It is two months today since I finished my treatment so I’m making a note of my progress so far. I find it useful to do this now and then because sometimes I feel I’m not getting anywhere, but then when I look back over older entries I can see that there has been some small improvement.
I think that I have a little bit more energy. I go to bed now at 10pm, at the beginning of the recovery it was 8pm. I rarely nap during the day now and if I do it’s only once for about half an hour. I go on the exercise bike every day, I can only do 5 miles but it seems to be enough to help the muscle tone back into my legs. I work out with my weights too and I am delighted with what I have done for my left shoulder and upper arm. I can walk to the beach and back but it is a struggle. I am hoping that I can eventually manage to walk further to my parents’ home and to the shops. I am doing most of the housework again, but I have to just do half an hour a day instead of one long weekly session.
The skin on my neck looks and feels wonderful, you wouldn’t know I’d had anything done, the radiation burns are a distant memory. My scar is fading really well. Only problem is that I still have puffiness around the throat area, I am assured it will go eventually.
I still have hearing loss because of glue ear but I am more than happy with my hearing aids. I am told my hearing should return naturally over the next few weeks, if not they will be putting me on a waiting list for an operation. I have just discovered the waiting list is months long so I hope it won’t have to come to this. My voice is also nearly back. I am very hoarse in the mornings but I think that is just the dryness, it improves when I start drinking. My husband says my voice isn’t exactly what it was before but people seem to be able to understand me OK.
I have a bit of a problem with mucus coming up in my throat some mornings but it goes after an hour or so. This is a distinct improvement from when I was constantly rinsing gunk from my mouth all day and night. I am also sleeping much better. Sometimes I wake up in the night as my head feels congested and I can’t breathe through my nose, but a quick sniff of my Olbas Oil inhaler seems to sort that out.
The slowest progress is with my eating. I am managing to eat a few little bits of food a day and I can feel it is going down a little easier. My favourite is tinned peaches with raspberry ripple ice cream. However I can’t manage yet to eat sufficient for the Dietician to allow me to start cutting back on the tube feeds. Even with these extra bit and pieces I haven’t managed to put any weight on and they say I can’t afford to lose any more. I am managing to drink pretty well now. Still only water as everything else still tastes horrible but instead of sips I can now swallow big gulps.
My nurse keeps telling me I am doing really well and that I have to remember that the radiotherapy is still in the body for the first two or three weeks after the end of treatment, so really I have only been recovering for just over a month. She says I also have to remember that I have also had 2 operations under general anesthetic and my chemo, so my body has taken a battering over the last few months. I am trying to be patient but it’s not always easy.
I think my husband and I are slowly adjusting to our new way of life. We were probably leading the lifestyle of younger people before, but I think we both now accept we have reached middle age. We are both enjoying having time at home and living life at a much slower pace. I’m sure we would have eventually reached this stage over a period of time, all that has happened is that my cancer accelerated the pace of change.
