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Great recovery effort: keep up the good work!

Got in a 10 min walk this morning, then had hand-foot syndrome rear its ugly head in the form of redness, heat, and pain on the bottoms of my feet--thanks, chemo pills. Dragged myself to the gym tonight because my 15 yr old and I had an appt. with a personal trainer. It went well: 10 min. of rowing and NO foot pain, then…

Ever since I read a Mayo Clinic study that eating an extra 5 g. of whole grains daily can cause an 18% drop in the recurrence of colon cancer, which I had surgery for in Dec. 23, I've committed to oatmeal / barley / quinoa every breakfast. I'm about 3 weeks in to this new change. Here's what it has going for it: 1) I…

As usual, I walked my dog (she's a lab and almost 12 years old; even though it was still chilly here, she seemed to be making a big effort on our two short walks). Anyway, that's another story. Got to the gym this evening for 13 min. of elliptical; 15 or 20 min. on the bike; 15 min. freeweights--(various arm exercises and…

30 min. bike ride in 3 stages: home to coffee shop; coffee shop to work; work to back home.

I walked my dog, then took a bike ride down to my local coffee shop, read for an hour plus, saw an old friend unexpectedly and got caught up on their life, then biked back home. Probably 25 min. of biking total. This is exciting because it would have been such a typical day for me BEFORE my colon cancer diagnosis and…

A car wreck then taxes in one weekend?!? Oh Anne, I'm sorry. Take care of yourself.

Thanks @Leo_King_84! My gym is pretty friendly. I've noticed there's an old guy who chats up the college boys about their lives, career choices, etc. He's unofficially mentoring them between sets, and it's sweet of him. Also, his wife died and he's kinda lonely.

While we're on the topic of gyms: I (48F) get self-conscious working out with the light range of dumbbells while all the guys (and a couple girls) do the heavy stuff. If they had a closet where I could do my exercises, I would use it. I go to my university's gym (free!), so of course it's full of college students. But to…

That used to be my preference too--well, not the creatine :). I like running on "E".

I've gotten serious about the gym this week, going nearly every day if not for very long. Today's workout, besides walking my dog: 12 min. elliptical trainer, then 12x2 skull crushers with a 15 lb weight, 12x2 reverse crunches (feet and hips off the floor), 15x2 squats with 10 lb dumbbells. Then 15 min stretching (PT's…

Checking in after an absence. Some of you may recall my colon cancer diagnosis and surgery back in Dec. Since I was stage 2A, I had the option to do preventative chemo or not. I chose to do it, mainly so I won't have any regrets later. Today is the final day of my second cycle of chemo pills (1 cycle = 2 weeks on, 1 week…

I rode my bike for two blocks today: the mini-ride was my first since my cancer surgery in Dec. Also walked across campus from the building where I teach to the library and back (10 minutes?). Sunshiny and seemed like spring (although here in NW Arkansas we refer to this kind of weather in Feb. as "false spring").

I hope your oncologist will confirm your reading that it's a good result: That would be great. I'm beaming positivity rays at you from here, right now! [/quote] Thanks for the rays, Ann. She confirmed that the PET found no sign of cancer anywhere in my body ("no hypermetabolic activity"), and I'm very thankful. Truthfully,…

Ann, I feel this deeply (and big hugs / best wishes they figure out what's going on, and soon). Today I had a PET scan (following surgery to remove a stage II tumor from my colon in Dec.) and they posted my lab results to Healow. I peeked--and to my layman's eyes it seems like good news. I'll hear from my oncologist…

Two walks, one 15 min and one 30 min, morning and afternoon. The outside temp was 70 degrees.

Thanks, Ann. This is the post I needed to read today (the story of someone with cancer in the rearview mirror who survived it decades ago and has moved on to a fun, active lifestyle).

I spent the weekend at Subiaco Abbey with a few friends: we got in a 45 min. walk or so on the abbey grounds yesterday, accompanied by a light drizzle.

Your post made me think of the book Remarkably Bright Creatures--I read and loved it this past summer (one of the main characters is retired and works at an aquarium; the other protagonist is in an exhibit in the aquarium).

Thank you for sharing those! Cherries from your own garden = swoon.

Today featured 62 degree F weather and sunny skies, so hubs and I walked our dog for 45 min. outside on the trail near our house that leads to a recently-opened kayak park.

In my world, a 10 mile walk is definitely exercise! The picture was beautiful--thanks for sharing.

I would so enjoy seeing a picture of your orchard!

47 F here. I strained an upper leg muscle back in the summer (after a 45 min run when my body was only used to 25 min runs) and tried to just carry on as usual. That didn't work out very well, and I haven't been able to run in months. Today, I sucked it up and visited a physical therapist. The hour and a half with him…

A beautiful January day here in NW Arkansas, so the hubs, son, dog, and I took a nice stroll through our neighborhood, about half an hour. It was good to see the sun again.

Today's workout: walking for 36 minutes on the treadmill, the first 30 min. at 3.2 mph, then the last cooldown section at 2.7 mph. I increased my speed by .2 and distance by 10 minutes. I've also been walking back-to-back days this week rather than every other day. Today marks 5 weeks since the surgery to remove the…

Another 30 min. walk on the treadmill at 3.0 mph.

Thank you so much, Djproulx!! I am glad to be back and on this side of the surgery. I admit to thinking about a late May / June tri. The thing is, I've got to see how my body handles those stinkin' chemo pills before I start training. I miss my bike but really don't want to risk a fall and another hospital trip. And TBH,…

Wow! I've never seen that IRL.

Thank you so much, Ann! I went to the gym again today with the hubs and our kids because it was yet another snow day here in NW Arkansas. I walked for about 20 minutes but felt a little dizzy. Hard to admit that even at that low level of working out, I may have been over-doing it. Probably will skip the gym tomorrow in…