And by beat, I mean completely and totally exhausted. It turns out, this fatigue from chemo thing is lasting longer than I’d bargained for. Yesterday, we went to our school district’s Proof of Residency “event” – which meant about an hour of standing in line to prove we live here, walking around the middle school, standing in more lines to pay PTA dues, buy spirit wear, and chat with friends. After that, if I could have, I think I would have napped for 3 hours. But no, we had lunch plans with my dad, a podiatrist appointment for Princess McWartyToes, and a visit at my parents house where I performed my IT duties. I had Hubs make dinner (pancakes), and went to bed by (I think) 9. Never even woke up to pee until 6 am.
I sent off an email to Alla, asking how long this would go on. She told me that most people return to their baseline level of energy in 2-3 months after finishing chemo. In cancer circles, I’m relatively young, so she hopes it’ll be sooner for me.
In an attempt to push it along (though I have no idea if it’ll help or just tire me out more, given my sitch), I made myself exercise today. Nothing too exciting. I pulled out an old workout vid: “Quick Fix Total Mix.” It contains nine 10-minute workouts. You can pick and choose 1-3 to run in a row. I chose 1: 10 minutes of arms and upper back with 5 lb weights. Now, I’m typing with my eyes closed because THAT’s how tired I am. I’m sure my arms will be lead tomorrow. But, hey, it’s something.
Original Comments from the CaringBridge Blog:
Holy Cow—I would be pooped doing all you did, and I haven’t been through any of the chemo–YOU my Friend are –Amazing!! Glad you changed your picture too! Beautiful Head!
—jo Wilken, August 12, 2015
1. You didn’t get up to pee? Did you have to change the sheets in the am?
2. I can’t type that well with my eyes open
—Brian Kirshenbaum, August 12, 2015