I was thinking I've been having some mild (relatively) issues with chemobrain -- a lot like what I had before (adhd) but worse. But maybe it wasn't chemo -- lookit this Tamoxifen study:
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Schilder CM, Seynaeve C, Beex LV, et al. Effects of tamoxifen and exemestane on cognitive functioning of postmenopausal patients with breast cancer: results from the neuropsychological side study of the tamoxifen and exemestane adjuvant multinational trial. J Clin Oncol. 2010 Mar 10;28(8):1294-300. Epub 2010 Feb 8. (Original) PMID: 20142601
PURPOSE To evaluate the influence of adjuvant tamoxifen and exemestane on cognitive functioning in postmenopausal patients with breast cancer (BC). PATIENTS AND METHODS Neuropsychological assessments were performed before the start (T1) and after 1 year of adjuvant endocrine treatment (T2) in Dutch postmenopausal patients with BC, who did not receive chemotherapy. Patients participated in the international Tamoxifen and Exemestane Adjuvant Multinational trial, a prospective randomized study investigating tamoxifen versus exemestane as adjuvant therapy for hormone-sensitive BC. Results Participants included 80 tamoxifen users (mean age, 68.7 years; range 51 to 84), 99 exemestane users (mean age, 68.3 years; range, 50 to 82), and 120 healthy controls (mean age, 66.2 years; range, 49 to 86). At T2, after adjustment for T1 performance, exemestane users did not perform statistically significantly worse than healthy controls on any cognitive domain. In contrast, tamoxifen users performed statistically significantly worse than healthy controls on verbal memory (P < .01; Cohen`s d = .43) and executive functioning (P = .01; Cohen`s d = .40), and statistically significantly worse than exemestane users on information processing speed (P = .02; Cohen`s d = .36). With respect to visual memory, working memory, verbal fluency, reaction speed, and motor speed, no significant differences between the three groups were found. CONCLUSION After 1 year of adjuvant therapy, tamoxifen use is associated with statistically significant lower functioning in verbal memory and executive functioning, whereas exemestane use is not associated with statistically significant lower cognitive functioning in postmenopausal patients with BC. Our results accentuate the need to include assessments of cognitive effects of adjuvant endocrine treatment in long-term safety studies.
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I would have posted the link but not sure how....I've been taking tamoxifen for over a year now, since 2/9/09.
In other news -- I've moved over to thinking that it's the acupuncture fixing my digestion. SOmething else, too -- But I forgot what it was. (NO I'm not trying to be funny, saying that in the posting about cognitive loss. I really forgot.....)
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Sunday, March 28, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Energy & digestion improvements & breast cancer interpreting!
My energy is better. Not all the time -- I still get tired towards the end of the week.... but that could be from getting up at 6:30 and not getting to bed til midnightish. See but I don't really know what's normal anymore -- not even what's normal for ME. I had been getting tired towards the end of the week ever since we moved here (2003) and started getting up earlier because school starts earlier. (In SOmerville we got up at 7, I think.) Getting up in the dark most of the school year felt really different, really early, and seemed to justify extra tiredness. But now I'm not so sure -- when I was dx'd with breast cancer I was told I'd probably had it for years, maybe as many as 8 years. So stuff like getting tired by the end of the week -- was that cancer, in fact, making me tired?
And my digestion is better. I don't want to jinx myself by writing about it, but my digestion had been giving me trouble for years, progressively worse trouble. I mean beyond lactose intolerance and sugar problems -- with increasing frequency I would just get gassy for no apparent reason. Eating too fast was maybe a factor. It got to the point that eating stuff like beans and cabbage was out of the question, even though "Beano" was a regular part of my diet. Now I'm making cole slaw regularly, and it's great, and I'm fine. We had beans with dinner -- AND I had cole slaw. And I'm out of beano. This is very different.
The day I went to the doctor with my axillary lump (march '08) I also wanted her to test me for celiac disease, because I couldn't figure out what could be wrong with my digestion. It had gotten to the point that it seemed that eating gave me indigestion.
She didn't test me for anything though -- she was alarmed by the lump (and rightly so) and sent me off to take care of it, & told me we'd deal with the other stuff after we'd figured out about the lump.
But now I think maybe my digestion was just one more thing that was affected by the cancer. Maybe the cancer had diverted enough of my energy that there wasn't enough left to do a good job digesting. Interesting, huh?
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OH and I almost forgot! On Wednesday I got to to my first breast cancer interpreting job since my treatment. I was just thinking of giving back -- but it turned out that I was interpreting for this well known radiation oncologist who I'd been recommended to see -- the only one of the three who'd been recommended to me that I hadn't, in fact, seen (jsut because I found a great doctor first, and was quite sure I was going to stick with him.) Anyway that was really cool, and an honor. I kept my own history to myself during the job, but after the patient left when the doctor started talking to me while signing my form I disclosed my history, because i wanted to tell her what an honor it had been to work with her.
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BTW it's full spring now -- suddenly -- and I went on a ride with some actual babes yesterday! (as in www.babesonbikes.org. That's my biking club -- check it out.) Most of the snow has melted. I did go shovel the Custis trail 2 weeks ago...... went out and hooked up with 3 other spontaneous volunteers, 2 of whom got off their bikes, and shoveled for 4 hrs til it was passable. Then of course I was too sore to bike the next day -- it was harder than the previous shoveling (icier.)
And my digestion is better. I don't want to jinx myself by writing about it, but my digestion had been giving me trouble for years, progressively worse trouble. I mean beyond lactose intolerance and sugar problems -- with increasing frequency I would just get gassy for no apparent reason. Eating too fast was maybe a factor. It got to the point that eating stuff like beans and cabbage was out of the question, even though "Beano" was a regular part of my diet. Now I'm making cole slaw regularly, and it's great, and I'm fine. We had beans with dinner -- AND I had cole slaw. And I'm out of beano. This is very different.
The day I went to the doctor with my axillary lump (march '08) I also wanted her to test me for celiac disease, because I couldn't figure out what could be wrong with my digestion. It had gotten to the point that it seemed that eating gave me indigestion.
She didn't test me for anything though -- she was alarmed by the lump (and rightly so) and sent me off to take care of it, & told me we'd deal with the other stuff after we'd figured out about the lump.
But now I think maybe my digestion was just one more thing that was affected by the cancer. Maybe the cancer had diverted enough of my energy that there wasn't enough left to do a good job digesting. Interesting, huh?
------------------------------------------------------------
OH and I almost forgot! On Wednesday I got to to my first breast cancer interpreting job since my treatment. I was just thinking of giving back -- but it turned out that I was interpreting for this well known radiation oncologist who I'd been recommended to see -- the only one of the three who'd been recommended to me that I hadn't, in fact, seen (jsut because I found a great doctor first, and was quite sure I was going to stick with him.) Anyway that was really cool, and an honor. I kept my own history to myself during the job, but after the patient left when the doctor started talking to me while signing my form I disclosed my history, because i wanted to tell her what an honor it had been to work with her.
------------------------------------------------------------
BTW it's full spring now -- suddenly -- and I went on a ride with some actual babes yesterday! (as in www.babesonbikes.org. That's my biking club -- check it out.) Most of the snow has melted. I did go shovel the Custis trail 2 weeks ago...... went out and hooked up with 3 other spontaneous volunteers, 2 of whom got off their bikes, and shoveled for 4 hrs til it was passable. Then of course I was too sore to bike the next day -- it was harder than the previous shoveling (icier.)
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Shoveling Accross the Patrick Henry Overpass
Okay, so this isn't exactly about cancer...... but it's a good story! Besides, the fact that I had the kind of energy to want to do this attests to my having gotten my energy back. I feel like I just got it back in recent weeks..... I know I've said that before -- I guess I get it back in increments. Well this time I got a lot back....... I guess I can't really say if I have the energy now that I used to have, but I certainly have WAY more than most people, which is the way I remember my normal energy level feeling. OKay, 'nuff of that. Here's the story:
Did you hear about our snow in the news? We broke a record set in 1899...... We had FEET! And while they handled it much better than usual (we got plowed early!) they didn't handle it quite the way they do in SOmerville MA...... Oh Honey, no WAY. So, all the neighborhood streets that used to be 2 way were suddenly one way -- because they only plowed ONE path through the middle -- and the big streets were plowed down to one lane on each side, instead of 2...... and people had to walk in the streets because the sidewalks weren't done -- even BIG streets.
School was closed the whole week before president's day, because we had 2 feet of snow the weekend before --2/5-6-- and then another foot the next Wed/Thurs 2/10-11. The government was closed all week too -- they opened Friday with a "liberal leave policy" which means they understand if you can't get in but it's your vacation day. Alan went in. He said he spent 5 hours commuting to do 8 hours of work......
Though they did an astonishing job compared to the usual way they don't handle snow, the county couldn't deal with all of it. SO......
There’s a bridge over interstate 66 around the corner from us, which the local middle school kids have to walk over to get to school – and the county didn’t shovel the sidewalks. People were walking in the street. Of course Emily is one of the local middle school kids, and at this point has a lovely arrangement where her 2 buddies on the street come get her every morning and they all walk to school together..... COurse we could drive them for a bit, but ugh; I'd rather shovel for hours on end than be on call for driving duty every day because the shoveling didn't happen.
SO I organized a community effort to shovel a path across the Patrick Henry overpass. We had one side done before school started (last Tuesday, the day after president’s day -- ) which took 5 people. We had to get the other one done too, though, because the kids have to negotiate a dicey crossing to access the other side, and there’s no crossing guard at that corner. (We’ve tried, for years. Cross at the school, is the school & county's solution, where they have a crossing guard……) My neighbor friends whose kids also go to Swanson (Em's school) were maxed out of shoveling, but I got a couple other volunteers. It was going to be slower, but so what? My energy is back (finally!) I could have shoveled that bad boy all by myself -- it just would have taken me a couple of days.
Anyway this woman and I shoveled Thursday morning. She was there for 2.5 hrs and I stayed for another 2 hours after she left. (She was really interesting -- & I wouldn't have met her if I hadn't asked for volunteers!) She answered the request I made through the school PTA listserv -- I also got a response from the neighborhood civic association listserv -- but I never got to meet him. Anyway while I was shoveling on Thursday morning after my school volunteer had left, a county truck pulled over and said they’d do it, I could stop. It was really hard for me to pin them down to a time, though. First they said they didn't know when they could come, and when I asked if they could do it by Monday (tomorrow) they hemmed and hawed and finally said yes..... I really just wasn’t anything like convinced.... so I kept shoveling for another hour and a half, probably, and arranged to come finish up on Saturday with a last volunteer or 2. (Probably more would have showed up -- people seem to be more up for doing this kind of thing on Saturday mornings.)
In retrospect, I guess the sight of a woman shoveling alone with a shoveled path half a bridge long behind her and half a bridge full of knee-high untouched snow ahead of her might have given them a bit of a kick in the butt. :-D They didn’t know I was only alone for the moment (by then I’d had help from 6 other volunteers and had 2 more ready to help this weekend.) They also didn't know that a good sweaty workout is actually my idea of a good time, and that I COULD TOO have shoveled all the way across by myself; it just might have taken me a few days.
But they DID come, to my complete astonishment, the next day! They came and cleared all the snow, just this Friday and Saturday (yesterday.) Personally I think our community effort made it happen…. and that's what I said in the thank-you email I sent to all the volunteers, including the guy I had lined up for yesterday morning who never got to shovel. I do have to admit that I felt a bit...... all geared up and nothing left to shovel! (Though I did shovel that bridge for a good 7 hours, at least, & the last 4.5 were all at one time, Thursday am. See, that's what I mean about the energy coming back.) I guess I could go around shoveling other stuff.... there are a lot of sidewalks in front of people's houses that they haven't done. (YOu don't get ticketed for that here!) I was thinking of telling my bridge shoveling story to my biking club and seeing if I could inspire every Babe in Babes on bikes to go shovel a piece of the inundated bike trail closest to wherever they live...... but then Joan took me cross country skiing yesterday out on the bike trail, and I realized that anyone who x-c skis won't want shoveled patches on the path -- so I'll have to wait for that effort until there are already enough unsnowy patches that skiing doesn't work.
Did you hear about our snow in the news? We broke a record set in 1899...... We had FEET! And while they handled it much better than usual (we got plowed early!) they didn't handle it quite the way they do in SOmerville MA...... Oh Honey, no WAY. So, all the neighborhood streets that used to be 2 way were suddenly one way -- because they only plowed ONE path through the middle -- and the big streets were plowed down to one lane on each side, instead of 2...... and people had to walk in the streets because the sidewalks weren't done -- even BIG streets.
School was closed the whole week before president's day, because we had 2 feet of snow the weekend before --2/5-6-- and then another foot the next Wed/Thurs 2/10-11. The government was closed all week too -- they opened Friday with a "liberal leave policy" which means they understand if you can't get in but it's your vacation day. Alan went in. He said he spent 5 hours commuting to do 8 hours of work......
Though they did an astonishing job compared to the usual way they don't handle snow, the county couldn't deal with all of it. SO......
There’s a bridge over interstate 66 around the corner from us, which the local middle school kids have to walk over to get to school – and the county didn’t shovel the sidewalks. People were walking in the street. Of course Emily is one of the local middle school kids, and at this point has a lovely arrangement where her 2 buddies on the street come get her every morning and they all walk to school together..... COurse we could drive them for a bit, but ugh; I'd rather shovel for hours on end than be on call for driving duty every day because the shoveling didn't happen.
SO I organized a community effort to shovel a path across the Patrick Henry overpass. We had one side done before school started (last Tuesday, the day after president’s day -- ) which took 5 people. We had to get the other one done too, though, because the kids have to negotiate a dicey crossing to access the other side, and there’s no crossing guard at that corner. (We’ve tried, for years. Cross at the school, is the school & county's solution, where they have a crossing guard……) My neighbor friends whose kids also go to Swanson (Em's school) were maxed out of shoveling, but I got a couple other volunteers. It was going to be slower, but so what? My energy is back (finally!) I could have shoveled that bad boy all by myself -- it just would have taken me a couple of days.
Anyway this woman and I shoveled Thursday morning. She was there for 2.5 hrs and I stayed for another 2 hours after she left. (She was really interesting -- & I wouldn't have met her if I hadn't asked for volunteers!) She answered the request I made through the school PTA listserv -- I also got a response from the neighborhood civic association listserv -- but I never got to meet him. Anyway while I was shoveling on Thursday morning after my school volunteer had left, a county truck pulled over and said they’d do it, I could stop. It was really hard for me to pin them down to a time, though. First they said they didn't know when they could come, and when I asked if they could do it by Monday (tomorrow) they hemmed and hawed and finally said yes..... I really just wasn’t anything like convinced.... so I kept shoveling for another hour and a half, probably, and arranged to come finish up on Saturday with a last volunteer or 2. (Probably more would have showed up -- people seem to be more up for doing this kind of thing on Saturday mornings.)
In retrospect, I guess the sight of a woman shoveling alone with a shoveled path half a bridge long behind her and half a bridge full of knee-high untouched snow ahead of her might have given them a bit of a kick in the butt. :-D They didn’t know I was only alone for the moment (by then I’d had help from 6 other volunteers and had 2 more ready to help this weekend.) They also didn't know that a good sweaty workout is actually my idea of a good time, and that I COULD TOO have shoveled all the way across by myself; it just might have taken me a few days.
But they DID come, to my complete astonishment, the next day! They came and cleared all the snow, just this Friday and Saturday (yesterday.) Personally I think our community effort made it happen…. and that's what I said in the thank-you email I sent to all the volunteers, including the guy I had lined up for yesterday morning who never got to shovel. I do have to admit that I felt a bit...... all geared up and nothing left to shovel! (Though I did shovel that bridge for a good 7 hours, at least, & the last 4.5 were all at one time, Thursday am. See, that's what I mean about the energy coming back.) I guess I could go around shoveling other stuff.... there are a lot of sidewalks in front of people's houses that they haven't done. (YOu don't get ticketed for that here!) I was thinking of telling my bridge shoveling story to my biking club and seeing if I could inspire every Babe in Babes on bikes to go shovel a piece of the inundated bike trail closest to wherever they live...... but then Joan took me cross country skiing yesterday out on the bike trail, and I realized that anyone who x-c skis won't want shoveled patches on the path -- so I'll have to wait for that effort until there are already enough unsnowy patches that skiing doesn't work.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Itching!
So, I've been having this itching problem for about 3 months. I keep ignoring it hoping it will go away, but so far no luck with that plan..... So I started putting a moisturizer in my pool bag and lubing myself up after swimming. That did something -- but I find I'm actually itchy WHILE I swim! Luckily one of the pools uses UV technology to somehow kill the germs and consequently much lower levels of chlorine. That one works much better -- AND lubing up afterwards.
However, I've noticed concentrated itchy spots (most noticeable when I use the low chlorine pool and lube myself up with cocoa butter afterwards, which addresses the REST of the itchy spots.) The concentrated spots seem to be over lymph node areas, and symmetrical. Two near my ovaries, two up by my superclavicular nodes, and two in the back of my head, at the nape of my neck.
I'm wondering, why would this be happening NOW? I've been swimming for years. A pool buddy of mine says menopause causes dry skin -- so maybe that's it. However, the itchy spots over node areas makes me wonder if I should be worrying. i put in a call to my oncologist a couple of days ago, but no answer yet....I am hoping to convince him to let me email him with this kind of question. I've left phone messages for him before and not had them answered -- but he DOES answer when it's urgent. I'm thinking he probably can't handle the volume of calls so answers only the urgent ones...... I'm hoping he'll agree to do email, because......
YOu know, cancer follow up is rarely an emergency -- but on the other hand it's nice to feel you have a partnership with your doctor. And I can't really hold ON to stuff for weeks and months -- I mean, there has to be something in between an emergency and waiting til the next appointment -- you know? The nurses told me once that the doctor didn't do email because they'd had people email who should have called, and an emergency was missed........ I'm hoping he'll agree to let me email for non emergencies. They could even have people sign off. I don't like phones anyway......
However, I've noticed concentrated itchy spots (most noticeable when I use the low chlorine pool and lube myself up with cocoa butter afterwards, which addresses the REST of the itchy spots.) The concentrated spots seem to be over lymph node areas, and symmetrical. Two near my ovaries, two up by my superclavicular nodes, and two in the back of my head, at the nape of my neck.
I'm wondering, why would this be happening NOW? I've been swimming for years. A pool buddy of mine says menopause causes dry skin -- so maybe that's it. However, the itchy spots over node areas makes me wonder if I should be worrying. i put in a call to my oncologist a couple of days ago, but no answer yet....I am hoping to convince him to let me email him with this kind of question. I've left phone messages for him before and not had them answered -- but he DOES answer when it's urgent. I'm thinking he probably can't handle the volume of calls so answers only the urgent ones...... I'm hoping he'll agree to do email, because......
YOu know, cancer follow up is rarely an emergency -- but on the other hand it's nice to feel you have a partnership with your doctor. And I can't really hold ON to stuff for weeks and months -- I mean, there has to be something in between an emergency and waiting til the next appointment -- you know? The nurses told me once that the doctor didn't do email because they'd had people email who should have called, and an emergency was missed........ I'm hoping he'll agree to let me email for non emergencies. They could even have people sign off. I don't like phones anyway......
Friday, December 11, 2009
Better and Better
That's how I'm feeling. It's like I thought I was pretty much back to my old self, and then I got better, all of a sudden, and thought, Oh yeah -- this is what I used to feel like! (And I've probably even written that before; it happened over the summer too.) Maybe it was happening steadily and then I got set back by the cellulitis and .... I feel like there was some other thing that made me more tired and slow at some point besides the cellulitis, but can't remember what it was.
Anyway I suddenly feel awake, when I wake up in the morning, not tired like I wish I could have another couple of hours' sleep -- even though I didn't fall asleep before 12:30 or 1 or so, and the alarm went off at 6:30. Actually, to be fair, I'd been feeling fine when I woke up for awhile now -- but then I'd feel tired after the kids were in school, and wish for a nap -- but not enough to blow off my plans for the short # of hours that they're in school..... Some days I bike (like today,) some days I have a job or two, and try to work in a swim or a good dog walk before or after, and other days are errand days..... Yesterday I dropped Matthew at school, squeezed in a trip to Whole Foods before my physical, stopped at the library and Grand Mart after it, came home with the stuff, went swimming and came home and took the dog for a good hour walk. So that was an errand day with good use of my in between time -- Em's science club after school enabled the walk, though!
Anyway the point of that whole description was, I'm feeling well and happy to squeeze lots of things into the day to make good use of my time. For awhile there I'd come in from a bike ride and not want to walk the dog. I'd just be tired, and want a hot bath. This was even as recently as a week or two ago -- I almost fell asleep in the tub a couple of times. Now I feel awake, well -- today I came in from a 35 mile ride and felt happy and strong walking up the hills w/Pinky. (COurse I only got 20 mins of a walk in before Em came home, but I could have done the whole hour walk. Maybe I will...she has a friend over.) It's possible that it's partly because the ride was easy -- there was a slower rider today (still recovering from having been off her leg when it was broken for a few months, a few months back) and the other two of us kept waiting for her at the tops of hills. HOwever, I still think that riding in the cold and on the hills for 4 hrs would have tired me out more a month or two ago.
I also wanted to note what I wore on today's ride, because one of the hardest things about biking in the winter is figuring out how to dress to be warm enough. My usual strategy for dressing to be warm (in the rest of my life) is to just wear MORE, but outdoor exercises in the cold weather are trickier.
First, the clothes have to be made of moisture wicking material (not cotton.) Otherwise it will absorb sweat, which will then freeze. Also, too many clothes will make you cold just the same as two few clothes. They say that you should feel a bit cold when you leave your house; otherwiseyou might be overdressed. That doesn't always work for me these days, though -- I often get a hot flash just as I'm about to leave, and then I'm happy to get out in the cold, and have no idea how I'd feel without the hot flash.....and can't wait for it to pass without missing the ride!
Anyway here's what the temps were today and what I wore. When I left the house it was in the mid 20s and sunny – and when I got home it was in the high 40s and the wind was picking up -- felt like high 30s, to me, though. I wore:
Legs -- Liner under long winter grade tights, w/ lined snowpants on top,
Feet – 2 pairs wool socks, gore arctic sox, sandals, toe covers
Top – long tank, long sleeved shirt (white Gore fitted one,)
winter grade jacket (yellow PI, ) orange winter vest on top,)
Arms – warmers (okay, L arm warmer, lymphadema sleeve on right)
Hands – winter grade gloves, & brought shells from other gloves and
put them on halfway through ride (surprised me that I needed them,
but I did!)
Head – ear warmers, cowl on top, old glasses (the progressives fog more.)
No sunglasses but that would have worked too.
Also I only drank part of one bottle and one snack (banana brd w/ choc bits melted in) I biked 32-35 miles (Mc Lean loop) at a slowish pace -- or a moderate pace with breaks.
Anyway I suddenly feel awake, when I wake up in the morning, not tired like I wish I could have another couple of hours' sleep -- even though I didn't fall asleep before 12:30 or 1 or so, and the alarm went off at 6:30. Actually, to be fair, I'd been feeling fine when I woke up for awhile now -- but then I'd feel tired after the kids were in school, and wish for a nap -- but not enough to blow off my plans for the short # of hours that they're in school..... Some days I bike (like today,) some days I have a job or two, and try to work in a swim or a good dog walk before or after, and other days are errand days..... Yesterday I dropped Matthew at school, squeezed in a trip to Whole Foods before my physical, stopped at the library and Grand Mart after it, came home with the stuff, went swimming and came home and took the dog for a good hour walk. So that was an errand day with good use of my in between time -- Em's science club after school enabled the walk, though!
Anyway the point of that whole description was, I'm feeling well and happy to squeeze lots of things into the day to make good use of my time. For awhile there I'd come in from a bike ride and not want to walk the dog. I'd just be tired, and want a hot bath. This was even as recently as a week or two ago -- I almost fell asleep in the tub a couple of times. Now I feel awake, well -- today I came in from a 35 mile ride and felt happy and strong walking up the hills w/Pinky. (COurse I only got 20 mins of a walk in before Em came home, but I could have done the whole hour walk. Maybe I will...she has a friend over.) It's possible that it's partly because the ride was easy -- there was a slower rider today (still recovering from having been off her leg when it was broken for a few months, a few months back) and the other two of us kept waiting for her at the tops of hills. HOwever, I still think that riding in the cold and on the hills for 4 hrs would have tired me out more a month or two ago.
I also wanted to note what I wore on today's ride, because one of the hardest things about biking in the winter is figuring out how to dress to be warm enough. My usual strategy for dressing to be warm (in the rest of my life) is to just wear MORE, but outdoor exercises in the cold weather are trickier.
First, the clothes have to be made of moisture wicking material (not cotton.) Otherwise it will absorb sweat, which will then freeze. Also, too many clothes will make you cold just the same as two few clothes. They say that you should feel a bit cold when you leave your house; otherwiseyou might be overdressed. That doesn't always work for me these days, though -- I often get a hot flash just as I'm about to leave, and then I'm happy to get out in the cold, and have no idea how I'd feel without the hot flash.....and can't wait for it to pass without missing the ride!
Anyway here's what the temps were today and what I wore. When I left the house it was in the mid 20s and sunny – and when I got home it was in the high 40s and the wind was picking up -- felt like high 30s, to me, though. I wore:
Legs -- Liner under long winter grade tights, w/ lined snowpants on top,
Feet – 2 pairs wool socks, gore arctic sox, sandals, toe covers
Top – long tank, long sleeved shirt (white Gore fitted one,)
winter grade jacket (yellow PI, ) orange winter vest on top,)
Arms – warmers (okay, L arm warmer, lymphadema sleeve on right)
Hands – winter grade gloves, & brought shells from other gloves and
put them on halfway through ride (surprised me that I needed them,
but I did!)
Head – ear warmers, cowl on top, old glasses (the progressives fog more.)
No sunglasses but that would have worked too.
Also I only drank part of one bottle and one snack (banana brd w/ choc bits melted in) I biked 32-35 miles (Mc Lean loop) at a slowish pace -- or a moderate pace with breaks.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
White's Ferry Loop
Well I did it, and I didn't fall behind -- not too far, anyway. They helped. Everyone helped. It was very sweet. I thought it would be a matter of their dropping me or waiting for me -- but actually they pulled me! I didn't realize what my sore back was about until the next day. It was from drafting -- because when I draft I'm so close to the biker in front of me that I lean forward to hold the handlebars right by the brakes in case I need to stop instantly. (I wouldn't want to repay someone for pulling me by crashing into them!)
The beginning was a bit elaborate. The ride started at 8:30 from Dawson, and got almost immediately into MacArthur Blvd, a heavily trafficked street in DC -- especially at that hour, which is rush hour. I had checked in with some of the other bikers about how they handle traffic, and it turns out that they feel safer riding fast in traffic -- while I feel safer going through it slowly. That meant that I would be at a disadvantage by the time I got to the hills; I'd be behind already and no chance to catch up. (When I did this ride 2 yrs ago I wasn't worried about that. I rode slowly through traffic and the others rode the way they rode, and who cares? I was a strong rider and could catch up later.)
JOan came to the rescue (now there's a surprise!) She offered to lead the whole group on an alternate beginning which took the trail instead of MacArthur Blvd. It was the same beginning we'd ridden 2 yrs ago, when we'd ridden a century together (basically the WHites' Ferry Loop with a detour to Purcelville. This will mean something to DC area bikers.... or I guess anyone who likes playing with google maps.....) Nancy (ride leader) declined, because it had too many twists and turns after the bit on the trails -- SO Joan and I planned to meet at 8 and do the alternate beginning and meet up with the larger group after. (Joan was fine with the trafficky part, you understand. This was entirely for my benefit.)
Now you have to have a little background information to see the humor in this setup. Most people who know me even a little know that I tend to run late -- that, in fact, it takes a heroic effort on my part to get myself out of the house only 5-10 minutes later than I'd intended, and that I have clocks set fast in different parts of the house to try to help with this..... You should also know that this is one area where Joan and I are compatible, and that when we ride alone together we often start at a, um, different time than we'd originally agreed on. (That century we rode 2 years ago, for example. I seem to recall leaving a good 30-45 mins late -- but I knew I would, and had planned to meet her at her house because of it. It wasn't a big deal -- it was just us, and it was summer, so no worries about running out of daylight, as there were last Wednesday.)
So, Joan and I are tardies. Nancy, on the other hand, the leader of last Wednesday's 80 mile ride, is an early bird. The punctuality queen, I called her once. Get there early, she had said in the ride announcement for last Wednesday, and I knew she meant it.
So, when I didn't manage to get out of my house until 7:50, I knew I'd have to ride fast. Joan even sounded somber when I called to say I was leaving 10 mins later than I had planned. (It takes 20 to get to our meeting place near Joan's house.) So I hustled, but it still took me 20 minutes. And when I got there, Joan wasn't there! So I called her and she said to go ahead, she'd catch me. (She does that a lot on rides.) Well I kept seeing images of Nancy and the other riders gathering early and deciding to leave early, since they weren't waiting for us. I got to the Key bridge and under it, looked at my clock, and thought, they might have started arriving by now. I rode to the Maryland border, on the Capital Crescent trail, and thought, they're leaving now. I got to the place where I get off the trail when I'm going to see my oncologist and eye doctor and thought, they're on MacArthur Blvd by now. (I was so preoccupied with staying ahead of them that i almost missed noticing that I had gotten there in 50 mins -- it takes me an hour and 15 to 1.5 hrs to get to the doctor's office usually. Admittedly there is a little further to go on streets that I didn't go, and I am usually on my slow bike. Still, I think I was doing well!) Actually I was doing so well that Joan didn't catch me until I was done with both trails -- so I rode the first 12-15 miles by myself. She caught up just in time, actually -- just at the start of the twists and turns, which I would have had to slow down a lot to do, by cue sheet.
Anyway -- we rode a ways on our own and then checked in with the group, and decided to take a break at the top of a hill so we'd have time to catch them after we saw them coming. We found a sunny hill and took a break -- but I would not have had time to catch them withour Lynn. Lynn was riding with the group, but she's so much faster that she showed up way ahead of the rest of them -- luckily for me! (And once we started riding I found out that Lynn was using her superior speed and strength to our advantage -- she would ride ahead, pull over and park by the side of the road with her camara, and take shots of the bikers arriving! I will see if I can pilfer a shot or two for here.)
It was soon after we caught them that the hills started. I tried to pass people on the flats so I wouldn't fall too far behind on the hills...... I tried to focus on the biking and stay quiet so I could save my air for the uphill journeys. (Maybe that's why people started offering to pull me. It's a really different thing for me to be quiet. Maybe it scared them! At any rate they knew I was worried about it.)
When we got a few miles from the ferry I told Nancy not to worry about dropping me at that point; the cue sheet was straightforward, and they could wait for me at the ferry. But just when I was getting ready to ride on my own, Marla slowed down and invited me to hop onto her wheel.
This happened several more times on the ride, and I did get to talk a little..... especially at the lunch stop! And I surprised my kids by getting home a lot earlier than I had said I might.... I had said maybe 4:30-5, but in fact I got in at 3:40, only about 10 mins after Matthew.
The beginning was a bit elaborate. The ride started at 8:30 from Dawson, and got almost immediately into MacArthur Blvd, a heavily trafficked street in DC -- especially at that hour, which is rush hour. I had checked in with some of the other bikers about how they handle traffic, and it turns out that they feel safer riding fast in traffic -- while I feel safer going through it slowly. That meant that I would be at a disadvantage by the time I got to the hills; I'd be behind already and no chance to catch up. (When I did this ride 2 yrs ago I wasn't worried about that. I rode slowly through traffic and the others rode the way they rode, and who cares? I was a strong rider and could catch up later.)
JOan came to the rescue (now there's a surprise!) She offered to lead the whole group on an alternate beginning which took the trail instead of MacArthur Blvd. It was the same beginning we'd ridden 2 yrs ago, when we'd ridden a century together (basically the WHites' Ferry Loop with a detour to Purcelville. This will mean something to DC area bikers.... or I guess anyone who likes playing with google maps.....) Nancy (ride leader) declined, because it had too many twists and turns after the bit on the trails -- SO Joan and I planned to meet at 8 and do the alternate beginning and meet up with the larger group after. (Joan was fine with the trafficky part, you understand. This was entirely for my benefit.)
Now you have to have a little background information to see the humor in this setup. Most people who know me even a little know that I tend to run late -- that, in fact, it takes a heroic effort on my part to get myself out of the house only 5-10 minutes later than I'd intended, and that I have clocks set fast in different parts of the house to try to help with this..... You should also know that this is one area where Joan and I are compatible, and that when we ride alone together we often start at a, um, different time than we'd originally agreed on. (That century we rode 2 years ago, for example. I seem to recall leaving a good 30-45 mins late -- but I knew I would, and had planned to meet her at her house because of it. It wasn't a big deal -- it was just us, and it was summer, so no worries about running out of daylight, as there were last Wednesday.)
So, Joan and I are tardies. Nancy, on the other hand, the leader of last Wednesday's 80 mile ride, is an early bird. The punctuality queen, I called her once. Get there early, she had said in the ride announcement for last Wednesday, and I knew she meant it.
So, when I didn't manage to get out of my house until 7:50, I knew I'd have to ride fast. Joan even sounded somber when I called to say I was leaving 10 mins later than I had planned. (It takes 20 to get to our meeting place near Joan's house.) So I hustled, but it still took me 20 minutes. And when I got there, Joan wasn't there! So I called her and she said to go ahead, she'd catch me. (She does that a lot on rides.) Well I kept seeing images of Nancy and the other riders gathering early and deciding to leave early, since they weren't waiting for us. I got to the Key bridge and under it, looked at my clock, and thought, they might have started arriving by now. I rode to the Maryland border, on the Capital Crescent trail, and thought, they're leaving now. I got to the place where I get off the trail when I'm going to see my oncologist and eye doctor and thought, they're on MacArthur Blvd by now. (I was so preoccupied with staying ahead of them that i almost missed noticing that I had gotten there in 50 mins -- it takes me an hour and 15 to 1.5 hrs to get to the doctor's office usually. Admittedly there is a little further to go on streets that I didn't go, and I am usually on my slow bike. Still, I think I was doing well!) Actually I was doing so well that Joan didn't catch me until I was done with both trails -- so I rode the first 12-15 miles by myself. She caught up just in time, actually -- just at the start of the twists and turns, which I would have had to slow down a lot to do, by cue sheet.
Anyway -- we rode a ways on our own and then checked in with the group, and decided to take a break at the top of a hill so we'd have time to catch them after we saw them coming. We found a sunny hill and took a break -- but I would not have had time to catch them withour Lynn. Lynn was riding with the group, but she's so much faster that she showed up way ahead of the rest of them -- luckily for me! (And once we started riding I found out that Lynn was using her superior speed and strength to our advantage -- she would ride ahead, pull over and park by the side of the road with her camara, and take shots of the bikers arriving! I will see if I can pilfer a shot or two for here.)
It was soon after we caught them that the hills started. I tried to pass people on the flats so I wouldn't fall too far behind on the hills...... I tried to focus on the biking and stay quiet so I could save my air for the uphill journeys. (Maybe that's why people started offering to pull me. It's a really different thing for me to be quiet. Maybe it scared them! At any rate they knew I was worried about it.)
When we got a few miles from the ferry I told Nancy not to worry about dropping me at that point; the cue sheet was straightforward, and they could wait for me at the ferry. But just when I was getting ready to ride on my own, Marla slowed down and invited me to hop onto her wheel.
This happened several more times on the ride, and I did get to talk a little..... especially at the lunch stop! And I surprised my kids by getting home a lot earlier than I had said I might.... I had said maybe 4:30-5, but in fact I got in at 3:40, only about 10 mins after Matthew.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Acupuncture update
I’ve been feeling for some time like the acupuncture I get in Vienna with Dr. Zhu isn’t working really. The first two times it felt like it caused indigestion. The doctor thought it must have been coincidental. This time (5th time) my digestion was definitely fine before I went there – and I felt something happen while I was lying there with the needles in. Some feeling both in my gut and in my mid back, behind it. She did have a needle in my belly. It’s not digestion exactly but it's around there. It's still bothering me. I wonder what it is! Anyway I had continued to go to her because of the insurance, even though the results of her treatment haven’t ever wowed me. But today I made an appt. to see Dr. Tien on Monday. His treatments cost way more, but they work. I’ve had 3, and felt like a million dollars the next day, every time. I don’t know what it is, but he has it, and she… I’m just not sure she’s doing the right thing for me.
In the end, if his treatments cost 3-4x her treatments, and they work, and hers don't, it's a better value to go to him ANYway. If hers don't work EVER, I can't even do math about it! It's just a waste of time to go to her -- or worse, it may be causing problems. That's where I'm at now, anyway.
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I've got a biking update too. (Anyone reading this interested in hearing about my biking progress, or to I babble about it too much? COurse you can always skip it if you like. I think a couple of people are still reading.....)
I reached a new milestone yesterday, my first metric century since BC treatment -- 62 miles and change. Out to Leesburg and back on the trail. I did fine, and kept up with the group. (Can I tell you, my biking is SO MUCH BETTER since the hospital visit! A nurse called me today from the hospital to check on me and I told her about it -- told her they'd better keep an eye on their vancomycin or the Tour De France people will be after it!) Anyway I did great, but there were only 2 hills, and I was careful to stay on people's wheels anytime I felt like I might be tiring, so that I would keep up instead of dropping back.
The thing is, this was a training ride for the White's Ferry Loop next Wed. That's an 80 mile ride. I'd like to ride it. I've only done it once, a little over 2 years ago. It's a lovely ride, starting in VA, getting into rural MD, over a ferry, and back to VA with a stop at a lovely café for lunch, which serves lemonade sweetened with agave nectar in the summer. HOwever -- I don't remember how hilly it is. I just wasn't worried about hills last time I rode it -- as long as there were no plummetting downhills I was FINE. GOOD at uphills, in fact; I used to catch up on the uphills after having had everyone fly by me on the freefalls. But now.... If there's a hill here and there, I'll be able to stay with the group, I think, but rolling hills will really slow me down. Rolling hills are the worst, though, because I don't get a chance to catch up. I don't want to get dropped early on and be on my own.... but I also don't want people to feel stuck with waiting for me. So -- while I bet I can DO the ride, that's my dilemma.
ON the other hand, how else to increase my lung capacity so the healthy tissue can compensate for what's been lost, but to ride hills? I have already prepped the kids about accommodating the long day I will need for the ride next Wed. Matthew will have to catch his bus that morning, because I'll have to leave by 8-8:10am -- and Em will probably come home an hour or two before me.
Actually someone told me that there may be a swimming way to increase my lung strength -- breathing every other stroke instead of every stroke. I tried it today. It's hard! I could only do it for 4 strokes at a time. So I'll keep working on that.
I'm swimming stronger, too, BTW, since the hospital. ON Sat I swam 100 lengths -- I jsut wasn't DONE after a mile! Today I got into the water a little late, only 42 mins before the whistle. I usually swim a mile in 45 -- sometimes 50 mins. But I swam it in 40 today, and kept on going til the whistle.
In the end, if his treatments cost 3-4x her treatments, and they work, and hers don't, it's a better value to go to him ANYway. If hers don't work EVER, I can't even do math about it! It's just a waste of time to go to her -- or worse, it may be causing problems. That's where I'm at now, anyway.
------------ ----- ------------ ----- ------------ ----- ------------ -----
I've got a biking update too. (Anyone reading this interested in hearing about my biking progress, or to I babble about it too much? COurse you can always skip it if you like. I think a couple of people are still reading.....)
I reached a new milestone yesterday, my first metric century since BC treatment -- 62 miles and change. Out to Leesburg and back on the trail. I did fine, and kept up with the group. (Can I tell you, my biking is SO MUCH BETTER since the hospital visit! A nurse called me today from the hospital to check on me and I told her about it -- told her they'd better keep an eye on their vancomycin or the Tour De France people will be after it!) Anyway I did great, but there were only 2 hills, and I was careful to stay on people's wheels anytime I felt like I might be tiring, so that I would keep up instead of dropping back.
The thing is, this was a training ride for the White's Ferry Loop next Wed. That's an 80 mile ride. I'd like to ride it. I've only done it once, a little over 2 years ago. It's a lovely ride, starting in VA, getting into rural MD, over a ferry, and back to VA with a stop at a lovely café for lunch, which serves lemonade sweetened with agave nectar in the summer. HOwever -- I don't remember how hilly it is. I just wasn't worried about hills last time I rode it -- as long as there were no plummetting downhills I was FINE. GOOD at uphills, in fact; I used to catch up on the uphills after having had everyone fly by me on the freefalls. But now.... If there's a hill here and there, I'll be able to stay with the group, I think, but rolling hills will really slow me down. Rolling hills are the worst, though, because I don't get a chance to catch up. I don't want to get dropped early on and be on my own.... but I also don't want people to feel stuck with waiting for me. So -- while I bet I can DO the ride, that's my dilemma.
ON the other hand, how else to increase my lung capacity so the healthy tissue can compensate for what's been lost, but to ride hills? I have already prepped the kids about accommodating the long day I will need for the ride next Wed. Matthew will have to catch his bus that morning, because I'll have to leave by 8-8:10am -- and Em will probably come home an hour or two before me.
Actually someone told me that there may be a swimming way to increase my lung strength -- breathing every other stroke instead of every stroke. I tried it today. It's hard! I could only do it for 4 strokes at a time. So I'll keep working on that.
I'm swimming stronger, too, BTW, since the hospital. ON Sat I swam 100 lengths -- I jsut wasn't DONE after a mile! Today I got into the water a little late, only 42 mins before the whistle. I usually swim a mile in 45 -- sometimes 50 mins. But I swam it in 40 today, and kept on going til the whistle.
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