In the past two weeks, I’ve lost about six pounds. And yes, it feels good, but there is a giant asterisk that should accompany my statement. See, about two weeks ago, my doctor took me off of chemotherapy treatment for my on-again, off-again bone marrow cancer.
And since I was taking two forms of chemo drugs, I was getting double the side effects, which is why my trusty oncologist stopped the treatment. Being a self-perceived tough-guy, I went through about 6-8 weeks of nausea, vomiting, extreme fatigue, leg numbness, peeling skin and muscle pain. I figured it was just par for the course and I needed to suck it up because I was only scheduled to go through another 2-3 cycles anyway.
But one day my girlfriend Jennie instructed me to tell the doctor about the side effects because I wasn’t eating, blah blah blah. So I did, and he was basically annoyed that I hadn’t spoken up sooner. We stopped all treatment that day. He gave me a two-week break, and said that afterward I’d get another bone marrow biopsy and some other tests. If those tests come back clean, I’ll only need to take a low-dose maintenance drug to keep the cancer in remission. Yes, remission.
So here we are two weeks later, and my body has started to purge the water it retained from the drugs. My skin is better, the pain is less and I feel better in general. My recent weight loss feels great, but it’s mostly from the meds (or lack thereof). I just need to buckle down and stay on plan to keep it going.
Don’t get me wrong, I still have problems staying awake because of all of the narcotic pain drugs I’m on, but in general, life is grand. It sure beats the alternative. I get the biopsy tomorrow, so I’ll know next week if this weight loss and general good feeling will continue.
Till then…
Jason Carpenter, Men’s Editor
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Fitness, Food, Friends, Fun, General, Health, Love & life, My weight loss