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.
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| 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.
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| First Post Pneumonia Ride |
We also got in a couple of paddles and good hikes in the gorge.
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| Captain Sammie - Kentucky & Dix Rivers |
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| Mallard Point SUP |
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| Steve's Birthday Hike to Courthouse Rock |
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| Another Red River Gorge Hike |
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| 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!
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| Gobbler 10K |
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| Turkey Trot 5K in Kansas City - Day 1 Run Streak |
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| Frankfort Frosty 5K |
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| Reindeer Ramble 10K |
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| West 6th Holiday Run |
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| 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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