D-Day is here. The ground war kicks off @ 0800.

Well, the "wake up" is finally here. D-day. All the aggravation, frustration and prep work has led to this. We've known all along that everything I have gone through has just been "advanced recon", preparing for the main assault that commences this morning.

Ok, enough with the military comparisons, I'm starting to feel like I'm narrating a show on the History Channel or something. Here's another way to look at it. This is like a pro wrestling storyline. You have me playing the "babyface in peril" (that's the good guy) and the cancer is the "heel" (that's the bad guy). Well, the heel has been getting the better of the "face" time after time, so the "face" goes to a couple of "tweeners" (two guys he really doesn't like b/c they act like bad guys, in this case, that would be the chemo & radiation) to help him beat the "heel". Now, the "face" has big time reservations about this. He doesn't like how they do things, nor does he like their tactics. He's also not sure if they'll do their jobs. Will they have his back when it comes time to fight the "heel" or will the "tweeners" turn on him and hang him out to dry. However, after being beat at every turn by the "heel", the "face" feels he has no choice but to fight fire with fire, so he decides if doing business with the "tweeners" is the price he has to pay, then so be it. That is how bad he wants to beat him. This is a pretty predictable storyline. The "face" and "tweeners" start off well, but then hit a rough spot where the "face" really wonders why he teamed up with them in the first place, but the "face", being the good guy and all, decides to trust his new "tweener" partners and eventually they beat the "heel" rather soundly, usually in a "gimmick match" (steel cage match, falls count anywhere, Hell in a Cell match, etc). Yeah, that's what this is like.

All kidding aside, I know that this morning is kicking off the biggest fight of my life. To be honest, only an idiot or a fool would say they weren't scared. While I'm scared I'm also anxious to get this started. The road ahead is full of unknowns and once we get the ball rolling on this, we'll be able to answer those unknowns and get this cancer beat. I know I'm going to have days where I feel absolutely wonderful and wonder what the heck people were talking about when they were telling about all the "awful" and "horrible" side effects of the treatments. I also know that I am going to have days where I will know exactly what they are talking about. The one thing that will remain the same throughout all those days is this: I am walking out of this battle a WINNER. There is no doubt about that. The resolution of this battle has already been decided and written in stone, yet cancer wants to fight this fight anyway. All, I have to do is persevere and see things through to the very end. I have my team in place (that's you, in case you forgot or something). All the preliminaries have been taken care of. Battle plans have been finalized and have been put into play. All that remains is to go to battle. We're ready. I'm ready. Trust me, when we're done we will have the head of this cancer mounted on stick for the world to see.

"Look into my eyes. I've set out on my path. There is no "can't", no "won't" on the road I walk. Can you see it? I can."

Semper Fidelis.