Lessons Learned & Learning 26: 780 Days of Maintenance

Ejourneys

Prior maintenance updates: 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 120 days, 150 days, 180 days, 210 days, 240 days, 270 days, 300 days, 330 days, 360 days, 390 days, 420 days, 450 days, 480 days, 510 days, 540 days, 570 days, 600 days, 630 days, 660 days, 690 days, 720 days, 750 days.

The vertical red lines on my chart for average weight indicate the day that I had started taking anastrazole, the drug I'm on to try to prevent cancer recurrence (day 355) and the days of my bout with what was likely E. coli (days 580-581). More on the shifts in my weight trends around those events is in my 630-day update.

Here's how my 26 30-day maintenance periods compare:



My twenty-sixth 30 days looked like this:


Weight: I had reached my goal weight of 150 lbs. on Dec. 17, 2013. According to MFP, that would place my net calories at 1600 for maintenance.

Between days 751 and 780 inclusive my weight averaged 149.1 and ranged from 147.5 to 150.5. The days of my hospitalization are not counted here, because no weight was taken.

Exercise Calories Burned: I took 2 rest days (0 calories burned) during maintenance days 751-780. Those occurred on Jan. 10, the day I was admitted to the hospital for a blood clot; and Jan. 12, the day my chemo port (the culprit for the clot) was surgically removed. My "workout" on Jan. 11 consisted of dancing beside my hospital bed for 15 minutes. :-) My average exercise calories burned for this period (including rest days) equaled 404/day, the same as in the prior 30-day period. My highest burn was 516 on Jan. 24, representing 70 minutes on the DeskCycle.

Along with the blood clot comes a prohibition against lifting heavy objects, so I have to avoid my weighted vest for a while.

On Feb. 3 I passed the 18,000-mile mark (since Sept. 1, 2012) in my Virtual Ride Around the Equator. This places me at the longitude of Kaga-Bandoro, Central African Republic. :-)

Total and Net Calories Consumed: Total calories for maintenance days 751-780 averaged 1983/day and ranged from 1237 (Jan. 12, a rest and surgery day) to 2319 (Feb. 4). Net calories (total calories minus exercise calories burned) averaged 1579/day (99% of maintenance) and ranged from 1130 (Jan. 13, my last day in the hospital) to 2080 (Jan. 11, when I purposely tanked up knowing I couldn't eat for most of surgery day).

I was hospitalized from Jan. 10-13 and am now on a blood thinner to help dissolve the clot in my subclavian vein, caused by my chemo port. I document that adventure here, with subsequent updates.



Above: digital collage made from get-well cards I received.



I began with the lower left image in this ultrasound of my right subclavian vein. I then substituted colors for the various shades of gray and added softening and embossing effects. The result appears in the roughly square shape at center, which is positioned over a mosaic made from the altered ultrasound image. I then added stencils made from images in Beeton's Book of Needlework (1870).



I had initially gotten this Lymphedivas compression sleeve "just in case" for my left arm, the arm on my lumpectomy side, because I'd had lymph nodes removed there. Following doctor recommendations, it now comes in handy for my right arm, which has venous swelling due to the blood clot. Little by little, that swelling has been decreasing.

kdiamond

Wow! That's quite a lot of info! Very interesting! Glad you're ok. Blood clots are scary...did try say what they thought might have caused it?

Ejourneys

Hi, kdiamond! The clot was caused by my chemo port, which has now been removed. (Still working on getting rid of the clot.)