Spring Forward.

It is now officially spring on the calendar but it feels like it has been here for a while now. With all the warmer than usual temperatures in New York, it seems as though we skipped over winter this year! My daffodils are in full bloom and I caught a strong smell of lilacs on my road ride the other evening.

Shorts and short sleeves on the first day of spring. 

Notice all the hair sticking out of the helmet!  

The arrival of spring also means that the start of mountain bike race season is only weeks away for me. I am not sure I am actually ready for it-physically or mentally. I won’t really know until I race my first race. I do feel a lot stronger than I did last year at this time but that does not give me much to go on since this time last year I was only 6 months out of chemo, 2 months out of radiation treatments, just starting my 5 year sentence of Tamoxifen and getting Herceptin infusions every 3 weeks. Compared to all that, I am doing great!

Solo ride on the single speed. 

Actually, I am doing well according to my new primary doctor. I had a regular physical last week. This was the first overall physical I have had in years. It seems surprising since I have seen so many doctors but they are all specialists with their own focus- cancer and new boobs.  This was a new doctor for me but I really liked him.  He ordered a full blood panel to see how I was doing. I have gotten my share of blood drawn over the past two years but my oncologist was never looking at things like cholesterol or my thyroid. She is usually more interested in things like my tumor markers, liver panel and blood counts. According to this recent blood work, I am very healthy. Vitamin D is up quite a bit, cholesterol is “perfect” and my thyroid is normal…phew! The cancer treatments have been known to do wonders on the thyroid. I will have blood work done again next month but this will be at my 4 month oncology follow up. Unless there is something really wacky with my tumor markers, I have no reason to believe I won’t get the A-okay from my oncologist as well.

I have had 4 physical therapy appointments thus far and my new physical therapist J, is not messing around with these cords in my arm. She has actually found another one that is deep in my bicep and a few small ones that are splitting off at my elbow.

 “No wonder your wrist hurts” she said to me Monday as she was stretching and massaging the “mother cord”. (That is what she calls the new one she found) I am struggling a bit with how much it hurts during but mostly afterwards. I have to wrap my arm in ice packs when she is done with me.

It does seems to be paying off. At the end of our session yesterday, it actually felt like the tightness had given way in some areas. Not completely but I am still hopeful.

It seems that all the extra efforts - diet, biking and Pilates is starting to amount to some positive changes in my body. It has not been easy getting to this point but I am a true believer in - you have to do the work. The doctors can only help me to a certain level, then it is up to me. My body has done some healing naturally but I have really had to push myself to get back some sense of control again.

As I spring forward, I will try to keep up the work and hopefully stay on track.

Heading home before sunset. 

S.M.