Don Pickering - It’s a race…. But it’s therapy!
Four months ago, Don Pickering was undergoing grueling chemotherapy treatments to battle an aggressive form of testicular cancer. This weekend he’ll strap himself into one of Team Seattle’s two souped-up Porsches and compete in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona — a twice-around the clock endurance race on the hallowed high banks of Daytona International Speedway.
That race is bound to be intimidating surrounded by Indy 500 winners and NASCAR champions, but like all cancer survivors Don knows a thing or two about challenges…
Three weeks before Pickering, 35, found out he had cancer, his twin was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Then Pickering got the news his cancer had spread, necessitating a second major operation to remove five lymph nodes.
And things got tougher before they got better.
Pickering’s father died unexpectedly the week he began chemotherapy — an intense six-week treatment that robbed Pickering, an avid cyclist and self-described health nut, of 35 pounds and all of his hair.
All the heartbreak and illness, however, did not take his will. It has renewed his spirit.
This is a race, but it’s isn’t a challenge - it’s therapy.
“When you come out of chemotherapy, there is a focus and an energy that you can’t explain,” Pickering said. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before.”
It’s not about winning either - it’s about finishing.
Pickering and his doctors are optimistic the cancer was treated early enough that he is cured. And like his idol, cyclist and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong, Pickering hopes his inspirational story will encourage those most at-risk — men ages 18-35 — to conduct regular self-exams, something Pickering believes saved his life.
“After something like this, you really want to get your life back, and when you’re racing cars,” Pickering paused and laughed, “you are living.”