Hello, 2015!

In 2015 I resolve to kick cancer's ass.

I've felt pretty good lately, it's hard to believe that only a month ago I was having horrible leg and hip pains - it seems like it was yesterday when I was basically writhing in pain, begging my husband to make it stop (while I waited for my pain medication to kick in).

I had to take Tramadol every four hours. If I forgot, it was much harder to control the pain. I'd forget to take the medication, or avoid taking it because I hadn't had anything to eat and was afraid of throwing up, and by the end of my work day I'd hobble to the car while fighting back tears.

Today I take two Tramadol per day (morning and night) and it's more or less a maintenance thing for me. I've had days where I didn't take any at all, and I was okay. Monday, I took a Zumba class and only sat out one song because there were a lot of moves that put most of my weight on my gimpy left hip. I felt good and had some soreness afterwards (but who wouldn't after not attending an exercise class since the spring/summer?) that was easily controlled with OTC pain medication. Cold weather slows me down, and it's been very cold lately. The wind takes my breath away, and the cold makes my body ache. I sat in my living room this afternoon in a hoodie, hat and warm pajama pants.

I can sign up for water aerobics tomorrow, and the classes begin in the middle of this month. I'm excited to exercise again, I've dealt with a lot of pain in my recent past and it's prohibited me from exercising much. I need to get a set of resistance bands like these (I used to lift heavy before I found out about bone metastases) or just see if the gym my husband has access to has them. I miss my bike and I miss weightlifting. I think I'd do far better if it was just a certain food I had to give up, rather than a cherished hobby like cycling.

So here's a question: If you had to, would you rather give up a food you really liked, or a hobby/activity you really enjoyed doing?

I hope everyone is having a great 2015, so far. My mom is here again (she comes up for treatments) and I made pork and sauerkraut for dinner. It's probably the best pork and kraut I've ever made - I switched up and actually used a recipe this time (I did not use shallots or onions) and didn't use beer. The small amount of vinegar really made the kraut tart and I loved that.

Cycle #2 of the clinical trial begins tomorrow. At the end of this cycle, I'll have a scan. It's weird, but I'm actually looking forward to scans (we'll see how I feel when it gets closer to the scan date!).