Hanging In There
I have just finished my second of six cycles of chemo treatment.
So far I have been able to dodge most of the harmful side effects such as nausea, fatigue and secondary infections. I have had a lot of hair loss and find myself without beard for the first time in 35 years.
I have tried to get some exercise in every day but once or twice a week I don't feel up to it. So far the majority of the exercise has been brisk walking with a small amount of slow (and I mean slow) running at the end. Anything above 5:30 pace sends my Heart Rate soaring past my aerobic threshold so I have to be careful not to stress the body too much. The drugs are doing a good enough job of that.
The good news is that I have managed to build up to be able to go 5k slowly (27:13 avg HR 151) which I did on Sunday morning at the BRRC. 27:13. It was great to get out there and feel normal and catch up with friends. This may become harder as the treatment progress and my red blood count continues to drop but I will keep at it whenever possible.
So far I have been able to dodge most of the harmful side effects such as nausea, fatigue and secondary infections. I have had a lot of hair loss and find myself without beard for the first time in 35 years.
I have tried to get some exercise in every day but once or twice a week I don't feel up to it. So far the majority of the exercise has been brisk walking with a small amount of slow (and I mean slow) running at the end. Anything above 5:30 pace sends my Heart Rate soaring past my aerobic threshold so I have to be careful not to stress the body too much. The drugs are doing a good enough job of that.
The good news is that I have managed to build up to be able to go 5k slowly (27:13 avg HR 151) which I did on Sunday morning at the BRRC. 27:13. It was great to get out there and feel normal and catch up with friends. This may become harder as the treatment progress and my red blood count continues to drop but I will keep at it whenever possible.
posted by Robert Song @ 5:40 pm
6 Comments:
At Mon Sept 28, 06:40:00 pm AEST,
Rob said…
It is good to hear that you are not suffering too adversely form the chemo Graham. Getting over to BRRC must have been a real boost.
I pray that the chemo is doing it's job. All the best mate.
At Mon Sept 28, 09:09:00 pm AEST,
plu said…
Thanks for the update - yes hang in there. Have you tried some easy riding?
Plu
At Tue Sept 29, 08:40:00 am AEST,
Samurai Running said…
Oh geez Robert Song "no beard!" life is cruel.
I don't know anything about chemo but I hope that you can continue to avoid the worse aspects of it.
Anyway with all the worry and uncertainty I bet you have an appreciation of life few others understand.
Do "hang in there" and get that cancer out of you!
At Tue Sept 29, 03:07:00 pm AEST,
Stephen Lacey said…
Keep up the good work Graham. There a lot of people cheering you on!
At Tue Sept 29, 07:38:00 pm AEST,
Unknown said…
And to think that all those young blokes are out there paying someone to remove and sculpt their body hair with hot wax!
Glad to hear that the side-effects haven't been too bad, and hope that things continue that way. Hopefully you'll be able to get out and enjoy the "other side" of running (i.e. the people) the whole way through your treatment.
At Wed Sept 30, 05:08:00 pm AEST,
Ewen said…
That's good news Graham, although a bit sad that you've (temporarily) left the ranks of bearded fast runners.
I know you're not overcooking the running, but geeze, 27:13 is about my marathon race pace!
Post a Comment
<< Home