I am Not a "Cancer Patient"

I have been feeling progressively better this week, to the point where I have gone to work a couple times, and even lifted weights this morning. Here's a photo to prove it. I honestly feel really great today, aside from the return of my stomach pain, which is a little strange.

It's interesting how quickly the way I feel changes. As I mentioned in my last post, I was still feeling completely exhausted on the weekend. I also experienced some pretty persistent and intense bone pain from my Neupogen injections, which kept me awake all night on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday and Monday I felt quite anemic, to the point of feeling dizzy, extremely out of breath, and pale, as a result of even the easiest of exercises such as walking up a hill. However, on Tuesday I felt half decent, and yesterday I was well enough to go to the beach in the morning and to work in the afternoon. Yes Mom, I put lots of sunscreen on.

I am happy to be feeling this healthy again today, and satisfied that I will get a full 7 days of feeling "normal" until my next chemo session. As I was working out this morning with the music pumping, I got to thinking that I don't consider myself to be a "cancer patient." While I am undergoing some pretty intense treatments for awhile, and feel very ill for close to two weeks at a time after each session, my body and mind always return to their usual healthy state of being. Look at the photo... now back here... now back to the photo... now back here. Does that look like a "cancer patient" to you? I'm proud to be able to keep a fairly solid sense of normalcy in my life while I'm fighting this disease. Not only does it help to remove the "Big C" from "cancer", but it also enables me to enjoy what I believe is still going to be a great summer. Yes, I realize I am saying this now and will be back to moaning and groaning about how shitty I feel next weekend, but humor me here!

Have a listen to this song, "Let it Go," by Dragonette. It's a good way to describe how I'm feeling.

"We don't need a cure for the weight of the world,
'Cause its floating round in the universe,
Just swinging like its tied by a string that you hold and let it go."

Thanks for reading,
Christopher