Fenwick graduation 2012
Ponitz graduation 2012
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Award-winning columnist Tom Archdeacon — an old-school storyteller in a brand-new venue — writes about sports, the city, southwest Ohio and anything else that catches his fancy… or yours.Home > Blogs > Through the Arch > Archives > 2011 > June > 26
Sunday, June 26, 2011
The road to recovery
I’m sorry that the lights have been out on my Through the Arch blog the past few weeks, but as my column in today’s newspaper explains, my attention has been forced onto other matters.
Just over two weeks ago I had open heart surgery. My wife and I had been down in Miami on vacation when the tightness I’d felt in my chest before we left continued to increase. Finally, after five days my wife said that was it. We were cutting the trip short and going home.
Some 36 hours later I was undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery at Miami Valley Hospital.
The only reason I’ve told you this is that my absence from the sports pages was going to become more and more obvious. I talked it over with my editor and we decided I should explain.
Last July, when out of the blue I was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) that was not the case. I’m lucky. It is treatable, survivable and I’m in great hands at Ohio State’s James Cancer Hospital, which I now visit just once every three months. With the CML, I was going to be able to continue writing without a break, so I figured no explanation was needed. I said nothing about it to some of my family, many of my sportswriting buddies and most of my co-workers.
I guess the biggest thing was that I just didn’t want to be known as “the sick guy” or have my health become the topic of conversation every time I bumped into someone.
This is not to say there haven’t been private moments where I’ve been scared or depressed, but I’m finding more and more how good continues to eclipse all that. I’ve really been buoyed by my family, my friends, my Oregon District neighbors and especially my wife, who is a lot tougher than I am.
I’m mending well, though they tell me it will be several weeks before I can lift more than a gallon of milk or drive a car or go back to work full time. They say when I’m healed I’ll feel better than I have in years. In the meantime I’ve got to make some other changes, too.
I’m trying to eat heart healthy now - this after a lifetime of press box food. If you have any heart healthy food tips - (and does anything at fast food restaurants meet that standard?) - let me know.
I’ll be truthful, I miss writing for you all. While I was in Miami Valley I came across a few stories, one involving Terrelle Pryor, another with Dirk Nowitzki and one about a successful UD athlete who is in quite a different career, now. I’ll tell you about them soon.
I’ll try to stay in touch a little better in the weeks to come.
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