So here it is 14th September, my 37th birthday and 1st post MOAS. I feel like it should feel more important bearing in mind what I have been through this last year but if I'm honest it just feels like any other day. Perhaps thats a product of my current well being and good health.
Physically I'm continueing to improve although still not quite up to full speed and if I'm honest I wonder if I'll ever fully recover the high level of fitness I had prior to the op. I'm back to running now and going twice a week. I have improved in terms of speed and am up to 8 minute miles but only over a short distance at the moment. The most I have run distance wise is about three and a half miles but this ia also quite a hilly route and is a good challenge. In the next two weeks if all continues to go well then I will step it up to the four mile mark and throw in some more hills to build my stregth. As I start to push a bit harder I get various aches and pains. These tend to be centred around my core muscle groups as these have taken such a hammering. I get a feeling of bruising underneath the rib cage on the right side, not sure what it is but the only time I had any discomfort after the MOAS was a chest drain on that side that was in too far and had to be pulled out a bit. Whether its related or not I dont know? I have also found my lower back muscles are weak. They have had a good work out though recently as I have been digging out a garden pond!
My weight is pretty constant now and I'm probably a stone and a half lighter than I was. I havent found any restrictions regarding food and can and do eat just about anything. I have tried to start to impliment a healthy regime again ensuring I get my 5 a day and eating plenty of wholegrain too. This will hopefully not only compliment my running and training but help to protect my immune system throughout the winter months. In terms of colds I do seem to be picking them up more regularly than before. I'm on my second now and supping a Lemsip as I type! This I'm sure must be down to the lack of a spleen and I continue to take my antibiotics daily.
I have my first annual CT scan looming. It's planned for some time in October and is on my mind more and more. It'll be a tough few weeks awaiting the results, thats for sure. I do find myself contemplating what the future might hold more and more lately. How long have I got? Will the PMP return and if so when? In my mind I have set targets. If I can get the Mortgage paid off then great,the family will be OK financially. If I see my girls get married then that will be brilliant! If I see my grandkids then that would be fantastic!! Beyond that I really am not sure.... Just recently I am aware of a number of fellow sufferers that have lost their battle with PMP and I think thats what has made me contemplate things too. The constant reminder that this thing does kill. Its a reality check and to a certain extent keeps you real. Make the most of now,make the most of today, enjoy those around you and celebrate life.
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Right on, PMP brother from across the pond. Congrats on your birthday. My running has been about like yours, getting back up to 3-4 miles. But recently dropped back a bit, trying to get back to 3 miles a few times a week. Which used to be my "short and quick" runs.
ReplyDeleteEveryone lives one milestone at a time, most just don't know it. Maybe that's a bit of luck for us, we have a bit of clearer vision...
Dan (www.oncoloblogy.com)
Hi Dave! Happy Birthday! School started back up a few weeks ago, and I am finding that I am really really really tired all the time. The more tired I get, the more aches and pains I get, all centered around my incision, plus those interior places that got cut up. It's a bit unnerving, since I thought I'd have more energy after the summer vacation (although I expended lots of energy playing with the grandchildren). But I'm hanging in there -- just trying to learn to take things a bit more slowly.
ReplyDeleteI was lucky -- I was able to see my surgeon for my CT results the day after the scan. I was surprised how anxious I was! I wonder if it will be this way every six months . . .
Anon 2
Hi Dan, Really good to hear from you and I'm glad you are doing well. I think the trick is to take things slowly and gradually increase the levels of exercise so the core toughens up at a steady rate rather than overdoing things and ending up with hernia's ect.. I think I overdid it a bit last weekend. I spent all day digging out this garden pond and having to dump the soil 30m away one bucket at a time! On top of that I then went running in my lunch hour on Monday with a sore throat and now as well as aches and pains from the physical exercise have a dose of man flu!
ReplyDeleteI think you are right about the milestones.....one at a time and savour every moment along the way. Perhaps we do have a clearer vision about life and just how fragile it is. Our uncertain futures mean that we look at things differently and appreciate things more. Our family's and freinds, the world around us, little things that others perhaps miss.
Your freind from good old blighty!
Dave
Hi Anon number 2,
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you too and thank you for the birthday wishes! I know what you mean about the tiredness. I find that when I come home after a days work all I want to do is crash out. I'm usually in bed by 10pm! I'm sure things will improve as our body's gradually adapt to the huge changes that they have had to go through but also as we adapt to things being different. Maybe we will never quite be the same again and will need to adjust slightly to our new and PMP free body's!
Best wishes,
Dave