As I lie here at home in ‘recovery mode’ now 3 weeks after the operation to rid me of this dreadful disease, I have just logged into my running log site (garmin connect). The obvious thing that strikes me is the glaring hole in the calendar where there would normally have been a series of more runs ‘under my belt’.
I am really desperate to get out and ‘pound the streets’ once again however know that right now it is totally unrealistic. For now I will focus on my recovery which if I’m honest is taking longer than I had hoped. The only complication from the surgery was that they had to put in a catheter for 2 weeks. Anyway I had this out last Friday and needless to say its been a challenge to get everything ‘back on-line’ again:). The surgeon saw me on Monday for a follow up appointment and once again re-iterated how happy he was with the outcome…the headline message being that he felt confident that he got it all and that I am now in theory cancer free!. Sadly this doesn’t change the planned chemo which will start in a couple of weeks time, however I am trying to see this as a positive thing in that at least this will make absolutely sure.
During the last couple of weeks I have joined 2 different fantastic Facebook support groups which I would highly recommend:
* ostomy lifestyle athletes
* colostomy association
I had never been much of a social media user prior to my diagnosis, however these groups have changed that completely and I now cant get off them!. The fact that the members are people who are actually living with / recovering from cancer is what makes all the difference. In particular the ostomy lifestyle group which is made up of people like me who love to keep active and fit. I have gained some fantastic advice from many of the members such as what best to eat and when pre and post run. Also I have now learned that you CAN still run with a stoma…there is some great clothing / support belts which can help you feel as ‘normal as possible’ to enable running to be as easy as it was before.
So my next focus is to start up running again before the chemo starts…will target 2 weeks from now…let’s see