Another Christmas, the fourth since my Cancer diagnosis of 2010. This one was reminiscent of those of my youth in Northern Ontario, featuring as it did snow and cold weather. The New Year would bring more snow. A lot more snow, due to a weather phenomena whimsically referred to as "The Polar Vortex'. My dreams of a vacation of idleness and relaxation were rudely dashed by episodes of snow shoveling, punctuated by numbing cold. I'm getting older, my bones ache, I feel the cold that much more. I'm such a wimp.
January crawls by, the cold creeping into the house causes the furnace to run continuously. I dread the upcoming heating bills. My only exercise is shoveling snow and my short walks to work. I think if it wasn't for the B12 shots I receive monthly I'd have no energy to do anything. This is my "Winter of discontent".
January starts the quarterly cycle for my post-cancer blood work protocol: every three months I show up a the local Cancer Center lab, where my blood is drawn. The blood is basically a check of the CEA values. Since my treatment stopped 3 years ago, I have regularly had this test every three months. To date, there have been no significant findings. This is a good thing. I will keep going until my oncologist tells me to stop.
There will be a more invasive procedure however: In February I will meet with a new surgeon to discuss my upcoming Colonoscopy. Three years since the last visit in 2011, time for some internal spelunking. In the meantime I will be taking advantage of a free seminar put on by the local Cancer Clinic to talk about nutrition. It's easy to fall back into old habits, and the price you pay is to watch your weight rise and your waistline expand. The hope is that a little refresher on basic nutrition for (former) Cancer patients will help me manage both my caloric intake and my dietary motivations. Plus I probably shouldn't eat everything put in front of me as if I'll never have that chance again.
Aside from the fatigue of just getting through the dark dreary days and energy-sucking cold, I find that I'm tired and finding it hard to concentrate. The simple explanation: it happens when you get older and don't go to sleep early. I hope that this year I start getting to sleep before 2:00am. So far it's been an under-achieved goal.
For once our television meteorologists are correct in their predictions: they said it was going to be cold and it was. I'll have my procedure in another month, and really can't predict the results of my tests. The only thing I know for sure right now, is that January I spent a lot of time out in the cold, and sometime in February, I'm pretty sure I'll be out cold! Hopefully the results of these tests will be ...heartwarming.
