This blog is for Jim Marventano's family and friends to review his status and updates while he goes through treatment for Stage IV Colon Cancer. We can beat it together!

Thursday, February 15, 2007

400 Cancer-Free Minutes

Jim and Dad had a fabulous time in Mexico. They did 2 dives a day. After their dives they took naps and went to dinner. They did a little shopping, a little eating, a little socializing, but the bulk of their trip was spent in the water.

They both came back with beautiful tans - to a certain extent. Their faces, lower arms and lower legs were wonderfully tan. Anything that wasn't covered by a scuba suit is tan. Anything that WAS covered by a scuba suit is still ghost white. (Or, as ghost white as Jim's beautiful olive skin gets.)


They arrived home at around 1:30am on Monday evening. Immediately upon their arrival, Mom and I were subjected to their dive video, which I have to admit was pretty neat. The dive video was also what tipped me off that perhaps most of their time was spent diving because of Babette, the instructor - tan, and clad in a small, red string-bikini.

They saw some pretty neat stuff - 5' long morey eels, huge sea turtles, sting rays, schools of fish, brain coral, and even a shipwreck.

During Jim's average day, no matter what activity he's up to, he'll be busy and suddenly remember that he's got cancer. Washing the dishes - "oh, I have cancer!", Answering email - "oh, I have cancer!", giving the kids a bath - "oh, I have cancer!". You get the idea. In Mexico, they did 10 dives, around 40 minutes each. Jim said that the entire time he was underwater, he never once thought about the fact that he had cancer. Here's a positive mind - he said to me "That's 400 minutes when I didn't think about cancer!" It's amazing how cancer invades the brain. An idle mind is easily taken with thoughts of cancer. Jim said that scuba diving is almost like flying. I can't remember the last time I saw Jim so excited about something.

When Jim kicks the cancer we've got a plan: trip to Hawaii, scuba diving, and Jim's getting a tattoo. Wait till you see those pictures on the blog! ;)

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3 Comments:

Blogger Judester said...

Tell Jim that Mark would disagree that scuba diving is like flying. Flying involves air (that you can breathe) and no time under water...if you do it correctly! I doubt I could ever get Mark under water like that.

The pictures are amazing. I'm glad they had such a restful time - physically and spiritually.

9:59 AM

 
Blogger French said...

Incredible pictures! Only where are the pictures of Babette (is that really her name?)

Well deserve break - Glad Jim and your Dad has such a good time.

10:08 AM

 
Blogger The Comers said...

Kate, you and Jim don't know me, but I'm a childhood friend of Maureen's. She shared your blog address with me and I check it every day for updates. I'm so sorry to hear about your recen t disappointments, but am thrilled to learn that Jim's dive trip was wonderful. It is like flying and I encourage you to get certified and join him underwater when you hit Hawaii.

2:24 PM

 

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