I was fortunate to interview many people during my days in Aberdeen as a sports writer. Two of them were Marge and Gary Evjen, a wife and husband who had to deal with cancer.

The couple met at Northern State as student athletes. Gary was an All-American in basketball there in 1971, and they married in 1973. Marge was a gymnastics judge for 12 years and a P.E. teacher, while Gary was a principal at several schools.

Along the way, cancer hit them both. First, Marge was diagnosed with breast cancer. Then Gary was diagnosed with cancer. At the time I was about to interview them, I was going to be out in the area with my mom and Aunt Bernice, touring the Black Hills. So I arranged a face to face interview with the couple, who lived in Sturgis.

Gary's cancer was in remission and all scan had come back negative. After Marge had had her breasts removed, she was clear for a couple of years, and then her cancer reappeared in her spine. She surmised hormones helped the cancer grow because surgery was performed at the time of her period.

Over the years, I continued to update Marge's story. She was a tough woman and an engaging interview. Once, when the cancer returned after another remission, she said, "You don't die from cancer; you live with cancer."

The kids loved her, too. She worked as a gymnastics judge, a job that usually would not endear her to athletes. But in her last state tournament in 1993, the gymnasts all bowed to her as the tourney started. She received the South Dakota Gymnastics Coaches Association Hall of Fame Award that year as well as the National Federation of Interscholastic Officials Association Award. She also was honored as the Official of the Year from the South Dakota High School Coaches Association.

Gary and Marge knew they couldn't have their own kids, so they adopted two, Lucas and Jessica. I always remember how special Marge was, how strong and positive she always was. When I left Aberdeen, I didn't know how the story ended, so one day I had to check it out. She died Jan.2, 1998.

And then there was the young athlete struggling with substance abuse. Since I don't know how this story developed, I'll use just her first name. Jenny was a three-sport athlete, successful in volleyball, basketball and track. She managed to fool just about everyone, or so she thought. Eventually, she was told to get off the team and get help.

Getting into treatment wasn't an easy decision. She had to take that first step to getting help. Her teammates helped with an intervention.

Eventually, she returned to her team, but only after her teammates voted to allow her back on the team. She had to regain their trust.

I did a couple of stories on her, one a year after the first. She was doing OK then. I don't know if she continued to do well. I tried to follow up just now; I don't know if she was able to stay on the program. I hope she was. She was a bright, interesting young woman with a wonderful future ahead of her.

Cancer and substance abuse are two diseases that take a lot of victims. Some will say they are not the same. Cancer victims don't ask for their disease, they'll say; substance abuse users bring on their own problems. But there is often something in the chemistry of those with addictions that lead to their use. So it is also a disease.

So I remember all those for the fight they show, their perseverance, their fortitude and their humor in the battle. There were others who had similar battles, but these stuck out in my mind over the years. They showed me how to live my life to the fullest despite the blows I had to take sometimes.

Before ripping up my right knee, I had planned a trip to three baseball ballparks and the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. I wasn't going to get the knee 'scoped before the trip, but the orthopedic surgeon said I'd be OK, but I might need a cane.

So I kept the trip on schedule. I was driving into Chicago from Aberdeen, South Dakota, and then flying into Baltimore. From Baltimore, I'd meet up with the group and attend a couple of Orioles games. Then we'd take a bus to New York for a couple of Yankees games, followed by a trip to Cooperstown and a visit to the Hall of Fame. Then we spent an overnight in Albany, N.Y., and closed it out in Boston for a Red Sox game.

It was in July 1994, right before the All-Star break. The temperatures were in the 90s along the East Coast. Tempers were running hot in the baseball community as well because the baseball contract was up. There was some doubt if the players would return after the break.

But right now, I was excited. I was going to the baseball palaces: Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park. Camden Yards was a new stadium at the time but reportedly state of the art. And, of course, there was the Hall of Fame. It was to be my dream vacation.

I flew into Baltimore and got a pickup from the hotel in which we were staying. I was sharing a room with one of the guides, Judy Colbert. We are still friends to this day.

The first night, I walked to Camden Yards from the Days Inn. We were supposed to have a welcome buffet in the warehouse overlooking the ballpark. The hotel was a few blocks from the hotel, but on my shaky knee, it seemed longer.

We had seats in the outfield and I was amazed to see televisions every few rows. I guess now it would not be such a surprise. I spent part of the evening roaming around the park, checking out the various concession stands, smelling the ribs at Boog's Ribs.

The next day, I had a chance to visit the waterfront area in Baltimore. Babe Ruth's Birthplace Museum was among the sites visited, as well as the USS Constellation. I took a water taxi (on which they were filming a beer commercial) around the inner harbor. I wish I had gotten around more of the inner harbor, but I didn't have enough time because I had to get back for the ballgame that evening. It was all so fascinating.

The following day, we left for Yankee Stadium. We had a day game that day and we got there just in time. There was no time to roam around the stadium and look at the monuments, but we were told we'd have some time the following day before the night game. Unfortunately, that didn't work out.

The next day, a lot of people went their separate ways for tours. I took a bus/boat tour around the city. I saw the Statue of Liberty from the boat before it started to rain and they had to bring us off the water.

Because of the rain that afternoon, we were unable to visit Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. I saw it from the gate but it was too slick to walk through it.

The next morning, we rode the bus to Cooperstown and spent the day at the Baseball Hall of Fame. It was amazing to see this shrine to the game. South Dakota even got a mention there, with the Aberdeen Pheasants noted as well as a couple of South Dakotan youth teams' achievements highlighted.

I loved seeing the Women in Baseball section; "A League of Their Own" had just come out so there was a lot of interest in this. I also sought out all the White Sox players in the Hall.

While riding the bus to Albany, N.Y., that night, we all talked about whom of the current major leaguers might be considered for the Hall: Ken Griffey Jr., Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Cal Ripken Jr., Derek Jeter, Nomar Garciaparra, Roger Clemens, Frank Thomas, Jeff Bagwell, David Cone, Kirby Puckett, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, and Barry Bonds.

Years later, some have been elected: Griffey, Ripken, Thomas, Maddux, Smoltz, Johnson. Yet others who had great careers have been left out, tainted by the smear of performance-enhancing drugs. Others are just recently retired and in their five-year waiting period.

Our last stop was Fenway Park in Boston. It was a hot, steamy Sunday, and the seats in Fenway were way down the right-field line. Our tour operators said they had picked up the tickets as soon as they were available, and these were the best they could get. The legroom was minimal, and with my bad knee, I was uncomfortable on all sides. I watched three innings in the ballpark, then found a brewpub across the street to watch the rest of the game on a big TV while I enjoyed better beer and nachos in air-conditioned comfort.

After the game, I picked up my bag from the bus and found transportation to my hotel for the next couple of days. I had planned to tour Boston on my own. I love history and Boston had so much to show me.

The next day, I took a trolley tour where I could get off and on, so I didn't have to do much walking. I saw the Old North Church of Paul Revere fame, ate and shopped at Faneuil Hall, took a boat ride in Boston Harbor, among other things. I did do quite a bit of walking, and on my newly injured knee, it was a bit too much. By the end of the day, I was hurting a lot.

I found my way back to a trolley stop and hopped the trolley for the home hotel. I spent the evening watching Frank Thomas in the Home Run Derby as the announcers talked about the possible baseball strike. We all hoped it wouldn't happen, but it loomed over All-Star week like the grim reaper.

A week after I got back from vacation, I got my knee 'scoped. I had a mess of weeds in my vegetable garden, and two of my coworkers came over with Subway sandwiches one afternoon to help me out by weeding my garden. Within two weeks, I was walking without crutches. I didn't even do PT other than the exercises I did at home.

But the problems with my knee would continue throughout the years. Eventually, I would require a sit-down job. Chasing after athletes ... well, they were too fast for me before; now I definitely couldn't catch them.

Julia,

I agree that living on a ventilator is not life. It is much more difficult to get a court order to remove the ventilator than it is to sign a DNR. ALS is a fast and destructive disease. Your friend is so fortunate to have you to support her. Most folks have a little more time to get used to the idea that their end is coming but with ALS, the rapid deterioration leaves very little time for the person who has the disease and the family members to prepare for the inevitable.  

My DH is working from home today because my MS has been rearing its ugly head, leaving me with some instability. Unfortunately, we cannot make changes to my medicine until after I meet with the hematologists and then he can set up my treatment for this iron deficiency.  So, I am spending the day with my feet up, so I will do a little crocheting.  

B: Egg and toast

L: Shrimp

D: Oyster stew

Snacks: celery and hummus.  

Notice the huge increase in protein. Oysters are loaded with iron so I am hoping to get my iron up a little before Monday.  Of course, they say it wouldn't matter how much iron rich foods I eat, I cannot absorb them because of my WLS.  If the numbers go up a little, I'll prove them wrong...right?  

Ladies...have a good day today. 

Hi Everyone, 

I decided to start the thread for tomorrow the night before. It is Midnight for many of you anyway. 

I spent the day with my friend Linda. Her disease is progressing more even since last week. I got the appointment set up for a man to come out Thursday to set up her living trust. Her DNR and Power of Attorney forms are signed. Her partner is her Power of Attorney and he was worried about making the decision to let her go. I told him to follow her wishes, that if for some reason they put her on a ventilator against her wishes she might live in that state indefinitely, and it isn't what she wants...I doubt that anyone would want that. Sometimes the best thing to wish for is to let go. Easy for me to say with my health and vigor. It is what I would want in her position. 

I have lots of tasks when I wake up...I need to go to the credit union and go to card class. 

Breakfast- protein drink

Lunch- green salad with cheese and almonds

Dinner- Pot roast with veggies

Snacks- cheese and crackers

wow Jeannie...doesn't sound like there is anything you can't do....you have so many interests! Get that protein up so you have everything in your favor for this surgery!

Yvonne, I have been binging off and on for awhile. I am so disappointed in myself. It started when i began experimenting with healthy snacks like protein balls, but I cannot stop at a reasonable amount. Never could. I am going to try going back to what I was eating way before surgery when working with the Dietician. I have to do something!

Julia, sorry to hear about your friends Ra po I'd decline! You are such a good friend to her. I had a co-worker who had that & would come to work & suffer temporary bouts of paralysis. Of course it progressed to permanent. But I so admired her fighting spirit. Prayers!

Hala...also sorry to hear how you were triggered. It is good your boyfriend is so supportive. Wishing you the best!

Well I worked this morning until 10, came home & took care of some business & then ran out to pick up some stuff from the store. My stepson...Jim's son...is driving out from Missouri for an unexpected visit with his new wife. They should arrive around dinnertime. We haven't seen him in 3 years so we are looking forward to this. If only we could get all 5 of our kids together at one time!

So I will sign off for now. Everyone have a good rest of the day!