I am feeling very well. Very well indeed :-) Six months with no treatment and I can feel the difference. Differences:
The soles of my feet are still tingly and numb but sensitive -- no, makes no sense to me, either -- with occasional extreme itchiness. It hurts to walk on a rough surface. The sensitivity and itching seems to have focussed on my right foot, especially the toes. My left sole just tingles. This -- I believe is "peripheral neuropathy" -- nerve damage at the extremities due to the chemo drugs.
I visit the GP. I'm there for a measles jab in one arm, flu jab in the other. No side effects except tiredness over the next few days. Which could well be related to the 12km trail run on Sunday. The jabs are what you do when a daughter is having a baby and tells you to get immunised... Heh! a new granddaughter :-)
Anyway, the GP says that neuropathy takes a very long time to fade away. Possibly (she mumbles) never.
My hands, however, are a lot better. Possibly as good as new, for my age :-) No tingling, no excessive sensitivity. I can turn on taps without it hurting. So that's good.
One peripheral that was affected -- that I have not mentioned before -- is my penis. Definite loss of sensitivity at the tip -- when I pee, I don't feel the final flow. That, too, is back to normal sensitivity. When I pee I can feel that I am peeing. Including the final bit of the flow. It's quite reassuring to not have to look.
No matter how open I claim to be in this blog -- some things do get ignored. Yes, it is embarrassing. No, you can't test the sensitivity. Well... maybe :-) That's another embarrassing topic:
It may be the return of sensitivity. More likely it's my increasing feeling of good health. Whatever... I am thinking of sex.
For a few months, probably more, sex was just a pleasant thought, wouldn't it be nice, with no visceral response. No, Whoa! I'd like a bit of that! Now the interest is returning. Maybe not a full Rowr! but at least an interested Wuff!
For a while I suffered extreme but short-lived itchiness on various and varying parts of my body. Some were definitely unnatural, I blame them on chemo. Others were due to chafing -- from running -- and have been cleared with careful use of Vaseline.
My hair has grown back. It all fell out before March. It has now grown back, slowly. There is still age-related thinness and balding at the back. Plus an almost bald area where the radiation went in. But I have enough hair that I have had it cut. Trying to make it tidy. Very difficult, with the bald patches.
My digestion is back to where it should be though not to where it was. I can eat what I like, no problems. My taste buds appreciate what they always have. Digestion works well but the poo is softer and a bit more often than it used to be.
The incredible farting machine of June to August has slowed down. Sure I still fart but it is no longer thunderous, no longer continuous. I no longer -- as far as I know -- spend all night farting in my sleep. I'm sure that Deb is pleased.
At 85kg I'm still almost 15kg above where I would like to be. Above my "target running weight". That's okay. It's not much worse that the ten years I spent at more than 5kg above... I'm no good at avoiding good cooking :-)
For a year or so I had trouble standing up. That is, from sitting on the floor to standing up was slow and difficult. In the last month it has become noticeably easier. Repeated sitting-to-standing is an essential skill when playing with a young grandson.
For a few months I could not close my eyes -- while standing -- without feeling that I could fall over. I am now much more stable. I can even -- almost always -- stand on one foot while drying the other.
The GP also worries about my heart. My brother had clogged arteries, chemo can cause heart problems. So the GP sends me to have an ultrasound scan of my heart. That was today.
Informally, the scan technician suggests that it all looks okay. I'll get the formal result from the GP, in a couple of weeks. Pfft! I don't mess around with something as ordinary as a dodgy heart :-)
All up, the last few months has seen a vast improvement in my physical health and well-being. Some of it is a result of more regular running. The regular running is possible because I feel, physically, better. It's a positive feedback loop.
So far, so good :-)
Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
... Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
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"Experience is the comb life gives you once you're bald" … per Ginger Meggs
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Yep it's good to feel good.
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