Sunday 24th March 2019
“Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity” —  Hippocrates

So I last caught up 5/6 days after I finished Chemo. I’d taken it easy at weekend, then had a couple of days off work where I cycled and did some stuff, then went back to work on the Wednesday. On the Wednesday, I commuted on the MTB and it was hard, my heart rate was sky high still, then on Thurs I had to work from home because of a bad tummy (non chemo related.) Then I worked from home on Friday too.

Day to day life was pretty much back to normal as of 1 week post-chemo, i.e. the last Bleomycin shot. No more naps required or getting tired during the day, no getting out of breath or overly tired running up the stairs or doing menial things etc.

Last weekend, some friends came up from Northampton to see us and Jayne had a party for her birthday on Sunday so we had a packed house, and it was quite a tiring day doing the prep, entertaining then clearing up. Well worth it though 🙂

Days 10 to 14 post chemo, Mon to Fri this week have been relatively normal. It’s the first time in 2019 I’ve worked 5 day week ! Monday from home, Tuesday the office, Weds/Thurs 2 strategic off site away days which were great, then Friday from home. No problems getting up, or with tiredness, or even commuting on the bicycle.

For those interested in how you react to exercise, on Tuesday and Thursday I commuted on my bike (7+ miles each way.) No longer is my heart rate jumping straight to maximum just by turning the pedals on the bike, like it was last week. I’m now just noticing I’m incredibly unfit. I took the winter road bike out, and it’s obviously less effort than the MTB, but it’s still tough going. HR is still quite high, but mine historically has been when I start exercising from an unfit starting point. I’d say I’m pretty much back to normal other than being unfit, and I need to claw back the fitness.

I’ve done a little running this week, across town from the office to the car park and from home to school because I was running late, and it’s hard work. My legs hurt a bit from this, but no more than when I run for the first time in ages. It’s like starting from scratch, but again there doesn’t appear to be any chemo symptoms holding me back. I’ve got the Great Manchester 10km run on 19th May, so I need to get into a rhythm.

On Saturday afternoon, I went for a run and it was a bit of a disaster. Just over half a mile in, calf pain/tightness struck and the rest of the 2.8 mile “run” was pretty much hell. I can’t help being hard on myself because I can’t help comparing to what I could do pre-chemo, but anyone who goes cold turkey on the training for 9 weeks would see a drop off. I suspect the pain was a combo of muscles not having had a lot of use, and bad trainers. New trainers, stretching and more running are my plan of attack.

Symptom wise, heres a few updates:

• Tiredness – gone. Alarm being set for 6.15am, commuting on the bike, full day at work, cycle home, no naps, bed 10pm+, all fine. Back to pre-chemo state.
• Physical activity – seems like my heart rate / blood is back to normal, I’m just contending with a big loss of fitness from not doing anything physical for 9 weeks.
• Tinnitus / Hearing – the random occurrence of beeping in my ear, it still occurs but far less frequently. My muffled hearing is subsiding, it’s still noticeable in confined spaces like the shower but less so as time goes on.
• Hands – they still hurt somewhat when doing things like opening ring pulls although not when driving etc. My fingers itch too. I keep using cold packs which provides temporary relief. I have a feeling this will be slow progress for it to subside, and desperately hope it’s not permanent.
• Appetite / Taste – Appetite is about 80 – 90% of normal. I’m not quite as hungry as I used to be, and am eating slightly smaller portions. Taste is also mostly restored but not 100%, some foods still taste slightly off. I still have very little desire to drink alcohol, I can manage 1 beer or cider for example but it’s also as if after 1 my body tells me it’s not enjoying it. Perhaps it’s similar trying to extract the alcohol as it was the chemo and it’s pretty much tired of doing it. I bought a bottle of Estrella for Friday night, which I love, and never felt like drinking it. I had it on Saturday, nice but again 1 was enough. We also had a Chinese on Fri night, my fave, which I didn’t enjoy quite as much and only ate 2/3rds of it.
• Hair loss – the last couple of days, my hair on my head and face seems to have started growing albeit very very slowly, still seems very dark so I’m guessing it won’t grow back lighter. It is softer and thinner hair than before like baby hair, particularly facial hair, not quite as bristly. However, I can’t wait to stop looking like Uncle Fester, so the sooner the better. I’ve heard that at 3 to 4 weeks it starts growing at a normal rate.

I’ve got a CT scan booked now for the 25th April, still waiting for the Hearing and Lung tests to come through. It’s a 6pm!?!? appointment and lasts about 2 hours. Fun. Then the results of it on the 3rd May. Between now and then I’m keen to see how quickly I can shed some of the 1 stone I put on, and get back to being as fit as I was before 🙂