Today I had a follow up visit with my orthopedic surgeon, to see how I’m doing after the surgery from my accident this past October. It was my 3rd follow up visit. I walked up the long flight of stairs to his office.
They took a few x-rays – which in themselves concern me because of the radiation – but are necessary in cases like mine to see how something is healing. Then I saw the doctor.
He came in and asked me how I was doing. I told him I thought quite well – I had even walked up the stairs to his office. He asked me to bend my leg and I went into a yoga pose called the Tree Pose or (Vrikshasana) – which surprised him (in a good way) that I was so flexible and could balance so well on both sides. He cautioned me to not overdo it because he wants to make sure there continues to be good bone growth around the pins holding my femur together but said walking, swimming (not happening with my immune issues right now), stationary biking and light elliptical machine would be fine – just nothing that is seriously hard weight bearing stuff. But overall he was very impressed with how I was doing and I thought that would be the end of the visit. He got called out for a moment to take a phone call but I felt more at ease hearing such good news and I was eager for him to come back in and tell me I can leave.
Well…he came back in from his phone call and he said “You know, because you fell and fractured your femur and it wasn’t from a high place like off a ladder or down stairs – you probably have osteopenia or even osteoporosis”. I explained that I didn’t just trip and fall – I was pushed up into the air from behind by 6 of my very excited cats who tried to get by me as I was shaking their favorite treat container but the passageway had boxes on the side so there was limited room for them to go except through me. In a very “cat-like” move – I twisted myself around in the air to make sure I didn’t hit my head and I landed on my side – on hard porcelain floors that look like wood, which ironically we got for easy pet maintenance, but they are hard.
In addition –my doctor was concerned that in the future – there wouldn’t be good blood flow to that part of my leg/hip area and that he wasn’t ruling out that a total hip replacement was in my future. I went from feeling great about my wonderful progress – to now having yet more potential diagnoses being added on to my list and that even though things were good now – they may not always be.
Why was he so concerned about me? Because the chemotherapy I had to have to live, 7 years ago, was notorious for causing bones to weaken.
Here we go again. Yet something else creeping up on me from all those years ago – another potentially serious diagnosis. Now I don’t actually have the diagnosis, yet. He wants to send me for a DEXA scan in another 6 months or so to assess me. More X-rays. More Tests. Something else to worry about. He put thoughts into my head that didn’t need to be there.
That is the tradeoff that is the rest of my life. The Stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma that I had 7 years ago that at any moment could have killed me needed immediate and significant treatment. I had no choice. But for the rest of my life, I will have to deal with the consequences. The immunodeficiency which causes susceptibility to catching illnesses and all kind of other fun things, the (possible) effect on my bones, the cataract in my right eye, are all due to the treatment for my deadly disease. Then there is always the lurking thought of could the cancer come back again? And who knows what else will come down the road? I have to make peace with this. If I don’t make peace with this – I will lose my mind. It becomes torturous. I have to fight against these negative thoughts even harder, every time someone, including a health care professional, thinks they’re doing me a favor by telling me all of the possible things that could go wrong.
One way that I make peace with my situation is to take care of myself as well as I can. This is my insurance policy against catastrophe. Number one – it makes me feel better mentally and physically. Number two – when something does arise (like my leg fracture from last October) – it assures that I can manage through it successfully with few or no complications. And Number three – I have to be screened more often than the average person to keep on top of things so that if something does arise in my blood work or somewhere else, we can address it quickly. I have to do better than the average person in taking care of my health, because of the treatment I had for Mantle Cell Lymphoma and its aftereffects, not to mention the disease itself.
Clearly the best advice of all is to take care of yourself all through your life so that you lessen the chances of developing a terrible disease like I had, or many other awful and life-altering diagnoses. I wish I could go back 40 years and change a number of things about how I took care of myself. But sometimes these awful diagnoses happen anyway – no matter how well you have lived. Living a healthy lifestyle is never a bad answer (what this means or how to do this is what can be controversial). Here is what it means for me in a very simplified way:
- Eat a mostly whole food plant-based diet
- Get moderate exercise including aerobic, strength training, stretching and flexibility
- Add supplements where there is a deficiency (much can be seen through blood work) or there are certain areas of “weakness” (for example immunity, joint problems, inflammation, etc.)
- Avoid toxins of all kinds – in food, air, water, cleaners, radiation (when not necessary), tobacco, drugs, relationships
- Manage stress through meditation, prayer, therapy, positive relationships, pets, doing things you enjoy
- Have a purpose – a reason to get up every day and have something to look forward to or to make a contribution to the world or both
- Surround yourself with good, compassionate, positive people who add joy to your life and don’t cause unnecessary stress on purpose
Living a healthy lifestyle is really your best insurance policy against something going wrong, or when it does – you can get through it easier. In my case – it helps the “down” periods after moving on from a cancer diagnosis be a little less “down” and it gives me some control over a situation that could very easily become out of control.
Why do I keep talking about the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle over and over again? Because I wish I had someone like me giving me this information when I was younger….
Wishing you good health and a great life –
Sheryl
