Rebuilding After Having Cancer

I've been enjoying posting about our outings, especially our bike riding at Zion National Park. It has been so wonderful getting out again, but I'm concerned that I may have given a wrong impression. 

Yes, I have been blessed to still be alive after having stage 3 ovarian cancer this last year, but it has not been easy getting to the point where I could do things again. The chemo treatments I had and the chemo medication I am now taking both can cause debilitating fatigue. Many times, I felt that I just couldn't move, then I'd remember that movement was supposed to help this fatigue, so I'd get up and make myself start walking. I'm grateful for my husband who was my exercise partner and insisted we get out for walks even when I grumbled or tried to persuade him that we should wait for a better day. Though my enthusiasm was barely a flicker, I kept walking and it helped me move past the fatigue and feel better.

Keep Moving As Much As You Can

I tried to move whenever I could in spite of the tiredness and nauseousness from my four chemo treatments and from the exhaustion and pain from having major cancer surgery followed by a serious abdominal infection for three weeks afterward.  Moving helped me fight fatigue and maintain some muscle during this last year.

Though I tried to keep moving through the treatments and after surgery, I was still so exhausted that I was having trouble dealing with the fatigue caused by the chemo maintenance medication. I struggled with moving at all and was afraid that I was going to have to quit taking the medication. 

I prayed for help and felt impressed that I needed to remove every possible thing from my living environment that was stressing my body. With a multitude of allergies and chemical sensitivities, that was a lot of things!

As I pushed myself to carry books and things out to our garage family room which used to be a Preschool, I wanted to stop, but I knew I needed to keep moving, so I did. After a few days, my blood pressure came up to a more normal level and my insulin resistance went down which helped to give me some energy.

Stretch and Do Exercises

Though it was good to be up and moving again, my body was too weak to maintain the aerobic exercise level I needed to counter the fatigue from the chemo medication. This meant that my tired out of condition muscles cramped. Another problem I have is that I have a compressed vertebrae in my neck which has caused severe TMJ. I also have a dislocated rib, and a dysfunctional hip. Unfortunately, it is easy to trigger the muscles around injuries to splint which also results in painful cramps. 

It is still rough getting up in the morning. I've moaned, had trouble standing up, and drug my leg. My right leg often has shooting pain from my lower back down my leg (sciatic nerve pain). Tests, medical advice, and my own experience has taught me that exercise is the best way to deal with this pain. So I reviewed how to rebuild my core and leg muscles, especially the small muscles like hip flexors and those in the ankle and foot. I make myself do these exercises and stretches before I get up in the mornings and as needed during the day, and it has really helped. 

Give Yourself a Reward

I have had to not only accept my aging, but work with it. One of the major things which happens as we age (I'm nearly 72 now), is that our muscles lose their elasticity. This can make getting back on your feet a lot harder and it requires a lot more effort than when we were younger, but it is worth it!  It helps me to give myself a reward, something to look forward to doing, when I am stronger. Months of struggle is behind that smile as I rode my electric bike in Zion National Park. It was my moment of triumph.

Have Hope and Faith that You Can Do It

As I continue to stretch, take deep relaxing breaths as I move, exercise, put heat on tight muscles, take short rests, try to relax, and keep moving as much as I can, I have felt better. I am now in less pain and able to do more. It has not been easy to rebuild a tired body after cancer, but the Lord is helping me do it. As I have tried my best, He has made up all the difference.