I've been slack with adding new posts, but there's really not much to say and life is back to its old frantic pace so there's not much time to add anything even if there was something worthy of note.
In April I had a few check up tests - a heart scan, a lung function test and a CT scan as well as the usual blood test. I went to see Dr Giri for the results and everything was fine. My lung function was 110% of whatever is normal for females my weight, height and age so that was good news.
In late May I ran a half marathon (21.1 km) and managed to finish in 2 hours, 7 minutes and 31 seconds, a time I'm pretty proud of. It was a good course, nice weather and I had trained fairly well in preparation. After that I didn't run for a while but I'm back to training again now - aiming for two runs in August.
On Monday this week I went to see Dr Giri again and my blood test was all ok.
It's been over two years since I finished my treatment. In some ways it feels that long because it's like it never happened, but in other ways it's a surprise that it was that long ago because it was all such a big part of my life.
In those last couple of years I have heard of and know quite a few other people who have been diagnosed with cancer and every time is a small of a reminder of my own disease. I think I said it ages ago in my original blog but if you, or a family member of yours, is ill for a while and you can't work it out and you go to the doctor and try something and still don't get better, you need to keep going back to the doctor to work out what it is. Keep a diary of your symptoms and weird things you're aware of in your body and get it sorted out.
Acknowledge that you will die. Work out what that means for your life. Make the changes you need to in order to have no regrets. Sort out what you think about God and what implications that has because you don't want to be caught short with that stuff. Morbid again, I know, but it's true and I don't think people think it through enough. I'm still working bits of it out, it's not a fast process, but it needs to be considered.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
Blog stats
Blogger has a new format from when I started my initial blog and it is now quite easy to see statistics on when my blog(s) have been viewed, where the people who view them are in the world, which pages have been viewed the most etc...
My original blog continues to have a few visits most weeks. I don't know if that's people seeing it in passing or if they read it or what, but it's a bit strange. The post that's been seen the most is 'A very bad spray tan' which is unfortunate for me because I think it contains a very unflattering photo of me covered in betadine in the hospital.
I suspect this one comes up when people search for things like 'bad spray tan' in Google. That's awkward because I'm fairly sure they're not looking for a horrid-looking, post-operational cancer patient in a hospital gown.
My original blog continues to have a few visits most weeks. I don't know if that's people seeing it in passing or if they read it or what, but it's a bit strange. The post that's been seen the most is 'A very bad spray tan' which is unfortunate for me because I think it contains a very unflattering photo of me covered in betadine in the hospital.
I suspect this one comes up when people search for things like 'bad spray tan' in Google. That's awkward because I'm fairly sure they're not looking for a horrid-looking, post-operational cancer patient in a hospital gown.
Chemo fatigue
Since December, there isn't much to report. Christmas was celebrated. The four of us enjoyed a week of camping near the sea. I took my hormone replacement tablets and stopped having hot flushes. The summer break was, overall, quite good.
I saw Dr Giri in February and all was well, until yesterday afternoon when my energy disappeared and today I am chemo-tired. I am fairly sure that's what it is because there aren't really any other explanations for why I would feel so weary.
I have also, during the last few weeks, been experiencing random sharp pains in the middle of the left hand side of my chest. Yesterday they happened quite a few times so today I went to the doctor to see if it was anything sinister and to get it sorted out. The ECG showed a regular heartbeat, albeit slow at 50 bpm. The doctor did say it was pretty low but that some elite sportspeople have resting heart rates around that mark. I'm not sure that going to the gym a bit and running sometimes makes me elite, but my heart thinks so. Tomorrow I'll have a blood test to check a bunch of things and I will also have a chest x-ray, just to check it out. The doctor suspects the pains are muscular-skeletal, but thought it best to check through everything.
I have a number of theories and one or more may be true. There is some evidence to suggest that ladies experience chest pain due to their HRT, so this may contribute. I feel a bit stressed at times so I wonder whether that might be part of it and the last part is the muscular skeletal aspect, which I think could contribute too. We shall see.
Apart from this, I have decided to attempt a half marathon at the end of May and so have started training. It's only early days, but so far it's been going ok.
At the end of April, I will be having a suite of tests to see how things are going, as part of the study that I participated in for my treatment. I will have a lung function test, a heart function test and a CT scan, as well as the usual blood test. I will try not to be too worried about what the tests may or may not reveal, but it will be hard. I find myself subconsciously stressing as the time gets closer. I continue to hope and pray that everything will still be clear.
In early May, it'll be two years since I finished treatment.
I saw Dr Giri in February and all was well, until yesterday afternoon when my energy disappeared and today I am chemo-tired. I am fairly sure that's what it is because there aren't really any other explanations for why I would feel so weary.
I have also, during the last few weeks, been experiencing random sharp pains in the middle of the left hand side of my chest. Yesterday they happened quite a few times so today I went to the doctor to see if it was anything sinister and to get it sorted out. The ECG showed a regular heartbeat, albeit slow at 50 bpm. The doctor did say it was pretty low but that some elite sportspeople have resting heart rates around that mark. I'm not sure that going to the gym a bit and running sometimes makes me elite, but my heart thinks so. Tomorrow I'll have a blood test to check a bunch of things and I will also have a chest x-ray, just to check it out. The doctor suspects the pains are muscular-skeletal, but thought it best to check through everything.
I have a number of theories and one or more may be true. There is some evidence to suggest that ladies experience chest pain due to their HRT, so this may contribute. I feel a bit stressed at times so I wonder whether that might be part of it and the last part is the muscular skeletal aspect, which I think could contribute too. We shall see.
Apart from this, I have decided to attempt a half marathon at the end of May and so have started training. It's only early days, but so far it's been going ok.
At the end of April, I will be having a suite of tests to see how things are going, as part of the study that I participated in for my treatment. I will have a lung function test, a heart function test and a CT scan, as well as the usual blood test. I will try not to be too worried about what the tests may or may not reveal, but it will be hard. I find myself subconsciously stressing as the time gets closer. I continue to hope and pray that everything will still be clear.
In early May, it'll be two years since I finished treatment.
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