It's a bit over 4 weeks since I was discharged from hospital after the stem cell transplant and given I'm starting back at work tomorrow, I thought I'd add a short update to my progress.
The first week was quite difficult. I'm not sure if it was the emotional let-down from being released from hospital or just the physical damage that had been done to me.....or both but I struggled to do anything for more than an hour without needing an hour's worth of nanna nap to restore my energy levels. Fortunately those levels of fatigue haven't continued beyond the first week or so and at the end of each week, I've noticed a general improvement to my physical condition.....It is in fact quite amazing how generally resilient the human body is.
I made the decision to pretty much completely rest and enjoy being at home with my family again in the lead up to Christmas with the day following boxing day set as the day to begin the long job of restoring my fitness levels again. From that point I have begun introducing different forms of physical activity from long walks every couple of days to rollerblading, generally finding whatever excuse I can to move. When I feel tired I have rested.
It is working. In more recent days I have been back on the bike again and yesterday putting just short of 46km under the wheels. Today I feel ok. In another week or two I'll begin my interval and strength training routine again under the watchful eye of my EP to make sure I don't go too hard, too quickly and from here it goes on.
Now I just need to find myself an event to train for.........
A number of people have asked me "When will I get the all-clear?" and I am one of the fortunate cancer survivors who had an illness that indeed has a cure. The best way I can answer that question would be to say that my risk of re-occurrence diminishes with every year that passes and when we are speaking to each other 40 years from now (or tweeting, or however we will be communicating then) and I can reflect and say "Ha, It never came back", then I will know it was "job done".
From here, it is time to begin living life "normally" again and I use the term "normally" with a degree of relativity because for the second time in my life and the life of my family, our normality is forever different.......but life goes on and so do we. As BA would say "Onwards and upwards!"
Separately, I'd like to say thanks to everyone who has offered their support. I received lots of PM's, text messages and emails of support from people here and it really helped me to grind out a very tough period. Thank you!
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