Tough Decisions...

Physical therapy session #3 wasn't so great today. The ultrasound therapy actually hurt today.  I got this really strong pain in my entire leg and had to tell my PT that is was hurting. I guess he had to change the setting because he said the waves sometimes bounce off of your bones. I also did the elliptical for 10 minutes on this super slow speed.  I burned a whole 30 calories and my distance was .50 miles!  I have three more sessions to go and then will see if all of this has paid off. The sucky thing about it is that while I am on the elliptical, I face a window. My view from the window faces a really nice fitness facility.....not so cool! 

Throughout the course of this physical therapy I have been permitted to do other forms of cardio such as the stationary bike, elliptical and other strengthening exercises for my hamstring. Although I have been able to do all of these things with little or no pain, it always seem to hurt the next day.  The pain seems to return just when I feel like things are starting to get better.  It's pretty depressing and I feel like it's never going to get better until I just completely stop everything! I think the strengthening exercises that are part of the physical therapy are beneficial but the other forms of cardio are probably dragging the healing process out. So what do I do?  Do I stop all of the cardio and stick to the exercises that are part of the physical therapy plan??? This is a tough decision for me!

Life could be worse and I could be facing much harder decisions. I definitely know that.  I am not sure if I ever mentioned this topic before but my Dad has been battling cancer for a while now.  He has been undergoing chemotherapy for close to a year now and he just had a PET/CT scan last week. The information from the PET/CT scan allows his doctor to monitor the effectiveness of the cancer therapy and provides his doctor with the opportunity to change the treatment strategy if it is not working.  The results revealed that the cancer has not improved but has not spread to any other parts of his body either. It has basically remained the same. Although that is not the best news to hear, it is also good news because his condition has not worsened. The doctor asked my Dad is he wants to continue with the treatment or if he wants to stop.  Now that is a tough decision!  

My Dad doing what he loves-fishing!

The doctor is still hopeful but he wanted my Dad to make the decision to continue with the treatment since he is the one who suffers through all of the pain, discomfort and all of the other horrible side effects that come along with chemotherapy. My Dad is incredibly brave and strong to say the least.  He drives himself to and from his chemo treatments and has continued to work to keep his mind off of the cancer. He tries to maintain a normal life as much as he possibly can by continuing to do the things he loves most, like fishing.

Life is tough for him but he never leads me to believe that. Things that we all take for granted are everyday struggles for him but he never complains and maintains a positive outlook on life. He really wants to live. I think that is what has brought him this far and has convinced me that he is going to kick cancer in the ass! Excuse my language but I don't know any other way to say it because cancer is a beast.

My Dad and I last Christmas

If anything positive has come out of this, my relationship with my Dad is so much stronger.  We talk on the phone for hours about things that we never talked about before. I have gotten to know a side of my Dad that I never knew before. I guess the message that I am sending to you, as well as myself, today is to be thankful for what you have and the life that you have. More importantly be thankful for your health. Things could be much worse and you could be facing much harder decisions...life changing decisions.