The First Mile

On Sunday I did my first mile in the local park.  I can just hear you now... "oh wow, a mile - big deal."  Okay, maybe it's not you I'm hearing - it's really me. Now that I feel better, I think I should be back to normal in all ways.  I'm not. That mile was an eye opener. Not only am I so out of shape after undergoing cancer treatments for the last 6 months, I am also becoming reacquainted with the fact that doing a mile really burns very few calories.  It takes many miles to build muscle and burn flab. Yes, I'm back to obsessing about my weight again. I must be getting back to normal.

My months of being much less active than normal have really caused some problems for me.  I have no muscle tone, yet those same muscles are so tight that the term limber describes exactly what I am not!  How can muscles be soft yet tight at the same time?  That is just not right!

I thought about my punching bag in the garage.  I think that using this to get into shape is a great idea.  Not only can I develop muscle tone again, I can get rid of some pent up frustration by beating something up.  Yes, I'm talking about the punching bag and not about some random person.  Although, I may not want you to mention that to my son.  I prefer to have him wonder if it's him I might be going to punch.  Okay - out to garage I go to start working out with the bag.

I realized there are a few things that have to happen before I can start beating up the bag.  I need to find my sparring gear.  I have two full sets of sparring gear....somewhere.  You wouldn't think it would be to hard to find them, but keep in mind I am able to lose whole vacuum cleaners for weeks at a time.  I have found one set of hand pads so at least I can start working on my punches.  Kicking will have to come later, after I find my foot pads.

Now, I'm ready to go but there are a few more minor details that need to be taken care of before I can start working with the bag in the garage.  There is a mattress set out there that needs to go to the dump.  I'm sure someone can do that for me.  Oh, and then there are the 4 or 5 old CRT monitors that are out there.  I guess they should go too. There is also an old entertainment center, a coffee table, old computers and a TV or two that need to go.  This is beginning to be a bigger project than I initially thought.

I better take a good look at what's out there standing in the way of my work out.  It's funny, I remember when cars used to be in the garage.  Now there are just lots of non-car things in there.  I see many boxes belonging to a couple of our adult kids....hmm...surely these can be moved.  I see a couple of buffet tables, many empty boxes, some chairs and an old suitcase.  Where did this stuff come from??

This has now become overwhelmingly difficult.  Maybe we should just build a new garage for my punching bag.  That may be a little extreme.

How did I end up in this predicament anyway? Oh yeah, I got cancer. That's why I'm out here trying to figure out where all this junk came from and how I can get rid of it!  If I wouldn't have gotten cancer, I wouldn't have just done that mile, which in turn let me know I have no muscle tone, which led me to think about my punching bag, which got me out in the garage.  I wonder if I can get my health insurance to pay for a garage organizer since this whole thing is directly related to my cancer treatments...hmmm....

I Don't Like Side Effects

I finished my chemo treatments several weeks ago.  I'm still experiencing the side effects.  That does not seem fair to me!  Call me naive, but I think that when I'm officially done with chemo, the side effects should be gone immediately.  Their purpose has been served and they are no longer necessary.  I'm perfectly fine not being reminded of my chemo journey.  But no - they continue to hang around like leftovers in the back of the fridge.

Okay, I'm really glad my lungs are working as expected now that those toxic chemicals are no longer being syphoned into my body.  It's good to be able to breathe.  My eyes aren't watering as much anymore and that's nice. I feel like my brain is clearing up so I don't have to wear a name tag just in case chemo-brain causes me to forget who I am.  My voice isn't as hoarse as it was a couple of weeks ago.  I'm not as exhausted as I have been.  I am very happy to be rid of these side effects.

What remains?  I have numb feet and hands.  I still don't have signs of hair regrowth on my head.  My eyebrows haven't gotten anymore "there" than they were before. I continue to suffer from Bald Eye Syndrome.  I'm still fatigued and I do have some lapses in memory. My multitasking abilities have not completely returned. Oh, and I'm still sharing my body with that darn port-a-cath (aka: Bottle Cap with Claws). Am I whining? Absolutely! I feel like I've earned the right to whine.

So, what am I doing about my numb hands and feet?  I do a lot of typing and hand massages.  This seems to work well.  My hands are much less numb then my feet.  I think I might have to practice typing with my toes just to see if I can get the feeling back in my feet.  I do take a lot of hot bubble baths because my feet feel much better after that.  The bath is for my feet...even though it is my favorite way to relax; I'm not using my feet as an excuse to take more bubble baths.  Don't look at me like that - I'm serious. The bath is for my feet!

Chemo-brain is getting better.  I play boggle on my phone to help exercise my mind and get it back in shape. Oh yes - that's part of the recovery process.  Just because I've always played games on my phone does not diminish the therapeutic benefit my mind is getting from  playing boggle on my phone. I'm getting that look again.  Trust me, the game is good for my head!

I believe that the bubble baths will also cause my hair, eyelashes & eyebrows to start growing.  I think I should take a few extra baths a week just to make sure that hair regrowth gets the support it needs.  Why do I think baths are good for regrowing hair?  Well, think about it.  We water our plants and they grow.  Just apply the same principle to hair.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to make that connection...sheesh.

What's left? Oh, I still tire easily.  I deal with this by relaxing as much as possible. I haven't had to resort to naps yet, but I'm not ruling them out. What? Just a minute, my son is saying something.  He seems to think that therapeutic relaxation is just an excuse for being lazy?!  I'm offended and will not dignify that statement with a response.

In order to work within my multitasking restrictions, I have learned to do one thing at a time and do it very slowly. This allows me to accomplish something without too many mistakes or issues.  I hear a noise...  No that is NOT the same as gold bricking! The very idea! I need to go somewhere private while I finish this - humph.

I ignore my port as much as possible.  That thing is on its way out. It will be gone on October 6th and I will be very happy to see the last of it.  There's not too much I can do about the port.  I have had to curtail exercise so as not to aggravate the port.

In order to live with the remaining chemo side effects, I have had to type on my computer a lot, take many hot bubble baths, get hand massages, practice relaxation at all times, accomplish one task a day - very slowly and not exercise.  Between all of these very difficult things, I need to fit in playing Boggle on my phone. This is a very intense recovery regimen, but I'm getting through it as best I can.  Huh?....What do you mean it sounds like I'm on vacation???