As you know, I’m done with chemo and radiation treatments, but I’m still recovering from complications stemming from my cancer. I have some medium news and some great news to share today!

Rib progress: First the medium news. I wanted to find out how close my broken rib was to being intact, so I asked my chiropractor to take an X-ray of the area and send it her radiologist.  The results were different than I expected.  First, there is some confusion about what ribs were affected.  Some radiologists say the 8^th rib, some the 9^th, and some both.  This radiologist says both.  The great news is, the 8^th rib seems to be intact, and is pretty much healed.  The 9^th rib however is a much more complicated story. The next paragraph and photos may be TMI for some.  If you’re easily grossed out, you might want to skip them.

I always thought the rib was merely broken and the cancer had damaged the bones on either side, creating a space in between them.  This may have been true for the 8^th rib, but the 9^th is another story.  Instead of breaking the rib, the tumor got inside the rib and pushed material outward, creating a kind of bubble of material, see attached photos. My bone cells may remodel this rib back to looking normal, or they may just leave it be. Only time will tell. 

The continuing damage to my 9^th rib may explain why I have persistent tenderness in several of my torso muscles, making things like bending over and sitting in an office chair for long periods difficult. Physical therapy is definitely helping, but it will take a while for my muscles to adapt.

Lung capacity: Now for the great news!  Until last week, I hadn’t had a cold in years.  On the few occasions that I coughed or sneezed, it was extremely painful.  My ribs have been much better for the past few months, and I finally caught a cold last week.  I did A LOT of coughing and sneezing, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it might have been earlier.  As it turns out, all that coughing helped break up material in my lungs and helped them dry out.  After my cold, my lung capacity had improved a lot!  My cold was a blessing in disguise!

I have a device called a spirometer that kind of measures my lung capacity.  After my cold, I could max out the spirometer easily!  So on Sunday, Kathy and I decided to see if I could climb a local small peak, Mount Calavera, on a hike I often do with a neighbor.  We went up slowly and methodically, but I only needed to stop twice and we made it to the top!  I actually see this as a big milestone!

Fear not, but be smart,
Erik