NYC Here I Come!

I feel so out of touch! My computer has been broken down and I'm just not comfortable with that!  I was finally able to sit down and get it fixed today over the phone by a very helpful Indian guy named Jaz.  Yay! I'm so Jazzed.

It's so hard to believe that it has been almost a month since I have posted an update.   Since my last post I have indeed made some, great and exciting, and other, slightly upsetting, GAINS.   Most importantly, each and every one of my "Ouwees" have healed up completely.  It really was almost like a miracle how both of the small lingering open areas literally "slammed shut" as we drove to the coast for our 4th of July vacation.  This made me SO happy because that meant that I could swim in the water without a greater fear than the next gal of the uncommon "flesh eating bacteria" that has been found rarely in the waters there in Matagorda bay.  It was so fun to be immersed in water and to swim again. I really missed that over the 12 weeks prior. It was also very fun and exciting to be back in a bathing suite and to be balanced again without the fuss and muss of my Spongeboob.

   We all had a great time.

Not an effect of Bacteria. They are so cute like this.

Secondly, I have been able to start running again!  It has been slow and quite horrible, but that's ok.  It still feels good to be at it again.  I'm now up to 6 miles as my long run. I've been able to do some distance biking as well, which I feel will eventually pay off for my running endurance once my muscles and joints are able to tolerate running again.  It has been interesting that my leg muscles and joints are actually feeling each additional mile like they once did years ago when I first began training for my first half marathon.  At approximately 12 weeks, this has been by far the longest break I've taken from running in at least 8 years, maybe even longer.  Even through chemo, radiation, and the first mastectomy,  I was not off from running for more than 3 weeks (radiation surprisingly enough).  Thinking this out does help put my discomfort into more perspective.  Outside of the mild joint and muscle issues, there is the more significant discomfort of the severely TIGHT abdomen.

It is so much better that it was, but still very difficult to stand up completely erect, and even more difficult to hold that erect posture, that is recommended for running, while running. Please do not get me wrong, I am actually not complaining.  I am truly thrilled that the wounds are healed and that I am able to start stretching and running and living life again!

The final, slightly upsetting gain that I have made since my last post is the 4 lbs that, did, literally, "sneak up from behind" after my vacation! I want to mention this because it is an interesting phenomenon or side effect of the DIEP procedure.  You might be asking "what's so interesting about 4 lbs of deep fried back fat?" Well I'll tell ya....
About 1 year ago I was warned by another breast cancer and DIEP flap reconstruction survivor that this could happen. (You can see the sides of it if you look closely above)...Anyway, because the plastic surgeon literally cut off all of the fat from the front side of my body (abs), when I gain weight it will no longer go THERE.  After 42 years of using my abdominal rolls as an indicator of weight gain I am going to have to rely on another method.  I've been feeling so 'thin' lately that I have not stepped on the scale in WEEKS.  The other day,  I accidentally got a view of my back side in the mirror, and just as the woman that I mentioned earlier had described to me a year ago,  I FOUND my 4 extra pounds!
It was shocking, but at the same time I got a laugh out of it because I remember this woman, and her words of warning, so clearly. 

15.5 Weeks until the NYC Marathon!  I'm cutting it close, but I can do it!  I know I can because  thanks to you all, my awesome friends and family members, and Fred's Team, my fundraising goal has been achieved (One donation not showing on the page yet). I wasn't sure how I was going to raise that money, but it happened, and this training is going to happen the same way! 

PS if you have a person you would like highlighted in this blog, please send me their information/write up if you have not done so already.  Thank You!

Emily

Oh God, Not a Harp! or....$12 Salad

Today is Herceptin chemo day.  That in itself is enough to make me grumpy, and perhaps why I do feel extra grumpy today.  But now, even more so since I’m having trouble blogging due to this obnoxious harp music in my head.  How could a harp make someone irritable or angry?  Is it wrong for me to speak for (I’d think at least some) cancer patients, that just because we are bald and or in chemo, doesn’t mean we will all enjoy being held captive and forced to listen to a harp?  I’m going to venture out to even say it could even make some people sad, or feel creepy, or, as in my case, more irritable.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUYXKxBSg0g


 I’m bummed that I am feeling grumpy today, because despite not feeling well for the better part of two weeks after my last Herceptin, I was beginning to feel pretty decent the past week, and have been really feeling happy for the most part or the past 3 weeks.  Just happy in general.  Happy  to be alive, getting back to training, and even to work.    I think maybe I’m experiencing a small emotional dip due to feeling very happy for a pretty long time and then having to come back here to this place(GAP GawdAwfulPlace). My hair is getting a bit whacky, and now this harp music.   Is that ...We wish you a Merry Christmas?..
  It’s a cycle I guess.

On the good news end of things: I’ve lost 2.5 lbs of my “Breast Cancer Weight”.  ( I can’t remember now if I told that story, but at one point near the end of my 24 weeks of Hard chemo, I was speaking to the Radiation Oncologist’s Nurse, complaining about a 3 lb weight gain, and she said…..”that’s nothing”, “All Breast Cancer Patients get fat.”  If I did tell the story, then I must have mentioned how thank Goodness they did say that to me right after... “You have Cancer”. ) No, I’m not counting the 1.5 lbs of actual breast and/or tumor lost.  I was starting with the weight after surgery. J.  In the past, 2 weeks, I’ve been able to ride my bike for 3.5 hours twice, including a slightly modified version of the (50 mile) DaM loop that Richie and I have done for years and is sort of a benchmark for me ( Modified to 46 miles).  I haven’t been able to do that since at least November of 2010.   I ran over 6.5 miles in one run (7 miles) for the first time since the week before my surgery in March.  I'm able to do up to 20 push-ups again (still difficult and uneven but doing) and I’ve been eating a salad, much like this one 

That is actually a piece of Kale on the bottom left for those unfamiliar.

almost every day at lunch, and I’m still into it.  My secret is that I’ve been going to Whole Foods (mostly), or Central market (secondarily) and allowing myself to get WHATEVER I WANT off of the salad bar.  It’s mostly a secret though, because my husband, who I won’t name, would probably die if he knew this. ($$)  I figure my secret is safe here though.  I've also had the time to "Juice" a few more times.  Outside of the Juice actually being O.K. and making me feel pretty healthy, i've gotton a lot of kicks out of it.  First of all the word "Juicing" is hilarious. Secondly, it is simply amazing the things that you can get juice out of.  The best moment, though, was when i was in the actual process of juicing some Kale, and some guy came to our door trying to raise money for the cause to improve the American diet.  A cause, i am normally very interested in supporting, however at that very moment my first thought was....Aren't i doing enough?....I'm Juicing (and about to drink the juice of) Kale for Godsake's. :)

The other obvious great thing is that,while i'm NOT a fan of the summer schedule, or of this severe heat, i have gotton to spend some real fun times with my kids.  I really do have cute kids.