Member-only story
Dealing With a Lot of Pain Today
Cancer and treatments have made me more fragile
When I was younger, I climbed mountains. Now, I can get injured just walking. It stinks being so fragile, but it’s part of my life these days thanks to going through cancer and the various treatments I’ve endured.
While chemotherapy and radiation can help kill cancer, they come with side effects. Fragility seems to be one of them.
Even if I’d never gotten these treatments, though, the destructive path of cancer has affected my body.
I was diagnosed with brain cancer in April of 2021. There was a lemon-sized tumor that affected my ability to walk. Basically, I couldn’t use my right leg anymore. I had to drag it. I couldn’t go up and down steps.
When the tumor was removed, I could walk again after some physical therapy. But other damage had been done.
This has been part of the fabric of my life since 2004, the first time I was diagnosed with cancer. At the time, my oncologist told me I had about 6 months to live. This time around, that is what my surgeon predicted as well.
I seem to keep exceeding their expectations, which pleases me, but on days when I am dealing with pain, it’s hard to keep a positive attitude
