Recently I had my 6 month checkup which consisted of just blood work. Only blood work this time because we can’t do too many PET scans due to the PET scan itself can cause cancer! Everything came out normal. So now my Oncologist wants me to come in once a year for checkups. With these checkups we are looking for signs of cancer but also testing my body for long term side effects of the Chemotherapy that was pushed through my veins. In the next 10 years I will be doing tests to check my heart and lungs to see how strong they are and if they have anything wrong with them due to the Chemo I was given. Knowing the side effects of chemo was one of the reasons I keep up with running, hiking and now trail running. These activities will help my body recover and stay strong as the years go by. Sometimes people ask me why I don’t run with headphones. It’s because I want to feel my heart pumping and my lungs breathing. Makes me feel alive!
This past year I have been having very sensitive skin and seems like I was allergic to everything. I believe cutting out gluten, sugar and processed foods are helping and I’m hoping eating this way my body will eventually heal itself. We have seen numerous different types of doctors, specialists and gone through all kinds of tests and nobody can give me answers. They see my past history with cancer and chemo and they say that’s why I have these issues. Really, they don’t know! Only thing I can do is try and “control” my allergic reactions. The only thing we can control is the food we eat, moving and exercising the body. We believe that food has the power to heal. It may take some time but time is all we have! I know gradually my body will heal if we continue to eat clean and stay active. This way of thinking is definitely teaching us about patience. We are not in it for the quick fix that people have grown accustomed too. My body needs to heal from the inside out not the other way around. We now look towards alternative ways of healing because I tried the chemicals that all doctors prescribe and it doesn’t work. I’ve tried it. After trying different natural things for my allergic skin my wife came up with a body butter that has been extremely helpful. I would be wondering lost through the forest if it wasn’t for her.
We are continuing our adventure in living our life with less stuff. It’s taken a lot of time and effort to pare down what truly is important to us. It’s amazing how much stuff you have that really doesn’t make you happy. It’s weird when you really think about each thing you own and if someone asks you, “Does this item make you happy”? No, that thing does not make me happy. That memory makes me happy. That action makes me happy. The process that it took to do that makes me happy. But that thing that I’m holding onto in that box tucked away in the corner of the house or garage that nobody sees does not make me happy! Once we figured that out now it’s like a snowball and we can’t stop getting rid of stuff. So, patience is a huge part of our life right now.
