debutaunt.com

Sweat

Yesterday was a hella long day. I did so much walking around the clinic and it kind of wore me out.

Walking.

Wore me out.

I was an athlete for a long time. I played basketball on and off all the way through college. I totally sucked, but I still played. I liked the workout and always had friends on the team. But I was the player that they'd put in only when we were up by 20 points or more. Kind of like Rudy. I also started a fitness challenge this last Summer (http://www.bodyforlife.com ) and loved it. I felt great (albeit still tired) and saw some great results. I really like working out, but if I get out of my routine, it falls to the wayside. Which is so not good.

And I was getting jammied up last night and was like WOAH. My thighs, they be a jigglin'. Me no likey that. I'm kind of a muscle-bound freak and here I have atrophy and I can honestly say my thighs are now officially fat. Ok fatter.

I feel like I should be exercising. I really like to work out. I look back over my Body for Life entries and I honestly think I might have been sick back then. Lots of entries where I worked out yet still could not feel rested enough. Who knows.

Monkey Boy, aka Mr. Triathalon, did some research for me on the internets. He thinks I need to be as strong as possible before my BMT, and I tend to agree. Hell, I do have enough time on my hands here. So I'm curious.

Exercise During Cancer Treatment

Decreased physical activity, which may be the result of the cancer itself or the treatment, can lead to tiredness and lack of energy. Regular, moderate exercise can decrease these feelings, help you stay active and increase your energy. Even during cancer therapy, it is often possible to continue exercising.

Exercise at least three times a week. The right kind of exercise never makes you feel sore, stiff, or exhausted. If you experience soreness, stiffness, exhaustion, or feel out of breath as a result of your exercise, you are overdoing it. Most exercises are safe, as long as you exercise with caution and don't overdo it. The safest and most productive activities are swimming, brisk walking, indoor stationary cycling and low impact aerobics (taught by a certified instructor). These activities carry little risk of injury and benefit your entire body.

The main issue is not the exercise, but the central line. You have to replace the bandage once a week, and I do mine in the leukemia center. It's a delicate process to clean it and it has to remain sterile. Ergo, no sweating they said or it can get badly infected. They emphasize this every visit. Infected CVC is really really bad. Even when I shower, I have to tape it all up with some press on saran wrap to keep it from getting wet.

Hello. It's Houston. You can sweat just walking to your car here.

And me. Well I sweat when I work out . Even just a little bit of exercise can trigger it. I think that's why my skin is near flawless. I tried yoga, where you think you'd not even break a sweat, but even that had me soaked. Pilates and weight training too. I love to swim, but with my lovely CVC brooch, that is completely out. Even Sweatin' to the Oldies would have me drenched.

So how do you remain active and not sweat?

Not to mention, even just walking a flight of stairs has me so out of breath sometimes I worry about passing out. I fainted once during round one and it scared me to death. This is due to low blood counts - red blood cells to be specific. You know, those ones that bring oxygen to your body. Well mine are "high," but they still are far below what a normal person's are. Thus the out of breath thing. It's spooky. Spookier than the raccoons in the dark.

My gym is out. I had to suspend my membership because I'm not allowed to be around crowds. I'd love to get an exercise bike, but then again the whole working out/passing out thing kind of scares me. Especially since I'm by myself nearly all day. No one would find me for days. (ok, a few hours) Although there's no dog here to chew my face off. But by then the raccoons might get in.

I have a doctor's appointment today and I want to ask her about it. I know MDA has a wellness center, but when they show the commercials for it on the hospitals CANCER CHANNEL, it looks crowded. Which again is a no no.

[aside]
When you are an inpatient, and turn on the tv, the first thing that pops up is this narrated video about cancer. CANCER TV. Like the hotel videos a hotel shows. I'm sorry, but when you have cancer, that's the last thing you need to see. Welcome to the hospital. You have CANCER. No. Show me Comedy Central. Have it set to Monty Python or Steven Martin. SNL oldies 24/7. Cheeseburger Cheeseburger. Not cancer patients talkng about their treatment. Let me remind you in case you forgot. YOU HAVE CANCER. I want to be reminded that I have a funny bone. They also show CNN or Fox news on all the waiting room tvs. And usually they won't let you change the channel to Maury or Oprah. Heck, even judge tv or the Discovery channel would be better than repeats about how many people are dying in Iraq. Or more dead miners. Talk about depressing.

So. We'll see what Dr. T has to say about me working out. I'm not diggin this muscle atrophy thing. I mean I might actually want to get naked again someday with someone, and this, this is soooo not attractive. I look like I have turkey skin. My clothes are fitting huge, but this isn't worth it.

If anyone has gone through this before, having a CVC and all, I'd love to hear what you ended up doing as far as getting a little activity in your routine. If it's a long deal, send it to my deb mail on the sidebar. Gracias!

I can do this. I just don't want to end up like the stay puff marshmellow man.

Your assignment today (again) is to MOVE. Get your butt in gear and take a walk. Or go to the gym and kick your own ass. Take a hard spinning class. Or do some yoga to a video. Just get your butt up and move. It will make you feel good. Get a sweat on. You'll thank me for it later.

lasagna

Posted by debutaunt at January 31, 2006 05:38 AM