Another Summer

I have always loved the Australian summer. I spend my younger years surfing as much as I could and just love the heat.

As a family, we worked out pretty early that we all enjoy the hot months and it was a disappointment to me, and us, that we missed our usual summer holiday last year and I, in particular, missed out on the summer heat that I so craved after the cold, wet winter.

For the last couple of months, I'd been able to eat quite normally. My saliva glands still didn't work so my mouth was always dry, but I'd gotten used to it and could now operate reasonably well eating any food.

We were enjoying watching our kids play their sport and were doing 'normal' things again as a family.

In short, I was operating on a 'new normal' and enjoying life again.

Three months post treatment I was scheduled for a follow up PET scan. This scan involves being injected with an iodine based solution that glows in the PET scan pictures. The scan was taken one week, and we had to attend a follow up meeting with the lead Radio Oncologist the next week. A week may not be long, but it seemed to last an eternity. At least the news was good, all traces of my cancer appeared to have been resolved.

Following this good news, Vic came through with another good idea. After our weekend at Observation City, we had confidence I could navigate time away, so we booked a week in Bali in July for just the two of us. Our daughter was now 18 and stayed home while our son stayed with Vic's mum and dad. My treatment and recovery had been a traumatic and stressful time for Vic as well, so although she was motivated by getting me back out into the world and enjoying life again now I was feeling stronger, it meant she had a chance to relax and just enjoy some time together again too.

It was terrific. Vic booked a private villa in Seminyak and it was great, but it was quite a walk from any of the main tourist areas - beach, restaurants and shops. This actually benefited me as it helped to increase my strength. More than anything, it put my mind in a good place and gave me the springboard to launch into another summer, which I very much looked forward to after missing the last one.

We knew there would be another summer and so we booked our regular holiday at Lancelin so we all had something to look forward to, and I focussed on my immediate fitness goal of completing at least one triathlon this season.

This meant gradually increasing my training load. My short term goal was to train sufficiently until the weather warmed up a bit, so initially I concentrated on building my base in two of the three disciplines, swimming and cycling. I am unable to run for long enough because of a dodgy left knee so I need to restrict how much I do, and rely on other activities to increase my strength enough to allow me to complete the run leg.

After getting back from Bali, I still rode to the Vario Clinic two or three times each week (depending on my work and if I had the time), but instead of going directly there I'd take a longer route and include a few larger hills. Also, when I arrived at the Clinic, I began to run on the treadmill as well for 20 minutes at around 6 min/km pace.

After a couple of weeks, I was feeling great. I could feel myself getting stronger and returning to a level of fitness that made me feel positive that I was working towards my immediate goal of completing a triathlon in the upcoming season.

A problem emerged though. Nothing major, but it did disrupt my plans a little. Now that I was cycling further and at a quicker pace, and then jumping on the treadmill when I got to the Clinic, the Physiologists decided I didn't need to be going there anymore. So even though the program was supposed to go for 12 months, I was told I didn't need to keep going any longer, after just 2 and a half months. I was both disappointed and elated.

Going to the Vario Clinic as part of the program meant I got to use their equipment for free, while it also meant that others had noticed I had gotten stronger and fitter quickly. My lead Exercise Physiologist booked me in for tests and we went about the process of measuring my recent results with my immediate post treatment starting point. I had gained over 200% in strength and increased my speed by around 10%. I had gained 12% body weight, mostly in muscle mass. My body composition and balance scores were marginally better too.

And so my training at the Vario clinic had come to an abrupt end in July. However, my Exercise Physiologist gave me a program to continue until my 12 month tests, which would have been the normal time frame had I been permitted to continue. I knew I would continue to train on my own, but I really enjoyed the resistance training that exercising with weights provides so I started looking into the many 24/7 gyms near where I live.

I check them all out and eventually settled on Goodlife in Kingsway because it was far enough away that I could get a decent ride in getting there and the facilities were excellent. Vic decided that she would also like to go so we joined together.

Once the weather started to warm up and I felt strong enough, I decided to rejoin my cycling buddies at Malaga Cycling Group. They are a great bunch of guys and girls and everyone was glad to see me back on the bike again. I started out with one of the moderate pace groups, which turned out to be a good move because after nearly 50kms, I was exhausted when we got back.

By now, I'm eating normally again. I'm eating all the same meals I did prior to treatment and my life is back to normal. In fact, I can honestly say that I feel as though I've never been sick.

We've even been going out a lot more and enjoying ourselves with friends, even dressing up in ridiculous outfits.

I'm still having some trouble with my mouth and lips which are constantly dry and often sore, but it is an irritation rather than a major problem. I am constantly worrying about sores and spots that come up on my skin and soreness in my limbs thinking what is wrong now, but ultimately I feel I'm in good health, if not a little paranoid in my mind at the moment.

The doctors said that of the people who suffer a recurrence, most occur within the first two years after treatment. I have had the post treatment PET scan and another CT scan In November. Neither showed any traces of the cancer returning. I have multiple follow up scans for up to 5 years after which my chances of getting cancer again are the same as everyone else.

So now, I'm looking forward to another summer, and more than anything completing my first triathlon for two years. I entered the Joondalup Tri on December 17th. It was supposed to be a 750m swim, 20km ride and 5km run event. I felt that if things went well, I also compete in my favourite tri of the summer - Rockingham, in January.

Thanks goodness, we've had a relatively hot December. I am loving it. As luck would have it though, the weekend of the Joondalup Triathlon, coincided with the biggest summer storm we've had in years. I psyched myself up to swim the 750m in a large swell and tough conditions reminiscent of the 2012 Half Ironman in Busselton. The organisers however felt the conditions were just too dangerous, so the swim leg was cancelled. Oh well. I felt strong, but my dodgy left knee was about to be tested because the event was changed to a duathlon starting with a 2km run followed by the regular 20km cycle and 5km run.

I managed to finish reasonably easily because I didn't push myself too hard. My knee started to get sore around the 3km mark in the final run leg. I couldn't have cared less. I still felt strong and managed to run into the finish line with the crowd cheering. Of course, they were cheering for everyone who was finishing, not me specifically, but I felt great. I had finished mid-field in my age group in a very respectable time and achieved one of my goals.

So now I'm feeling great, it's nearly one year since my treatment began, and I've really enjoyed a terrific Christmas not feeling as though I've ever been sick.