Seasons Greetings from the desert. We made the now-annual pilgrimage about 10 days ago barely ahead of the first big snows at home. And it looks as though--with the Super El Nino in the Pacific Ocean--this is going to be a big snow winter. A good trade from our perspective of wobbly legs and unsure balance. But also good for the Great Basin. Skiers rejoice! Economy rejoice!
This blog has surely become rarer as my cancer stays firmly in life's rear view mirror. But there is health news that requires this post for whatever remains of my audience. Some 18 months ago now, we took a wonderful trip on a faux paddle-wheel steamer from Memphis to New Orleans. Actually, it was a brand new vessel. It was a great week. Great peeps on board, great service, good tours and excellent accommodations on the boat. The only drawback was that by the end of the week, I was exhausted. We really didn't do much more than the walking that is required to visit any large city and the tours that were laid on in the smaller towns. The latter involved maybe a dozen blocks of walking most days, not much out of the ordinary. Except that for me, apparently it was. I came home with pneumonia.
Still, perhaps, not noteworthy. But I contracted the pneumonia while still getting plenty of daily and nightly rest. Not so good, perhaps suggesting some sort of cumulative effect of exertion. And, I had had the shots! Turns out the pneumonia shots are about 50% effective.
But, to reiterate, not all that much to write home about. So, I don't think I have posted about it.
I did have my usual upper respiratory problems that fall as I had to visit an out-patient facility here to get some antibiotics.
This fall, I decided to get back to getting more physically fit, at least to the extent that my condition would allow. This was precipitated by some bursitis in the scapular region of my upper back that suggested to me that I was sedentary beyond belief. Some physical therapy helped that dramatically. So I joined an old persons' rehab unit attached to one of our assisted living places. In typical, no-good-deed-goes-unpunished, fashion after 6 weeks of working out once a week, I was getting shorter of breath, that is less, rather than more, fit. This was not happening during my workouts which typically left me feeling better than when I went in. (These workouts involved about 20 minutes of mild cardio on a bike, and then 40 minutes of core strengthening and balance work.Nothing to write home about.)
Another chest x-ray that showed some cloud shadows in a few lung lobes suggested pneumonia had recurred. Another course of levaquin and the problem went away again. I waited a few more weeks and began workouts again. My doc suggested that I fill another levaquin Rx to take with me to AZ. (Smart him!)
I signed up through the Silver Sneakers program with a gym nearby. I resumed working out--once only--and was, pretty immediately, short of breath again! An out-patient clinic suggested a chest X-ray the outcome of which was suspicious enough that they said for me to begin the dose of levaquin immediately and ordered a high res chest CT scan. Christmas holidays have intervened and as yet I don't have the results of the CT. I think they will confirm a recurrence of the pneumonia at the least. Merry Christmas, dude! The good news is that the levaquin once again appears to be doing its job. I am getting some sleep. That, at least, is positive.
But, I am pretty unhappy about all of this. My plan, with the chemo and the cancer receding into history, was that I would get myself fit. That outcome appears more elusive to me now. I fear that my immune system has been so badly damaged by my cancer therapy, that more is to follow. After all, the sequence of attempting to improve my physical condition seems to lead to disease. Don't know what to think, at this point.
Still, however, for the most part, I am enjoying what I can do. I am living each day to the fullest, within my greater limitations.
Spooky thought: We have booked a Jazz Cruise out of Ft Lauderdale in mid-January. Will my health be good enough for this? Time will tell.
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