Friday, April 16, 2010

What a difference a (sunny) day makes

This has been an excellent week! Day 12 - 16 have been fantastic in terms of energy level and focus, and days 17 - 21 are bound to be wonderful too. I seem to have bounced back from chemo at the same rate as before, but I feel capable of sustained exercise, though I do poop out a bit in the evenings. I have been painting the garage for the past 4 days - up and down a low ladder for up to four hours at a time. The weather has been warm and sunny, and that must work to my advantage, and I am getting long nights of sleep (thanks to the pills...).

Life is taking on a more normal pace. I have been seeing more people, shopping more, cooking more. and sleeping more. I finally bought glasses with my contact lens strength (contacts are off limits because of the risk of infection), so that I am seeing clearly when I walk around now - this makes a huge difference in my ability to function and focus on tasks. I have also noticed that my craving for meat and proteins has subsided a bit, and I now need more salad and vegetables in my diet. I hope that this is a good sign - I'm still not back to being a part-time vegetarian, but am sure that this is a healthier diet for me.

Last night I developed a sore throat halfway through watching a good movie (An Education). The throat is a little better this morning (good sign that my white cells are working), and there has been no fever so far. I am gargling with salt water every so often, and hope that this will take care of the problem.

There is rain in the forecast for this weekend, so I may have to put the painting on hold, but I hope to get some flower seeds in the ground this afternoon.

1 comment:

Maureen Wolfson said...

Hi Anne,
So glad you are feeling great! I'm curious to know what your blood cell counts are compared to mine because you seem to be way more concerned about infection that I ever was/am... or perhaps should be ;-) Ah, counts be damned, I'm going mountain biking anyways!

My last chemo made my eyes change shape and I had to wear glasses instead of contacts anyway. Luckily they went back to normal and I'm able to wear my contacts again.

Regarding my hair growth, not all chemos cause your hair to fall out. I am on Gemzar/Navelbine and they have no visual/physical side effects. The only ones I have noticed so far are low blood cell counts (nothing I can do about that...) and having a harder time thinking (nothing i can do about that either). Luckily, both are reversible.

I can't get over that you are doing all this manual labor though. I would be sitting on the couch and going for walks and...that's about it. You are a real trooper.

Thinking of you often, checking your blog all the time. I will be back in TO in early June, hope to see you then!
Mo

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I love my chemotherapy
walking to Princess Margaret