Eight months post chemo, I wasn’t in a happy place. I was coming to terms with the fact that chemo had aged me around 10 years. It was pretty clear to me that the chemo had done real, permanent damage. I was very, very sad about things.
I couldn’t accept this permanent chemo induced damage, and I set out to do something about it. I wanted to trick my body into thinking it has experienced significant damage and obtain repair without the actual damage.
I’ve explained my thought process below. That said, maybe my theory is right, maybe it isn’t. It’s the results that matter. So here’s what happened.
- My resting heart rate increased from 42 to 68
- My skin stopped burning in the sun. Also, my skin didn’t tan.
- It’s impossible for me to feel muscle pain when I exercise. This is pretty fun/weird.
- I lost almost all my muscles. For a while, I could only do 3 pushups. I’m up to around 25 now.
- My recovery rate from exercise is better than when I was 20. I tried to over-train and couldn’t.
- My blood pressure is better than it was when I was 20. It gradually dropped in the 4 months post ginger. I wasn’t expecting this, but noticed when I checked my blood pressure during IVIG infusions.
- I’m losing 0.8 pounds per month and have been for the last year. I’ll be back to my 20 year old weight in about 12 months (which is when I expect my platelets to be back to normal).
So, I’m intrigued and it seems hard to explain everything above with a primary ITP diagnosis. The unexplained weight loss is a little disconcerting. But, I think it’s good weight loss, and not bad weight loss – I know what the latter feels like. I’ll give you an update in 6 months.