I want my body back!

In May 2010 right before my second year of dental school and a couple of days before my 23^rd birthday I was diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I was then given the choice of chemotherapy every other week for six months or a more rigorous chemotherapy every week for three months. Given the confidence I had in the strength of my body I chose the more intense three month treatment.  In a very short period of time I went from having a healthy body with a high level of endurance to feeling fatigued from even normal activities. Still, I was determined to stay active (and I needed to study!) so I would take my notes and walk for a few hours every day.

 

 This is me at a chemo appointment with an IV before I had a port placed in my chest. 

Once I was finally done with chemotherapy I thought I would completely recover in about six weeks. I realize now how foolish that was but I had never been that sick before so I just had no idea how long it would take for me to recover. So, after my treatments were over I tried to exercise, but I would get really frustrated because I was no longer in control of my body. Also, I was very hard on myself because I had to sleep about ten hours a night and that is not an easy thing to do when you are in the most difficult year of your grad school program. I thought these problems were happening because I was lazy and out of shape. Furthermore, it is pretty tough to stay motivated to achieve a healthy body when your body just spent three months being destroyed by chemotherapy.

 

This is a picture of all of my prescriptions (and to think I used to hate taking anything for a headache) and my puke bucket (you have to have fun with your situation!) which I thankfully never had to use. 

 

It took me about six months after I finished treatments to fully recover. I would like to say that I never gave up and kept working out despite all of my challenges (which is what I fully intended to do before I started chemo) but in reality in the past two years I have only exercised occasionally. Now I am finally ready to put the frustrations of the past two years behind me and fully commit to my physical well being. Today I start my 5^th week of p90x and I can’t wait until I am a p90x grad! p90x has motivated me when nothing else has.

I posted this to let people know that I know what it is like to be frustrated with your body. I know what it is like to lose control of your body and I am here to help.