Well we have a dreary rainy day here in St. Louis. HOWEVER that is such a blessing. Like a lot of the country, we have been in a huge drought for most of the summer and even going back to a lot of the spring. Multiple days of 100+ temps, high humidity, but NO rain. NOW we are getting the remnants of Hurricane Issac. THANKFULLY we at this time are not getting torrential rains, or high winds like our friends on the Gulf Coast. Keep them in your prayers. A lot of areas actually got it as bad as Katrina was, even though this storm was not as bad, but it was huge and just seemed to sit in one place and dump huge amounts of rain on the area. Lots of flooding going on.
Well it has been 7 weeks since my last radiation treatment, and Im doing pretty well for having gone thru all that stuff. My taste is coming back, probably around 80%, but the dry mouth is still ever present. Sometimes I feel like a raccoon when I eat. I take a bite of food, and a drink of water, bite of food, drink of water, drink of water, bite of food. LOL Really probably a much healthier way of eating but certainly NOT the way Im accustomed to. Some foods, especially bread type food, or real sugar type of foods are particularly hard to eat because it is an almost immediate drying of my mouth. Really lets you know what the saliva in your mouth really does. (I dont have much of that just yet), but hopefully that will be on the rebound soon.
Ive seen both of my doctors in the last week or so, and both seem impressed that I am able to eat and really have NO pain. I give all the credit for that to God. He is the real healer. Im where I am because of God. Without Him, I would still be fighting this disease and I will be honest, I dont think I would have the strength to do it. When they gave me the diagnosis back in February, they called it Stage 4!! That is very shocking to hear, but it also shows that NOTHING is too big for God. They called it that because it had spread to my lymph nodes.
You might remember that a short time ago, I mentioned a friend of mines mother! She has had a bit of an issue come up and I would love for you to keep her in prayer. Apparently an infection of some kind has gotten into her surgery area and is causing issues.
In other news, Ive started riding my bike again. The 1st foray back into the riding was interesting only about 5 miles, but considering that I had not ridden but a couple of times since January, I was happy with that. Well Ive progressed to the point that I got in 15+ miles the other day. Im also working out at the Y. They have a new program for cancer survivors, patients, and their support people called LIVESTRONG. This is sponsored by the Lance Armstrong Foundation. You may or may not know but Lance Armstrong had cancer some years ago, recovered and started this foundation to help others. Regardless of what you might believe about Lance Armstrong, his foundation does a great work, and I for one appreciate it. I will be riding in the PEDAL THE CAUSE bike ride here in St. Louis on October 7. Im doing the 25 mile bike ride to raise funds for cancer research. The cool thing about this ride is that 100% of the funds raise stay here in St. Louis to fund cancer research. If you could donate to this, I would totally appreciate it. Here is a link to that site.
https://www.pedalthecause.org/donate_cart.jsp?MemberID=17912
You can just click on this and it will take you to my little profile on the website.
Thats about all for now. I will keep everyone updated as things go forward. I do have another PET scan on September 24, and that is a formality I already know that there will be nothing out of order seen.
I will be headed to CA for a short vacation and then a week of work out there installing a new sound/lighting/video system for a church in Fresno. Should be a lot of fun!!
Stories about life in general, politics, where I have been, where Im going, what I like to do.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Thursday, August 9, 2012
LIFE AT 61 - 4 WEEKS POST RADIATION
Well it has been just one day shy of 4 weeks since the last radiation treatment! I WISH I had known that the "worst" was yet to come! LOL I really had not much bad going on until AFTER the last radiation treatment. No really bad sore throat, was still able to eat some things, some dry mouth but not horrible. THEN it all hit. Sore throat was not unbelievable, but was bad. Dry mouth got a whole lot worse, and taste buds just gone. I was bummed.
HOWEVER, I decided to try some acupuncture, and believe it or not, it seems to be working. I dont really know what prompted me to try it, but I believe that God pushed me a bit. I was a bit down because I could not really eat, I was having to drink protein shakes, which while NOT horrible, but not totally pleasant either. I finally decided to "try" some savory type foods, and discovered that I could eat them. That being said, Ive been trying to expand on that a bit, and it seems to be working. Im convinced that the acupuncture is working. A very nice Chinese Dr is taking care of me, and really knows her stuff about sticking people with tiny needles. Im eating a lot of things again. Some things work, some dont. Anything dairy not so much, most things savory are good. I find that a bit interesting. You would think it would be the other way around, but OH WELL, at least Im eating something. I had lost about 53 pounds, and was below the 200 mark for the 1st time since my basic training days, way back in the early 70's. Im back above that line now and really would like to pretty much stay where I am weight wise.
Now the issue is I really need to gain back the muscle I've lost. On the very high plus side, I have started riding my bike again. The first ride "post" radiation was a couple of evenings ago, WOW it was fantastic getting on the bike again. It was only 5.2 miles, but it was great feeling the wind and the muscle burn. I would have been very happy with maybe 3 miles, but 5 was fantastic. This weekend will be really nice weather and I plan on taking full advantage of it. You really dont realize how much you miss something till you are not able to do it. I had not really been able to ride, or really any other exercise since all this started back in February. Of course I could not ride when it is freezing, but honestly had NO energy to even go to the Y. I was able to do one spin class just before I started treatments, and so for 5 months nothing.
Im hopeful that I can catch up on my riding and get up to 20 miles or more quickly. Im going to push for 10 or more this weekend. I know for some riders that does not sound like much, but not have been riding all season, I have no "bike" legs, or butt! LOL All of this should come back quickly, at least I am counting on that.
This particular blog has been a bit different than most I have written. I guess at this point, Im just feeling that I needed to maybe encouraging some that might be going thru some trials, or some treatments that are getting you down. I know, I have been there, and in some ways, am STILL there. Chemo and radiation literally suck the life right out of you. They both affect every area of your body. I did not know this about radiation. Dr said it would only be the area they were aiming at. BOY was that a fib. :) I noticed that I was bruising very easy, and come to find out it was from the radiation affecting my whole body. Im still getting tired pretty easy, but Im hoping that getting out and doing more exercise that will change and I wont tire as easy.
If you happen to be reading this, and you are suffering from cancer, or any other disease, and it has you down, and you are feeling that you are alone. Look UP. You are not alone. God is just a whisper away. His healing power is yours for the taking. God is the best friend you will ever have, and really someone you can call on 24/7. I know several of you reading this, either have a disease or know someone who does. I just hope and pray that some of these blogs are helpful.
Stay tuned, there is more to come. One other note about bike riding, I thinking of doing a charity ride on October 6, all the monies raised go directly to cancer research here in St. Louis. I think that is a very worthy cause. How about you?
HOWEVER, I decided to try some acupuncture, and believe it or not, it seems to be working. I dont really know what prompted me to try it, but I believe that God pushed me a bit. I was a bit down because I could not really eat, I was having to drink protein shakes, which while NOT horrible, but not totally pleasant either. I finally decided to "try" some savory type foods, and discovered that I could eat them. That being said, Ive been trying to expand on that a bit, and it seems to be working. Im convinced that the acupuncture is working. A very nice Chinese Dr is taking care of me, and really knows her stuff about sticking people with tiny needles. Im eating a lot of things again. Some things work, some dont. Anything dairy not so much, most things savory are good. I find that a bit interesting. You would think it would be the other way around, but OH WELL, at least Im eating something. I had lost about 53 pounds, and was below the 200 mark for the 1st time since my basic training days, way back in the early 70's. Im back above that line now and really would like to pretty much stay where I am weight wise.
Now the issue is I really need to gain back the muscle I've lost. On the very high plus side, I have started riding my bike again. The first ride "post" radiation was a couple of evenings ago, WOW it was fantastic getting on the bike again. It was only 5.2 miles, but it was great feeling the wind and the muscle burn. I would have been very happy with maybe 3 miles, but 5 was fantastic. This weekend will be really nice weather and I plan on taking full advantage of it. You really dont realize how much you miss something till you are not able to do it. I had not really been able to ride, or really any other exercise since all this started back in February. Of course I could not ride when it is freezing, but honestly had NO energy to even go to the Y. I was able to do one spin class just before I started treatments, and so for 5 months nothing.
Im hopeful that I can catch up on my riding and get up to 20 miles or more quickly. Im going to push for 10 or more this weekend. I know for some riders that does not sound like much, but not have been riding all season, I have no "bike" legs, or butt! LOL All of this should come back quickly, at least I am counting on that.
This particular blog has been a bit different than most I have written. I guess at this point, Im just feeling that I needed to maybe encouraging some that might be going thru some trials, or some treatments that are getting you down. I know, I have been there, and in some ways, am STILL there. Chemo and radiation literally suck the life right out of you. They both affect every area of your body. I did not know this about radiation. Dr said it would only be the area they were aiming at. BOY was that a fib. :) I noticed that I was bruising very easy, and come to find out it was from the radiation affecting my whole body. Im still getting tired pretty easy, but Im hoping that getting out and doing more exercise that will change and I wont tire as easy.
If you happen to be reading this, and you are suffering from cancer, or any other disease, and it has you down, and you are feeling that you are alone. Look UP. You are not alone. God is just a whisper away. His healing power is yours for the taking. God is the best friend you will ever have, and really someone you can call on 24/7. I know several of you reading this, either have a disease or know someone who does. I just hope and pray that some of these blogs are helpful.
Stay tuned, there is more to come. One other note about bike riding, I thinking of doing a charity ride on October 6, all the monies raised go directly to cancer research here in St. Louis. I think that is a very worthy cause. How about you?
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