Walking, walking, walking

Other than work and sleep, all I seem to be doing these days is going for walks.  I'm just shy of four weeks since my surgery.  My incision is still not completely healed, and I'm still wearing some sort of "gut girdle" over my shirts to support the incision and perhaps some internal organs as well.

Later this week, I should be able to do some rowing on the Concept 2, but so far, all I've done for exercise is walk.

When my wife goes to CF, I either walk on the treadmill if it's cold, or I walk outside if it's nicer.  Last night was the treadmill.

On the weekends, I'm going for walks every day.  Sunday, I walked for 90+ minutes in a mini-blizzard and I swear I walked into the wind the entire time.  Even my dog was smart enough to skip Sunday's walk.  He was all excited to go until he saw the snow and felt the cold air.  Then, he retreated to his crate and I walked by myself.

He had walked with me the day before though, so he's getting in some walking.

Last week, I walked 4 evenings while my wife did CF.  I walked at lunch for a while on the day she skipped CF.  So, it's pretty much every day.  And, I'm itching for more.

I do plan to row, at a very low intensity level, later this week.  For the next two weeks, I'll probably mix rowing and walking.  After that, I'll start some bodyweight exercises - air squats, push-ups, pull-ups, etc.  Maybe some light dumbbells.  And, 2 weeks after that, I should be using barbells again, maybe a bit sooner if I start to feel better soon.

I'm still taking some pain medication, to be honest.  I had a major incision and major abdominal surgery.  It typically takes at least six weeks for a complete recovery from surgery like that.  I will see my local medical oncologist next week and see what she thinks about my progress and activities.  I'm hoping I won't feel the need to ask her for any more pain medication.  I'm trying to taper off of those meds, but the pain is still there and my body isn't ready for me to quit the meds just yet.

So, hopefully, I'll be doing CrossFit classes again by early May.  I leave for a vacation on 6/18, so maybe I'll have six weeks to get myself fit again before that trip.  As soon as I return home from that vacation, it's time for another CT scan to see if the cancer has returned.  If I'm in the clear, I'll have 4 more months to focus on training (and fishing).

If the cancer does return that quickly, I have no idea what the treatment will be.  To be honest, I'm just trying to not worry about that right now.  But, for the past year, I've had very little good news related to this liposarcoma and I don't want to be unrealistic with my expectations.

But, it would certainly be nice to have a clear scan and be allowed to just continue on with my life.