Long Overdue Update

This post was originally a 6 month update & I wrote most of it but never finished it.  With that said it's now been 9 months since I finished radiation for breast cancer.  In my 3 month update I was recovering from a bad case of pneumonia.  The recovery took a full 12 weeks to feel mostly normal again in every day life but I am still building up my fitness levels.

I had another follow up CT scan & pulmonary visit in early October.  For the most part my pneumonia is cleared, my radiation pneumonitis is improving but I continue to have pulmonary infiltrates.  Each of the 3 CT scans have shown a spot but each month the spot is in a different location. In order to rule out any other funk they did a full blood work up.  They took 7 vials of blood plus a urine sample to check for a litany of things including, TB, histoplasmosis, CBC levels, fungal, C-Reactive Protein, ANA, ANCA, stronglyloides & sedimentation rates.  Thankfully all came back negative.

In November & December I had follow ups with the Radiation Oncologist, Pulmonary doc & my first mammogram since treatment ended. The Radiation Oncologist appointment was uneventful. One last checkup & then I was officially released.  The Pulmonary doc had good news as well.  My last CT scan after Thanksgiving finally came back clear. No more pneumonia, no more infiltrates but all clear! I then went for my first mammogram since treatment. As usual for me, it showed something they want to follow but the results fell in the 'probably benign, come back in 6 months.'  So all in all, really good news.  It took a year but I am finally fully recovered and now able to focus on getting my fitness back.

Prior to pneumonia I had signed up for the Gobbler Half Marathon on November 18th.  During the summer I had written off being able to run the half.  I was thinking I would back down to the 10k.  As I started to feel better I decided to hold off switching distances & just let the training tell me what distance to run.

Seen During Arboretum Run

As of early October my long run was up to 7 miles.  I was doing run / walk intervals of 1 minute run / 4 minutes walk. I can't remember at what point I decided to drop down to the 10K but I eventually made that call and was glad I did.  It took the pressure off & allowed me to enjoy some of my other favorite activities.

In addition to running, I have got back on my bike a few times.

First Post Pneumonia Ride

We also got in a couple of paddles and good hikes in the gorge.

Captain Sammie - Kentucky & Dix Rivers

Mallard Point SUP

Steve's Birthday Hike to Courthouse Rock

Another Red River Gorge Hike

Hike at Big Bone Lick State Park (Photo credit Mary Henson)

After a fun filled fall the Gobbler kicked off the holiday running season.  This year didn't disappoint!

Gobbler 10K

Turkey Trot 5K in Kansas City - Day 1 Run Streak

Frankfort Frosty 5K

Reindeer Ramble 10K

West 6th Holiday Run

New Years Day 2018 - Day 40 Run Streak

2017 was a rough year health wise and I am grateful to have all of that behind me. As we are wrapping up January, I am now half way through my training plan for the Lucky Leprechaun 10 Miler on March 10th.  

I must say it feels really good to get back to normal!

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