Day 244, 8 Month Update

Today is the 8 month anniversary of my advanced prostate cancer diagnosis.  To celebrate I went and had a root canal.  This was supposed to be part two of a two part root canal, but as there are still signs of infection there will now be a part three.  Yippee!  While I’m talking about unpleasant things, let me get moment of drama out of the way first.  I am frequently tired, in pain, and have been losing weight recently.  Normally these would be horrible signs for a cancer patient.  But…

... there’s a slight chance these are the result of a massive increase in my activity level over the past month.  I’m now approaching 30 miles a week of walking and running, which does not include other outdoor activities such as mowing the lawn or cutting up downed trees for firewood.

I began running seriously at age 40.  Since then I’ve run a total of 22 5Ks, 6 half marathons, a full marathon, and a handful of other races of odd distances.  Two of those 5Ks have been since my diagnoses, and neither has been my slowest.  In fact, my last one just over a week ago was faster than every 5K I ran at age 40.  So, at age 51 and undergoing cancer treatment, I can run faster and longer than I could when I was a new runner at age 40.

My diet is healthier too.  Recently I’ve been focused on eating more fruit and nuts, and between that and medication side effects the desire to eat less healthy foods in large quantities has waned.  Recently I’ve had to make some effort to eat more to keep my weight up, which is sort of odd.

Today I also spoke with the HR department at the office about returning to work.  I’ve been gone long enough now that I need a note from my treating physician saying that I’m fit to return to work, including the limitations I have that need to be accommodated.  Everybody seems to be in general agreement with the plan, but the paperwork might take a while.

About those limitations: my cancer has been treated very aggressively, with multiple drugs given much earlier in the disease process than would have been done only a few years ago.  This is great for overall survival, but is both costly and causes the side effects to stack up on each other.  I could take this post in a political direction, but will save that for a separate post at a different time.  There’s another soap box I want to stand on today.

I’ve probably said this before, but it seems like every cancer drug has “fatigue” and “pain” listed in the side effects.  I was quite apprehensive before starting the latest drug, fearing that it would lead to a long life of feeling tired and sore all the time.  The internet is littered with anecdotal accounts of men trying to cope with the side effects of these drugs.  Fortunately, there is an antidote: Exercise!

And here I will get out my soap box and stand on it shouting to the world about how important exercise is.  There have been many a day where I’ve woken up tired and sore, and after a five mile run found myself pain-free and energized.  The reason I’m able to do this so easily is because I’ve been running regularly for the past decade, so habit energy is enough to get me out the door and started.

Exercise is vital if you have a serious health problem such as cancer.  A healthy body is better able to withstand treatment.  Exercise stimulates the immune system, reduces pain, and improves mood through the release of beta-endorphins.  Exercise helps maintain a healthy weight and fight metabolic syndrome.  In short, exercise keeps you healthy, and scientific evidence is mounting that healthy people live longer and have better quality of life when coping with diseases such as cancer.

Many forms of exercise will work.  Running, walking, hiking, lifting weights, swimming, biking.  Just about anything that can get your pulse rate up significantly and keep it there for a while.  And now I’ll climb off the soap box.

Despite the voluminous exercise, I do still get some side effects.  Hot flashes happen regularly, and I’m frequently too cold or too hot, and it’s very difficult to find a comfortable temperature.  Pain is very well managed, but still present as a slight discomfort much of the time.  Fatigue still happens occasionally, particularly on a dreary rainy day after I may have overdone things the previous day.

These side effects come and go but are much more likely to show up in the days and weeks after visiting the oncologist and getting my shots.  It’s all somewhat unpredictable at this point, but still improving.  So while I’m planning to go back to work full time in the near future, the process does involve negotiating an accommodation for my somewhat frequent side effect days.

But in the grand scheme of things, I’d rate my quality of life right now as better than it was in the month leading up to my diagnoses. The treatment is decidedly not worse than the disease.  Things are improving further as the side effects from chemo continue to fade.  My runs are getting faster, working in the yard and the woods is slowly giving me back some upper body strength and I’ll be returning to work soon.  In short, piece by piece I’m taking back most of the normal life I had previously, and it feels awesome!

I’ve recently been inspired by dogs.  If you take a middle age dog and tell it that it has a serious disease, what do you think the dog will do?  Will it go online and obsessively search for more information on the disease and how to treat it?  Of course not!  Have you tried to work a mouse and keyboard with a paw?

It may whimper at the vet’s office for a bit, but not long after leaving it will be too busy frollicking in a puddle and generally enjoying the moment.  And that’s how I’m trying to live.  I whimper at the oncologist’s or urologist’s office, but am trying to cut back on the time I spend researching and instead spend more time frolicking.  I feel the need to go jump in a puddle.