David P Moore

Swimming Sick David P Moore

"I am not much on land, but I am an absolute demon in the water. On terra firma my body feels heavy, cumbersome, clumsy and slow. It complains with every minor movement, much like the contrived tantrum of a five-year-old boy shopping for clothes with his mother. My body, fighting gravity, is an oppressive and depressive vehicle in search of relief, maddeningly incessant in its demands. But in the water . . . oh, in the water my body is an entirely different animal. I am light. Buoyant. Fluid and flexible. In the water I approach a state that eludes me on land. In the water - and only in the water - I experience something akin to grace."I had not envisioned entering my fifties spending more time on the couch than mobile, but that's exactly where I was. Sick, and getting sicker. Battling arthritis, hip disease, prostate cancer, a brain tumor, adrenal insufficiency and pituitary failure I realized I had a choice - I could either give up or I could fight. I chose to fight. This is my story.