When do things start getting better?

Feeling very upbeat three weeks post treatment, not because I felt a whole lot better, but because it was clear my health had begun to improve. Noticeably, my neck had become demonstrably better - it was less red and sore. I was still applying a lot of sorbalene as this was advised early on as a remedy against skin issues.

Even though things started to look good, we were still stressed because our understanding from what the Doctors had advised us was that I would recover quickly after treatment ceased. In our minds, this meant as soon as treatment finished, but nothing could be more wrong.

The two weeks following treatment were the worst, no question.

Nevertheless, from around week three I started to feel better. Truth is though, it takes around a month for the Chemo drug to leave your body and a further 12 months or so until your body recovers.

Until you are back to full strength, you remain susceptible to other ailments. Like at the beginning of week 4 my son and I both caught a virus. My son had a running nose and was generallly unwell, but nothing a Codral couldn't fix. Me on the other hand, it destroyed me. I was back to where I was in week one after treatment. I stopped eating again, stopped drinking, was always tired. Thankfully my neck was largely better and I could cease to use the bandages and dressings.

My relapse lasted around four days until I started to feel well again. This time, I went from being very unwell to quite well quickly.

I had been going to the Vario execise gym since week three post treatment, but had been very weak when I began. The virus put me back a week, but I started again once I felt better. I wasn't on a particular program at the time, so I paid to join and do some workouts under the guidance of the trained staff, one of whom had taken an interest in my case during my pre-treatment sessions and he put my name forward to participate in their latest trial. This would mean I could continue to use the gym for 12 months without it costing me anything. I was extremely thankful because the cost would have eventually added up to something I possibly could not have continued to pay.

The trial program started with a bunch of tests, which measured not only strength, but balance, heart rate, aerobic capacity and blood pressure. From that point on, I started to feel 'normal' again. Every workout I could feel my strength returning.

For years I had tried to lose a little weight so it wasn't so damned hard riding up hills, but I had little luck in doing this with the lifestyle I like to lead. While I don't recommend my weight loss program I decided to look at it positively and work to increase my strength without necessarily gaining too much weight.

My twin goals were to be able to complete at least one triathlon this coming summer season, and get up hills a little easier.

Every workout felt better. The particular staff member allocated to my trial group wanted me to increase my resistance weight and repetitions after every 4 sessions. I was happy to oblige and quickly increased resistance to where I felt I was having to work at an appropriately difficult level.

During this time, Vic had arranged a weekend at Observation City with her and our two children. She was keen to test if I could sustain my energy levels long enough to enjoy some time away from home. Because we hadn't enjoyed our normal summer holiday this year due to my treatment, we were keen to see if I'd be up to a holiday in July. For years, as a family, we have enjoyed a long holiday over the summer months, and a short break in July to escape the winter and get some heat. We didn't want to miss two in one year.

It certainly wasn't easy, but it was worthwhile. I managed to eat the food we ordered at each meal and try out a couple of scotch and cokes, which tasted aweful but which I was just glad to have in an effort to feel half-way normal again. Sugar continues to be a problem for me, so Coke along with ice cream and chocolate continue to taste pretty rank.

We were very happy after the weekend and even the kids had perked up a little more. I think the weekend did us the world of good.

From that weekend, I experimented more readily with different foods, some with sauce and others without.

Boiled eggs were an early favourite, and I also found that pasta and noodles were very easy to eat. Milk had begun to taste good again so I started trying out my normal muesli and nutri-grain. Both were a little difficult to eat at first because they hurt my throat as I swallowed, but I perservered because frankly, I liked the taste. It has been such a long time since I'd enjoyed fruit, that the cranberries, blueberries, raisins and sultanas in my muesli were just fantastic. Nutri-grain became easier with more milk because it softened them enough so it wasn't painful to swallow.

As a family we have always enjoyed mexican dishes, and so we tried tacos and enchiladas - all fantastic. Prior to treatment, I was a steak fanatic and would regularly buy the best steaks from Vic's brother's store in Ellenbrook shops, Cutting Edge Butchers. Now however, eating steak was horrible, stringy and dry.

So while my tastes were getting better, my pre-treatment regulars and favourites, eg steak, ice cream and chocolate, tasted awful. I hoped it would be ok in the long run.

It was a period of trial and error. Doing this eventually got me back to eating pretty normally by mid-April - some 6 weeks after treatment had finished.

I continued to work out at the Vario clinic and eventually started riding there and back again, a round trip of 40 kms, twice a week. It felt great to be back on the bike and it acted as my warm up for my exercise session. I started out riding at a fairly easy pace, averaging around 19kmh for the journey which was mostly on shared paths.

Now, some 5 weeks later I'm up to 26kmh average and looking forward to getting back riding with my mates at Malaga Cycling Group soon (possibly when the weather warms up a bit).

I still feel the cold a lot, and spend my time outdoors with several layers on. Nevertheless, I feel as though I have progressed to the point where normal is back. Ok, it is a new normal, but normal nevertheless.

Winter sport started again for my kids, and this has been something Vic and I have always enjoyed (as I'm sure most parents do). Getting out to watch them play was another reason to get strong and healthy again.

I started to work full time again and a raft of changes to superannuation rules meant I was going flat out at June 30 given most were effective on July 1, and looking forward to travelling around the country to see clients. A trip I was unable to take last year due to my diagnosis.