This was originally an email written to my family and friends on the date above. I decided to make these public in the event they may be helpful to someone in the future who is embarking on a similar journey to mine.
Hi Everyone–
This was my “off” week from treatment and I did feel pretty normal. It had been long enough after my port installation procedure that I was able to resume working out. The port area is still a little sore, but improving.
I’ve put on some more weight this week as well, I’m only about 10-12 pounds from my pre-surgery weight now. I’m hopeful that I will be able to continue to be active on my off weeks so I can keep building/maintaining strength. I feel like the better shape I’m in, the better I will tolerate the treatment.
We had friends in town visiting with us this week and went up to the mountains for a couple of days. I had planned to stay at the house with Caitlin as I hadn’t expected to feel up to snowboarding, but I decided to give it a try and had a pretty good half-day on the slopes. My legs are definitely still regaining strength, but I was pleased I was able to go and have fun. We may try to head up for another day on my next off week.
We’ve got some nice weather this weekend in Denver, I’m hoping to get out to the driving range to see if I can make a golf swing. The abdominal incision and associated scar tissue, etc. has improved to the point I feel I can give this a shot. It’s a bit windy today, hopefully that calms down a little.
I will be going in to the office Monday to try and get through everything I can for the week. I miss being a little more engaged with everything that’d going on, but I think I’m keeping a smart balance for now.
On Tuesday I go in for my next round of treatment, then I’ll have the pump attached until Thursday. I plan on taking it easy during that time and monitoring the side effects to see if they are more noticeable. Based on the stories I’ve read from other colon cancer patients on the web I expect the fatigue, cold sensitivity and neuropathy to get a little worse with each treatment, but I’m very pleased at how I’ve come through this treatment first cycle. I’m optimistic that I’ll be able to get out and do stuff this summer during the off weeks.
We haven’t been totally satisfied with my doctor and have scheduled a meeting with a different oncologist in a few weeks to see if we like him better. It’s a little hard to exercise patience as it’s still 6 weeks before we’ll learn if the chemo treatments are doing what we want them to. It’s strange to be “feeling normal” this week while wondering about all the things that are happening on my insides.
I hope you all have a great Easter weekend – baseball season starts Sunday!
This post is part of the thread: Cancer – an ongoing story on this site. View the thread timeline for more context on this post.