40 years ago this summer I came home on leave from Vietnam and had the best summer of my life with my brother and other friends who had also served in Vietnam. While I knew I had to go back to Vietnam for a few more months after the summer, seeing all my friends and enjoying being alive and 20 years old was quite a treat for me.
On the "alive" theme, it's been about 4 months since my last post so it's time for a little update.My quarterly follow up visit with my oncologist is in a couple of weeks, so I will post more after that meeting. [Had been scheduled for last week, but my car battery died on morning of appointment--and you thought that only happened to you, right?]
In interim, I have had a problem with skin eruptions, a continuation of problems that had been masked by oral medication I had been taking for many years prior to cancer diagnosis. Diagnosis had been that I had gluten intolerance, so since last November i had been on gluten free diet in lieu of medication, but my skin condition didn't go away. The latest tests NOW indicate that after 15 years gluten intolerance diagnosis was wrong, I have another psoriasis related disease,Sneddon Wilkerson disease.
Will be a few weeks before I figure out what treatment plan to follow for that problem, but in meantime I am trying to look on bright side by drinking all the beer, pizza, breads, and other foods that I have had to cut out of my diet since last fall.
Back to cancer recovery. Was surprised by how quickly my physical stamina came back; am up to walking an hour a day for 5-6 days a week, with one of those a longer walk of about 1:20 once a week. I AM in better physical shape than I was before cancer diagnosis, but still nothing to brag about from a guy who use to pride himself on being a regular runner.
Weight is about where it was at end of chemo, but have major push to get down to two bills by end of July from deuce and a quarter last fall when I started chemo and my goal is 1-8-0 by end of year. Am eating more salads than I ever had; and at least for the summer they seem to work for me. Hope that addition of foods with gluten doesn't mess me up.
One of most PLEASANT aspect of last few months has been regrowth of HAIR, everywhere--I lost track of how much I had lost. As you can see in pic below, I am no longer a chrome dome, but my former blond/grey mix is now no mix at all ...it's all GREY. (That was probably going to happen anyway, so I don't attribute it to the chemo).
I have a way to go before it grows out , but for the summer, I am kinda enjoying the short length.
More in a few weeks, enjoy your summer.....
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