Tuesday, May 28, 2013

First Day Back

OK...so it's been six months since I last stepped foot into the gym, but today I did it!  I've been thinking that I needed to get back into a workout routine before my fatigue totally took over and I would never go back.  

This morning when I decided that today was the day, I, as usual, felt exhausted.  I could have easily talked myself into putting it off for another day.  Before my diagnosis, I'd often go for a workout then come home and take a short nap.  Today I decided to try something different.  I took the nap before going to workout.  

It felt great to be there again.  Although I saw familiar faces,  there were some machines, etc. that have been moved around since I was last there, so I had to search for my favorites.  
 

Surprisingly, I got teary-eyed as I started my workout.  I was so grateful to be able to be there.  I have been consistently hopeful that I would get strong enough to return to the gym, but after months of dizziness, nausea, vomiting, fatigue and generally feeling like crap, even my "pollyanna" hope was taking a hit.  In the few months since I started Xalkori, most of the side effects have eased or gone away.  Now it's really only the dizziness [which goes away 1-2 hours after taking the pill] and fatigue that bother me, and who knows if the fatigue is because of Xalkori or because I have stage 4 lung cancer.  Early on, back in December, a prominent oncologist told me that if I "let the fatigue take over, it will take over."  He made me feel like I could help myself by staying active.  

With that in mind, I put in an hour today, and plan to get into a regular routine.  The body-portion of my mind-body-spirit triad has really taken a beating, not only from cancer, but also from all the medications, x-rays, etc.  I'm hoping that I'll be able to work on my body again so that all parts of my triad can be strong again.  

Wish me luck...

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wish you the best of luck with your work out routine. Sounds like you are off to a great start.

Becca said...

GOOD LUCK, bec

Ann said...

I don't blame you for tearing up, since you didn't really know if you would ever get back to the gym. But you did! Congratulations. You make some of my excuses to skip the gym seem very flimsy. So, with you as my inspiration, I am going tonight. Or tomorrow. Definitely tomorrow....or at the latest the next day. (-:

Anonymous said...

Luna, you are so strong throughout the triad. Keep up the fight! your sharing has helped me reflect on my life and made me appreciative of all I have. Again, your wisdom has taught me much. Sumi