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Muscle Recovery after Chemo
I finished my 6th and last TCH 3 weeks ago and am struggling to get my muscle strength and tone back. I have always been a runner and continued running until after my 4th cycle when my muscles became so rigid and painful that walking was all I could accomplish. My PA finally told me that chemo is hard on muscle tone. I began taking glutamine supplements 1000 mg twice a day but no real improvement. Now 3 weeks out and I am increasing the glutamine to 5000 mg twice a day with the hopes of rehydrating my muscles.
Does anyone have any success stories/practices that will help me get back to my "pre chemo" fitness? I have 12 more Herceptin treatments every 3 weeks but that should only affect my heart - not my muscle tone and I am taking CoQ10 and D Ribose to help offset that side affect. I appreciate any helpful hints.
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11/19/10 Identified swollen lymph node
1/24/11 Mammogram showed microcalcifications - no mass
2/4/11 Diagnosed ER/PR- HER2+++
2/23/11 Began TCH protocol every 21 days 6x
5/23/11 Ultrasound of originally diseased lymph node shows normal
7/25/11 Lymph node dissection - 8 of 14 show disease
7/29/11 Double mastectomy with reconstruction (expanders)
8/29/11 Begin follow up chemo - Adriamycin 4 treatments every 2 weeks and Xeloda. Self inject Nupogen shots
1/6/12 6 weeks of Radiation finished
2/13/12 Last Herceptin/remove port
3/27/12 PET/Brain Scan NED :)
8/15/12 Final reconstruction - hello nipples, good bye expanders
9/14/12 Rejected implant/infection. Implant removed
5/6/13 Latissumis Dorsi surgery left side with expander
PS - my photo was taken 5 days after my double mastectomy surgery and 6 weeks after my TCH was completed
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