EllingFamily:TogetherWeThrive

After being told that I was in remission, I entered into a protocol of monthly blood checks and CT scans every three months. I naively thought that I would immediately start to feel better and physically bounce back quickly, unfortunately, that did not happen. My nausea continued for many weeks after chemotherapy ended and from energy stand point things were just terrible for at least two months after chemo ended on June 9.

Since the tc chemotherapy treatments are cumulative, my energy level was lowest after the third round. My digestive system was also not functioning real well. My stomach was always upset and a little off and vomiting was always a possibility. Week by week things did improve but it definitely was a slow process. My body seemed to shut down if I tried to push it too far, if I didn't go to bed or sleep before I started to feel yucky, I would pay for it with violent vomiting and being extremely tired and sick for the next couple of days. So for a number of months I was turning in for the night pretty early.
About a month after chemotherapy ended I started to notice tingling in both my hands and feet. I felt like my hands and feet were "asleep". This made walking and grasping items more difficult and caused me great concern. I went to my oncologist and did some research on the internet and found out that my condition was probably neuropathy caused by damage to my nerves from the chemotherapy treatments. My oncologist indicated that the symptoms would "probably" fade with time. My oncologist was right, my neuropathy has faded but from the balls of my feet all the way to the tips of my toes my feet still feel asleep and constantly tingle. This has made jogging and running uncomfortable but walking isn't a real issue as long as I wear comfortable sneakers. My hands do not tingle anymore, however, they do tend to swell more than they did in the past when I walk or hike for long periods.

Over time my digestive system has also improved. The soreness and irritation in my anus has lessened, however, I do still have issues with occasional bleeding from small fissures that I did not have prior to chemotherapy. I still though, however, still have small issues with my stomach and digestive system not being "normal" as I knew it prior to chemotherapy. These issues are small though and I hope they continue to get better with time.

Thank goodness that all my blood markers and CT scans have shown no signs of my cancer reoccurring. In fact, I just celebrated my 1 year anniversary of being cancer free, which is a big deal for nonseminoma cancer patients because a large majority of nonseminoma cancers that reoccur happen during the first year after treatment ends.

Even though things have gone extremely well for me over the first year, I still have issues that I deal with. For some reason I have more muscular jaw and lower back pain now than I did prior to chemotherapy. My hair both on top of my head, under my arms, and in my pubic area have come back much thinner. My energy level prior to cancer has also not returned to normal and I sweat a great deal more than I did prior to TC. Since these symptoms could be caused by low testosterone, I just had blood drawn to see if my testosterone is low.

Lastly is how cancer has affected my mental and emotional state. Overall, I am an extremely happy and positive individual, in fact, I am now more focused on living everyday to its fullest than I was prior to cancer, a feeling I think many cancer survivors share. This does not mean that I do not get depressed or worried about cancer returning or upset about my other physical ailments that I now have to deal with post chemo. I have found that I cannot worry about everything and that all I can do is live the best that I can and do everything I can to keep myself healthy including sticking to my strict protocol of blood draws and CT scans.