Sunday 10th February 2019
“Sunday clears away the rust of the whole week” — Joseph Addison

I’m starting to figure out the balance between being active, and napping ! Napping seems to be the currency you have to pay with, for being more physically (and to an extent mentally) active.

We were both ready for bed as soon as we got in from the Arena last night, and got to bed around 11pm. Not bad for a fairly full on day with no nap, but I’d need a good 9 hours sleep or more I guessed. Unfortunately the kids woke us up being noisy about 7.30am and we couldn’t get back to sleep, I felt pretty tired still.

Anyhow, Luke and I went to the supermarket before lunch and got some supplies while Jayne and Parker were out shopping elsewhere. After sitting messing on the laptop for a bit, around 2pm I started to feel tired from getting up earlier than I could have, and had about 30 to 45 mins nap on the sofa.

I’d hoped if the weather was ok, I’d go for a bike ride again today, a bit more than the last two. It would get the endorphins flowing, and I could figure out how much more I’m safely capable of at the moment. Also I’d burn a few calories and try to shift maybe 1% of the fat I’ve accumulated. I’ve also been conscious of my diet today, and I’m trying to eat healthier and still enough to keep fuelled. I’ll try to keep this up all week.

About 3.15pm I ventured out. The roads were dry so I decided for maximum psychological lift, I would take the summer bike out 🙂 I’ve barely ridden it since my diagnosis because of weather and lack of opportunity. I planned to quite slowly ride a mainly flat 10 mile route I do when I have half an hour or so spare. I wore my Heart Rate Monitor so I could work to what that was telling me and adapt my effort.

Off I went, and got round it a reasonable amount slower than usual. My first ride as a bald man without a hat, the top of my head was bloody freezing !! Cycling cap next time ! In peak fitness, I’ve done it in around 30 minutes. Today it took me 42 minutes, which was perhaps a little faster than I expected. My Heart Rate was high the whole way, but I wasn’t out of breath at any point, my body just has to work harder to get the oxygen around.

Getting home I could feel that was a fair effort, I was tired. Not achey legs at all, but kinda tired in the core, it was my heart and lungs / breathing that had worked hard. I had a quick soak in the tub, then we had a roast chicken dinner which was delightful. However, by this point I was feeling very sleepy, which was perhaps to be expected.

At 7pm, I listened to this and wandered up for another hours nap. I set an alarm because sleeping too much later in the day means I can’t sleep come bedtime. I felt a bit groggy but I got up, and had a chilled evening infront of the TV with Jayne. And so I paid for forty odd minutes of enjoyment and exercise, in the currency of naps, 1 hours worth.

If I feel like doing it again, I’d perhaps aim to do it in 45 minutes or more, certainly no more than 10 miles. There was a point today where I saw a florescent jacket on 2 wheels about 100 metres in-front of me, and that’s like red rag to a bull. I couldn’t help put a little more effort in and reel them in slowly, eventually passing them. I could have done with just ignoring it, but my enthusiasm got the better of me.

Chemo life is good just now, balancing my activities with the right amount of rest seems to be working. Taste is fully back, sore lips and gums has gone away. Friday’s Bleomycin blast has had no noticeable side effects other than the steroids making me a hungry boy again. My nose is still really sore inside, I’m just putting up with that. Having the Filgrastim injections before bed seems to have worked to stop me feeling physically tired from them during the day. The proactive glug of Gaviscon at bedtime works to prevent the 2am heartburn. Tinnitus is still rife but almost just normal now, and I’ve not had fuzzy hearing for a few days now.

Hopefully I’ll manage 4 days in work, 2 from home and 2 in the office, as I’ll have another week and a bit (at least) lay off due to more chemo. Then it’s Friday Bleo again, and Cycle 3 starts a week tomorrow with my last 3 day stay. I started the week on the lowest low so far, and I’m starting the coming week at one of my high points. The rollercoaster continues…

Saturday 9th February 2019
“Science is different to all other systems of thought because you don’t need faith in it, you can check that it works” — Professor Brian Cox

I’m reporting on what could be considered a normal day today. One of the most normal of the last 5 weeks !

I struggled to get to sleep Friday night because of my 2 1/2 hour nap, and dropped off about 12.45am. We woke around 9am in the morning and got up. I went shopping with the kids while Jayne went to the gym, and came home. I managed a brief trip down to the park with Parker on our bikes, covered about 2.5 miles, but it wasn’t half windy !

We watched the football, then went to my sister’s house for a bit of a family get together and spent a couple of hours there, ate apple pie & custard and had a brew.

Home about 5pm, had some tea and then straight out to the Manchester Arena with Jayne, I’d bought her tickets to see Prof. Brian Cox for Xmas and I was hoping I’d be well enough to go with her and I was. It was a really great, though provoking 2 hours.

Other than that, not a lot of things to report. My nose still bleeds in the morning, and is really sore all through the day, although it’s a minor annoyance. On Day 14 of Cycle 1, I went to bed and then woke in the Monday morning with a sky high temperature, but also had horrible back spasms. I felt my back going a bit today at points later in the day, not as bad but uncomfortable. No temperature though. I had some codeine a couple of times for it and it’s gone away seemingly. I think this is a result of bad posture today, and an accumulation of sitting on the sofa a lot more than I’m used to, with my feet up. Not great for my back.

On the plus sides, I’ve had a good amount of energy. Despite an action packed day, I never really felt like a nap. I think in theory, this should be the easiest part of the cycle, it just so happens I caught something around this time in Cycle 1 which derailed me for a week. I’m hoping for more luck this time around.