For the first time since I got blood clots in my lower right leg and a sometimes debilitating pain in the right side of my lower back, I returned to the gym today. For about an hour, I rotated between five cardiovascular exercise machines and lifted some light weights. Although I subsequently enjoyed the relaxed feeling that exercise followed by a hot shower brings, I am starting to think that I may have exacerbated the pain in my back.
Now that I am in treatment for cancer, because I have had such frequent need to go to the emergency room, I feel insecure about the prospect of a three-day weekend. Yesterday, I noticed a rash on my left shin. It was late in the day, and a dermatologist will not be available to examine it until Tuesday. Based on telephone conversations with MSK staff, it seems unlikely that the rash is a reaction to chemotherapy: the rash is unilateral, and I last received chemotherapy 10 days before I noticed the rash. MSK's staff suggested trying to control the rash with cortisone ointment until it can be examined by a dermatologist. But as someone with glaucoma, I have to be careful about using corticosteroids, which can raise intraocular pressure.
Nevertheless, I am enjoying the weekend. Last night, a friend came in from Long Island and took us to dinner. Tonight and tomorrow night, Susan is cooking, and we are having a friend over for dinner each night. Today I am reading and listening to music. Perhaps we will go to a museum tomorrow (I am particularly interested in seeing the remodeled and just- reopened American wing of the Metropolitan Museum). Perhaps we will go to Belmont Park on Monday to see one of America's most important horse races, the Metropolitan Mile. No matter the day of the week, there is never any shortage of things to do in New York City!
