Let it be known that not a single living creature in this house has a problem-free pelvic area:
- My tumor (duh)
- Little Miss' intermittent diaper rash (really not bad at all because I am a cloth-diapering crunchy earth mamma wannabe)
- Cleo's wonky hips
Some 3+ years ago, Jody got a little overzealous on the leg press and strained something adjacent to his babymaker. When it didn't get better within a reasonable period of time (and was actually made worse by our moving ourselves from Newton to Central Mass, worst idea EVAR), he went to see a doc that said the two treatment options were:
- Have surgery and recuperate for 6 mos.
- Rest for 6 mos. and see if it gets better on its own
The surgical treatment for his condition (athletic pubalgia, aka athletic hernia or Gilmore's Groin) is the laproscopic insertion of mesh to the affected area. The tissue eventually grows over/into the mesh, reinforcing the muscle.
He had three incisions, starting at the belly button and going south from there. The surgeon said that the procedure went well, everything looked normal, and he seems to be doing fantastic, already back to the daily grind with work (it helps that he works from home...).
Between his bionic groin and my shrunken boobs, we are going to run the hell out of the bike trails come this summer. Assuming that I actually do feel normal during my off weeks from chemo.
3 comments:
Sugarmouth,
Thanks for rounding out the reality of your life. Even though it totally sucks, cancer is not everything in anyone's family. My wife and daughter somehow managed to exist and thrive even in my substantive absence during most of 2007. My experience of chemo-hell is that you feel like a somewhat normal person for the first few treatments (though that portable pump was something of an annoyance for showers and sleeping arrangements). And I don't think I know which regimen of chemo you'll be enduring, either. But by about the fifth or sixth round the fatigue starts to catch up with you... and by the ninth treatment I was taking naps every afternoon. And the fisrt two days after the pump was detached were basically horizontal ones.
So plan those bike trips early, and enjoy every moment of them. And then let your body rest and recovery as much as it needs to later on. And thanks for sharing your world with the Web.
And here I thought Jody walked funny 'cus he was full of Old Grand-Dad.
Hey Ed--Thanks for the chemo insights. I'm trying to forecast what it's going to be like as much as possible while still keeping in mind that it affects everyone differently...let's not even talk about the whole ostomy nightmare...Blah.
And Crazy--Kinda funny how Johnnie Walker actually doesn't help with the walking... ;)
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