being in most indoor venues. So I caught my first case of COVID. I spent a week and a half in bed and another week getting my strength back.
Okay, that was one. As soon as I was able to maneuver around town by myself, I visited my dermatologist to investigate an annoying spot on my cheek. I’m no stranger to skin cancer, so I wasn’t surprised when the biopsy came back positive for basal-cell carcinoma. The next week, I had Mohs surgery to cut it out.
However, between the biopsy and the Mohs surgery, I had a previously scheduled colonoscopy. That awful procedure (actually, the prep is terrible; the procedure is easy because you’re out like a light) identified a suspicious polyp that grew in the same location as a polyp found during a previous colonoscopy. They know it was the same place because they tattooed the location. (So for several years, I actually had a tattoo—that I never showed anyone. Of course you would need special equipment to see it anyway.) The new polyp came back cancerous.
After several weeks of discussions with various doctors, nurses, technicians, phone operators (more of these than I care to discuss), I had surgery. But one restriction of the surgery—actually the anesthesia—was that I had to quit some of my medications for a period before the surgery. Mostly, this didn’t matter since it was innocuous things like vitamins and omega-3s. But one drug I had to be off for a week was my Parkinson’s medication.
Now, I'm still pretty lucky in the Parkinson’s area in that my outward symptoms are mild. But this brings us to climbing. Rock climbing has shown terrific success as a physical (and mental) therapy for Parkinson’s patients (there’s an actual study—I was part of it). So I climb several times per week, and I love it. Since I was off my meds, I tried to climb even more to counteract the lack of medication. I climbed both Monday and Tuesday and did quite well. Then, I entered the hospital—where I recline as I write this, listening to the helicopters land one floor above my room—and now I have a hard time getting in and out of bed, and I feel a bit lightheaded as I walk. All these (and more) are getting better each hour. Burping is quite painful—I just burped and had to stop for a moment to recover. A helicopter just landed, but I don't think those things are related.
Depending on who I ask, I shouldn’t climb for 2 to 8 weeks. My oncologist is a climber, so he went to bat for me with my surgeon, and she is holding me to a qualified two weeks. However, I'm back on my Parkinson's medication.
Well … that’s it ’til next time……..