It's really weird being on alert for all these different things you might, or might not, feel. I've definitely had less energy. My body has ached some, mostly in my hips which happened when I was pregnant with Bryce. Also my shoulders and jaw, every once in a while my fingers or something weird like that. My chest/throat has been sore or tight, I'm not sure how to describe it. I really notice it if I have to cough or take a deep breath. That is probably what has bothered me the most. I've noticed my pulse is racing a few times and I can feel the blood pounding through my veins more than normal. My mouth/tongue has felt a little weird and some things have not tasted normal.
All of it has been so mild though, that I sometimes wonder if it's more in my head than anything. That I'm expecting to feel bad, and so I do. I did wake up this morning and thought, "I feel pretty normal today." That made me realize I was probably feeling worse these last couple days than I was willing to admit. Either way, I am not going to complain about it! I even felt good enough to go to Claire's basketball game yesterday. Although when we tried to go to breakfast and everywhere had a wait time, my emotions got the best of me and I just wanted to go home and rest.
I've been drinking tons of water everyday. They told me to drink at least 2 liters of water for 48 hours following the treatment, because it helps flush the chemicals out of your system. I drank plenty more than that and have kept it up everyday since. I have several bottles in the fridge so I drink one, refill it and move on to the next. That way I always have cold water (I like it cold!).
I was definitely skeptical based on the title, but now that I've read it I actually buy into most of it. Not because it's some radical new miracle that stops or reverses aging, but rather common sense. The main tenet of the book is that by keeping your body flexible and strong you can avoid, or at least delay, many of the complaints that go along with getting older (stiffness, aches and pains, injuries, weight gain). Also the author, (who created the PBS program Classical Stretch) is a former ballerina and many of her exercises are meant to work toward that lovely "dancer body" which I would love to have. When Claire was in dance last year I kept thinking how I wanted a long, lean, flexible and graceful body like her teacher. The exercises are mostly stretching sequences and at some point I'll look at those a bit closer. For now walking seems the best way to go.
But why am I writing this all down. Get to the point. The point is there is all this information in the book about the cells in our body. How they work and how keeping them healthy and active keeps our whole being that way. I've never been one to think about my body as a collection of cells. After I found out I had breast cancer cells in my body (not anymore though I hope!) we talked about the cells in our body quite a bit in our house.
Our cells, and in particular our muscle cells, are powered by mitochondria and according to the book "movement activates the mitochondria." By keeping active, you increase the amount of mitochondria which in turn creates more energy and keeps cells healthier, longer. If you don't "feed" your cells with mitochondria, they begin to atrophy and die. So, I figure by trying to take a walk and be somewhat active everyday it's going to make all my cells more healthy and strong. And since I'm doing chemo drugs which are killing plenty of my cells (or trying to) I need to do that more than ever!
We also had some fun visitors this weekend. Manibhu and her family were in town for a quick visit. Baby Esme is so sweet. It was wonderful to get to see them. Hopefully next time I'll feel more up to playing with this cute girl.
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