Feeling it

Been a little more tired than usual lately.  The radiologist warned me the fatigue might hit me later on - even as much as a year later.  It doesn't quite feel the same as it did during chemotherapy when my muscles would just stop functioning.  This is more like an overwhelming urge to close my eyes and sleep. 

Long before I had breast cancer and any of the side effects of the drugs I was taking, I would run myself into the ground.  Burning the candle at both ends some might say.  Late nights, early mornings, work hard, play hard.  I could do it for quite a long period of time and then my body would just be too exhausted to move.  I could lay in bed and literally feel my body buzzing.  From head to toe a sense of my skin quivering.  After a few days of rest, that would go away.

These past few weeks, I've felt that sensation each day and night if I sat still long enough to acknowledge it.  I've been ignoring it and just keeping my usual pace.  But I think its catching up to me.  Last night at the studio, I had an issue in the middle of the 'workout' phase of my Workshop class that startled me.  I just couldn't seem to catch my breath which is totally unlike me.  This was soon followed by a wave of nausea and dizziness.  It happened to me once before within the past month while I was down at the track for a run.  Time to monitor it more closely.  I just have to be more aware of when I'm overdoing it and take it easy if I need to.  It's just different than the fatigue I experienced last time.

Made a visit to the dermatologist yesterday for my annual checkup.  I was anxious to see him so he could evaluate the burn the radiation had made in and around my armpit.  He was happy to report that it looked like the skin was not damaged at all with no other pre-cancerous areas on the skin of the rest of my body.  He even commented on how the chemotherapy could aid in killing them off, if their are any, and the Tamoxifen that I continue to take will do the same. 

At least that feels like a good side effect to the chemo - - Bonus!