1st week back

Hey guys:

The first week of work is behind me and it was kind of difficult, yet a pleasure to be back. It wears one down so much more than you think it would. Trying to catch up and make adjustments to other people when you’ve spent the last eight months either asleep, managing side effects, or talking to pets is a change for sure. The dogs don’t talk back that often; people seem to chat more than animals. Go figure.

Anyway, I had a little chemo brain now and then as I stumbled for names of people I should immediately know; thank God they wear security badges or I’d be sunk. The ladies at the office have been great looking out for me. I need adult supervision. At first I was going to make my afternoons more productive, but I’ve been resting after work. I’m sure my stamina will improve with time once I get used to working again.

I am still fighting this persistent cough and it is having a negative impact on my working out. This cough – which has been hanging on since September – is causing me to scale back my walking and recumbent biking because I’m not quite sure what to do to mitigate it. It makes me a bit uneasy.

There can be a real sense of abandonment when one goes from active patient to recovering survivor (if that makes sense). For example, I wanted to get some advice on this freaking cough so I called my oncologist’s office Friday, a few months ago they were concerned about the cough, but now not so much.

I was told to see my primary care physician. Now I’m glad to do that, but I’m kind of scared that I might contract pneumonia from this cough and – well – people with compromised immune systems tend not fare so well when that happens. Luckily I have no fever or any other symptoms, so I am probably oaky. I intend to send him a letter expressing my concerns.

I just finished a 10-day course of antibiotics prescribed by my family doc and that did nothing to help. In fact if I had to swear to it in court, I’d say I was coughing up way more goop than before. Is that normal? Who the heck knows – surely not me? I’ll call the doc Monday and get in there in the afternoon. I am truly tired of not feeling well; I have felt sucky since last February and if I could get rid of this cough I would be way happier.

I guess that’s it for now,

Bill