When I first got my job in August, I’d intended to join the gym on campus, but never got around to it. My birthday came, and I said, “After I talk to the doctor about my symptoms.” The winter holidays and new year came and I said, “After the colonoscopy, when I have a clean bill of health.” Then the need for surgery, and it’s not a good idea to start working out at that time. So, again, I put it off.
Now. . . What I really like to do is lift free weights. That’s going to still be out for some time, I think. Maybe if I had been lifting, I could modify the routine to maintain muscle, but I haven’t been.
Being active is necessary to maintaining health through chemo, so I’ve started walking again. I got a new fitbit Alta to try to track how I’m doing, at least on my good days (connect with me at fitbit here and MyFitnessPal here). Since I’ve been pretty sedentary, I set my daily goal fairly low at 5,000 steps. I met that goal 4 days and came close on one day in the past week. I’m bumping the goal up by 500 this week, at least on the before chemo days.
I keep saying I’m going to do yoga, but haven’t gotten the mat out yet. Now that the port site is healed, though, I should.
Yesterday, my roommate wanted to get out of the house and walk by the river, which was nice.
I complained about being tired after such a short walk. Then he reminded me: surgery, chemo, etc. He made me feel better about just doing what I can for now. It still bothers me that I’m getting tired when I don’t really think I’ve done much. I mean, I’ve only had one treatment. I’d expect to feel that tired in a couple months, but not now.
My appetite is back to normal, but I’ll be hitting chemo again in a few days. My weight is fluctuating as you might expect from a widely varying appetite.
Just another day 
Walking is the best thing you can do for yourself (other than running) after colon surgery. The gut LOVES that kind of movement. My surgeon told me that I could resume running almost immediately after surgery, but he warned me “I would run out of gas” quickly. (A little colon humor). He was right. But who cares if you’re tired after a walk or a run. You’re supposed to be. You’re not going to die from it.
What I was told I could NOT do was to lift weights of any kind. I even had to get a ramp for my dogs to climb into my SUV because I was not allowed to pick them up. He did not want me getting a hernia. I’m only getting back into weights now, and I am 4 months post surgery.
I can’t remember if I told you about my Capable Fitness with Gail page on FB. You should go and “like” the page. Every day I put on doable exercises, recipes, motivational suggestions and some humor….because you have to laugh.
I love following along with your wellness journey. Keep writing!!
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