This is a very straightforward "update" blog. It is 6 weeks since I completed my course of radio- and chemotherapy, and the course itself was 6 weeks long. I have used the analogy (and it feels more like an analogy than a metaphor) of climbing a mountain. Each week completed represented reaching a camp on the way to the summit (completion of treatment) and each week after was like reaching a camp on the descent. So now I am back at base camp, 6 weeks after treatment.
Well, I don't feel like I did when started treatment and I still have a tube hanging out of my nose! But there is definitely progress. 5 weeks ago I could not speak, eat or drink, was utterly exhausted, vomiting all the time and in real discomfort. Now I am gingerly trying different foods - a miniscule bowl of muesli this morning, Yo! - and shouting at my children to get off social media. Yesterday I had a morsel of bread with my mother-in-law's stunning German home-made jam. I have returned, very gently, to the exercise bike and there have recently been several days when I have not needed to sleep in the afternoon. I even fancy I have seen a hair or two of beard returning, but I may be deluding myself there ... And I have been for a few walks and excursions with the kids, including bowling a few days ago (though I had to suffer defeat at the hands of my daughter and her friend :-( ) It is still a challenge to eat, I can't talk for too long, but all in all I am in a much better place than 5 weeks ago.
This morning I took my son to football for the first time in nearly three months, which was great. (Well it was for me: his team lost 5:1 and he is the goalie...) What was also good was to chat with another Dad on the side who is undergoing cancer treatment. One of the trainers is a cancer survivor and one of my son's teammates lost his father to cancer about 8 years ago. We men are not good at talking about cancer, so it was good to be able to talk about my experiences with others. Probably good for our sons too.
