Saturday, March 20, 2010

4 Month Scan

Or is it 2 1/2 month scan. Depends if you count time from the end of chemo or the end of radiaion. Anyway, got scanned Monday. Saw the doc Thursday and the scan was completely negative for cancer. There is some left over scar tissue from the tumor and some inflamation from the radiation. Durring the appointment my doc asked me when I was getting scanned. She was a bit surprised when I told her it had already happened, but she said that the clean ones don't always catch her attention. She still printed the report out and we went over the results.

While discussing my current physical state she did say that full recovery could be 6 months to a year from the end of treatment. I guess that's good to know because I certainly don't feel fully recovered (from treatment) yet. Mentally this has been more challenging than going through treatment. At least then I had a concrete goal and end date. Now it's like being in limbo. Not it treatment, but certainly not back to "normal living." I've picked up life where it left off, but I'm still "with cancer" every single day. Almost everything I do is a reminder of that either because I wasn't able to do it before, or it's one of the activities I COULD do.

I'll still be seeing the doc monthly. There are blood tests she wants to keep an eye on including LDH, a marker of cellular break down (elevated by cancer AND exercise) and my cholesterol, since my chemo and radiation can both impact the heart.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

I should ride alone for a while

It's easier to imagine I'm fast without the annoying intrusion of reality that accompanies riding partners.