I thought that it was about time I updated you on what's happened to cause me to stop blogging here at the Original Purpletraveller.....
Well I have gone from someone who wouldn't take a tablet for a headache to someone who now has to take a string of medication from here each day...
I have told you about my heart condition which has been managed successfully for the past six years.... Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. With careful control of my heart rate I was still able to ride my bike with no ill effects. I had been advised recently by my cardiac consultant to switch to an e-bike....not to improve my speed or go up hills faster but to make it even easier to exercise my heart rate control and make it safer for me to continue riding.. I managed to do 57 miles on the new bike and posted an image and technical details of the bike here on the blog.
Following those couple of rides on the new bike I noted that I had started to get back ache. I put it down to the possibility of not setting the bike fit quite right but all the geometry measurements were spot on. I couldn't ride the bike for a few weeks as the weather was so bad but during this time the ache in my lower back seemed to have moved into my rear rib cage.. Then it moved into my back again.... I started to feel really exhausted...I spent a lot of time sleeping.... And when it got to the point where I couldn't walk without assistance it was obvious I needed to go to the hospital....
I have had three stays in hospital once before Christmas and twice since.... The upshot is that I have now been diagnosed as having ....Blood Cancer ....Bone Cancer and Thyroid Cancer.... After having had prostate cancer ten years ago I think that I could be forgiven for thinking that my brush with cancer was now all in the past.... Having had one cancer is unlucky now having a further three all at the same time is utterly careless I would say.....
The cancers cannot be cured so they are called terminal.....
I am undergoing treatment at the moment which consists of chemotherapy. Other treatments will be brought in later such as treatment to try and strengthen my bones.. The bone cancer eats away at the bones and weakens them so that they can collapse.... I've already had a rib in my back collapse which just added to the pain I am already dealing with......
So it's all about trying to live as long as I can by using various treatments to lengthen my life..... When I came out of hospital I could only walk with the use of a walking frame..... I graduated to walking sticks and can now manage short distances unsupported so that is some progress..... I do intend at some point to get back on that bike and add some miles to its running total. When that will be is in the laps of the gods plus my determination.......
I will keep you posted as to my progress but I obviously won't be blogging as often as in the past.......