Have you ever been really scared?  Not Halloween scared, but scared for your life… Let me share a time in my life when I thought I was going to die.  As most of you know I’m a lifelong river rafter.  This is a story about how different people react differently in stressful situations. My first experience in a 16 foot rubber boat traveling downstream in an occasionally torrential river was right here in Arizona on the Upper Salt River, which is one of the few designated Wild and Scenic natural rivers in the state.  The runnable section of the Upper Salt river flows 60 miles from the Salt River Canyon bridge to Roosevelt Lake with Class III and IV rapids.  It requires permits from the White Mountain Apache Tribe. I was around 25 years old when my friend Steve Byers invited me to run the first 7 miles of the Upper Salt. Boaters can run the first 7 miles, sometimes a few times in one day.  But, if you travel past that point you have 3-4 days to Roosevelt Lake.  So, we were day trippers car

Every trip is different! Immunotherapy treatment #3 started off like the first two.  It was a long day of tests and appointments leading up to the infusion at the end of the day.  By now Diane and I were comfortable with the procedure and the hour it takes to infuse, followed by the hour of observation.  So, when the nurse started the drip Diane left right away to get a cup of coffee and the nurse went back to her station. Within one minute I felt a gut bomb in my abdomen followed by instant nausea and my head started stinging like little needles.  I immediately pushed the nurse button and texted Diane to come back.  The nurse paused the treatment and I went into uncontrollable shivers.  Diane comforted me with blankets and the nurse gave me Benidril which eventually ended the shivers and got me to relax.   The next few hours were spent running a few bags of saline and consulting with my doctor.  Eventually, the decision was made to resume the treatment but at half speed (2 hours).  Su