Tuesday, March 31, 2009

So did you know you can ride your bike from Lawrenceburg (Ivy Tech lot) to Rising Sun in 50 minutes against the wind and 40 minutes back with the wind at your back? I found that out today....decided to ride on the bike path but it was too short, so just decided to keep riding and ended up going to Rising Sun...have always wanted to do that ride, and why you ask? Don't know guess just because it was an interesting challenge....
cleocat....I don't know how to respond to your comment on the blog, but any way I can help? Which hospital? My Masters is in Ex phys with over 20 yrs. experience, send me your e-mail if you would like.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Was able to run/ work out 3 out of 4 days...the 4th day we just hiked.....not too bad....have found out how important "stellar" nutrition is in avoiding some of the minor chemo side effects 4 days of no raw veggies, not much fruit, probably not enough water, and drinking some wine has produced the dreaded "mouth sores" that I've not had until now...Sunday I'm back on the water, veggies, and fruit wagon and the sores have almost disappeared by Mon. evening.....interesteng...live and learn....

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

OK all you ladies...here's your challenge.....last night did 3 sets of 15 push ups (boy push ups on my toes) as part of my upper body workout (after teaching interval step class)...now this is just over two months post surgery....no cheating allowed....can you take this challenge? (Keep your body solid...no swaying back)...will be gone till Sunday, probably not much opportunity to work out, so nows your time to catch up!

Monday, March 23, 2009

Today as I once again feel better after chemo, I realize one of my biggest fears while I'm "sick" is that I will not feel better, that I will continue to feel this way until the chemo is over completely, and I know I just wouldn't be able to handle that.....it's probably not rational, but frankly there's not a whole lot rational about this whole situation! When these thoughts enter my head, I just try to push them out and "keep the faith".....three times now I have felt better by the end of day 4 so there's no reason this trend should not continue.......

On a different note, I saw on the news today that there will be a 100 mile bike ride fron Columbus OH to (I think) Athens to raise money for cancer research, it will be held August 29. The promoters are saying LAnce Armstrong will be riding in this. This should be about right when my 12 weeks of chemo are finished....I'm going to ask the Oncologist if I can participate in it....anyone else interested? If not you can sponsor me if I get permission.... Now obviously, we won't be keeping up with LAnce unless he's riding a tricycle, but this might be something awsome to participate in....will keep everyone posted

Sunday, March 22, 2009

And what a beautiful day to get your exercise program started! Day 4 after chemo, about 75% but did go biking out by Shawnee Lookout Forest.....did uppper body weights too....am closing in on before surgery strength with pec press, flys are getting stronger as well!

HAVE YOU DONE YOUR EXERCISE TODAY? If not, there's not a whole lot of viable excuses!

On those days immediately after chemo when I'm feeling weak/sick I just have to remember that things do get better, just be patient....not unlike what all of us deal with daily......we all have to be patient sometimes and realize every schedule is not under our control...for all of us "Moms" out there that's tough to swallow sometimes considering we are the "masterminds" of schedules.....Lets ALL remember this, it will help us keep our sanity.....

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Things once again are starting to "look better", just like "the weather in Indiana" if you stick around for vey long it will change too.......Still felt pretty fatigued this morning, could only muster up a 60 min walk in the "hills of Hidden Valley" today, but as the days rolls on, seems all is getting brighter....pretty much par for the course.....

Friday, March 20, 2009

Sort of a tough night last night and tough day today from the chemo......only easy eliptical and weight workouts today. Was able to go to Alex's young authors party at school, even though I didn't feel the best, it was worth going to! Headache is now starting once again.........but things could be worse! At least I'm functioning.....just not 100%

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

HAd chemo number 3 today, it is amazing how"normally healthy" most people are getting chemo all around me. I am sure they all have a story to tell and I would love to hear them.
My blood numbers are continuing to come back good, this is good. I asked hoe they determine if the chemo is working are there tests? blood work? I was surprised by the answer, they unfortunately don't have a definitive trst for my types of breast cancers.....seems crazy that they don't/ They just have to hit the cancers as hard as they can and through "good living, good prayers, positive vibes " we have to hope this treatment kills it all......just seems so "lame",,,,I'm one to want concrete numbers and concrete results, and umfortunately with this it sounds like I don't get any.......
Doctor is still impressed with my reactions to chemo/////I'm his star pupil.....said I could run in the 10K which is part of the flying pig......Won;t let me do the triathlon first weekend in June.....I can live with that......

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Once again out biking in thr great weather....rode from the house on the loop around Shawnee loookout Forest, through Cleves and back home up the big "dam" hill of HVL (not sure of the mileage)......Seems the wind once agin blew against me going all directions....but that's Ok it'll just make me stronger!
Have thought many times since this all began how fortunate I am I can still do these things I love to do, inspite of the chemo, inspite of the cancer. Someone asked at church today why do I keep working out through it all?....I have to think that every workout makes me stronger, and the stronger I am, the weaker the cancer will be!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Another "inspirational talk" to a church group...many have told me that I have a very powerful message, am hoping and looking forward to continuing to share it....just wanting to figure out how to get my message out!

Ran six miles yesterday......time 54 minutes, not quite as fast as I used to do for a training run (about 5 min. slow), is it because I'm fighting cancer and going through chemo or is it just because I'm old? I guess we will see once I'm colmpletely finished with all of my treatments....at the end the last 3/4 of a mile I started feeling that "runners high" that some of you probably have felt before....it's that feeling that you have a second wind, was actually able to charge up the last two hills....this was awsome, I haven't felt this for a long time. Getting stronger while having chemo and fighting cancer....I think I am...that is good, just getting stronger to run the cancer into the ground!

And what a difference a day makes, had a "fill"again today to continue stretching the skin....took a valium, percocet, and vicadin to try to manage the pain....it finally let up after about 1 1/2 hours....I think this is just about as painful as the post surgery! Oh well, again, if this is the worst, I can handle it.

Finally the weekend is sounding promising...if you haven't got that exercise in you have your last chances tomorrow for this week....you know this annoying pain is not going to stop me....just have to work around it. and be thankful you're able to do "something" because there are many out there who can't!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

I have just started reading LAnce Armstrong's book "It's Not About the Bike" (ITs his battle against cancer)I certainly don't put myself into the same category as him...nowhere close....but I am floored at the many similarities between my blogs, my "Chronicles" that I am writing, and the quotes and story in his book so far........
he was told at a young age he had a "chip on his shoulder" My 4th grade teacher said that about me as well,......he was "driven" to train. so was I (too bad I wasn't as successful as him in sports performance..... ) He told his Oncologist that maybe the chemo wasn't brutal enough,maybe he wasn't sick enough from the chemo...I asked my Oncologist if we could move the treatments to every two weeks instead of every three....because maybe I was feeling too good, was there a more intense treatment to kill the cancer?.....He told the Surgeon to cut out all the cancer...I told mine to rip it all out no matter what, right before I went under.......He said as long as he keeps moving during chemo, then somehow he would be less sick, ....I've said exactly the same thing, that it will make me stronger.....he compares battling cancer to battling on the bike races...I'm comparing it to running and training......and finally at the end of his press conference when he announces that he has cancer his final statement is, "I'm determined to fight this disease, and I will win"......my final statement in the inspirational talk that I give is,"I have never had a better team backing me than the one I have now and we will win."
And yes he won........and we will win too! I'll just end up making everyone else stronger who comes in contact with me so they will win their challenges as well!
So here it is another beautiful day. I rode my 20 miles on my bike today....what did you do? I'm challenging everyone reading this to exercise for at east 30 min four times this week....you can add up your time or do it all at once. All of us should be thankful we are healthy enough to be able to exercise!
Next time you're sore from lifting wts. or from too much activity instead of complaining about it, be happy to be able to be sore! Take your obstacle, whatever it is, and make it an opportunity!!!!
Again some have asked how to respond to the Blog....well don't exactly know, so here's my e mail address, feel free to e-mail me

pruittlaura@gmail.com if you want to phone me call my cell 812-584-3718

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Missed my first day working out since Surgery yesterday.....all day in Indy with my younger sons DI team. Made up for it today though 20 mile bike ride and upper body wts. 10 miles of the ride all against the wind! Hope the rest of you took advantage of the weather this weekend!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

So here it is Thursday one week after the white blood cell shot....the one they said would make me sore......well I was really sore today...sore glutes, sore quads, don't think it was from the shot though....probably from the class I taught Tues.evening (really worked the legs), and the 5 mile run, and the spinning workout on Wednesday......nope don't think it was from the shot!

I went to the community center, the cardiac rehabers were in there doing their phase 3 and 4 cardiac rehab, brought back so many memories from grad school, and the EPA I loved doing cardiac rehab, they are a fun group, ....I'm sure they were, looking at me like I was nuts...if only they had known I too was recovering, just at a different level than them....the important thing was all of us were in there doing our best......

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Saw the reconstructive surgeon yesterday and once again my left arm, side is very sore....who would have thought "stretching" would be so painful! But did it stop me from working out? No it didn't like alot of things "you just work around it!"

Sounds like our weather is finally going to start warming up, a good time for everyone to catch some extra exercise!

Also received info from genetic testing I'm not a carrier of the brc1 or brc2 gene ....this is good, unfortunately the sciience just isn't sophisticated enough to discover what caused my cells to mutate and what type of genetic component was involved....oh well will just have my genetic code in the genetic bank for further research......

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Day #4 after chemo....looks like most of the side effects are going away.....just a mild headache all day....not enough to stop a decent workout! The wig "came out" today.....a little hair left but it's so thin my head gets cold! Don't know how bald guys do it!