Too Low for Good

Over the w-e, Holly and I did a run/walk on our usual route that goes up and over the hill behind our house in Asheville. I knew that my red blood cells were low from the lab check on Friday. I was so slow and poky on those hills and had to walk up instead of running. It frustrates me even though my friend Karen Nelson tells me to chill about it since I've had chemo, chemo and well, more chemo. It makes me laugh to read her take on it and realize how silly I am about trying to maintain my previous level of fitness through chemo and low cell counts of all kinds. We did a hike on Sunday that I knew was going to be moderate to strenuous and warned my pals that my counts were too low for me to be good at going up. I was quite self-conscious about holding anyone back. But we all did great, enjoying the wildflowers and the trees and the creek, albeit at a slower pace than usual.

All that being said, I did have a mighty nice run this morning after getting tanked up with blood yesterday. Feels good to be zippy again. It has really given me an appreciation for all my patients have to put up with if they are anemic or have a low heart output. I'm reading a really good textbook right now on the Essentials of Geriatric Medicine, and they talk alot about how to assess if the elderly have the energy and stamina to do their ADL's (activities of daily living, e.g. dressing, cooking, bathing). I think I have a lot better appreciation for how it feels to dwindle. I get to dwindle with each cycle of chemo. At least I get to look forward to rebounding each time too. Nice.

Holly and the kitties were interested in the TV news last night. I'm still working on the Sunday NY Times, my favorite.