A New Normal?

My hips, knees and ankles continue to be stiff and sore after sitting for any length of time.  When I get up in the morning, I look like a very old woman as I try to walk.  I'm hoping this is not the "new normal".  I've been seeing and ignoring the condition of my bathrooms.  Today I decided I would try to clean the main bathroom.  I very quickly realized my limits.  I managed to scrub the shower surround until it was nice and shiny again.  Unfortunately, it took me over an hour and I had to rest afterwards.  I still had the tub to clean.  I returned a phone call to my brother and enjoyed a nice visit with him while I rested.  After an hour, I went back to cleaning the tub.  It exhausted me.  The rest of that bathroom will have to wait for another day to be cleaned.

I was our family taxi this afternoon.  I picked up my children from school, dropped my daughter off at her piano lesson, dropped my son  off at the baseball diamond for his high school game and returned to my daughter's piano lesson to wait for her to be finished.  While waiting for her, I sat in the van and read my current book.  While reading, I fell asleep without any warning.  I woke up when my daughter came out to the van from her lesson.  I dropped her off at home and continued back to the baseball diamond to watch my son's high school semi-final game.  Unfortunately, they lost their game by a score of 2-1.

It doesn't take much to tire me out.  I have so much I want to do!  Not just chores but enjoyable activities.  I want to continue to weed my flowerbeds.  I want to finish the hedge.  This is the same hedge that I've been working on since March or April.  In fact, the front part of the hedge that I started with needs to be trimmed again!  I want and need to trim my shrubs in front of my house.  I want to get my house cleaned.  I want to just sit and enjoy nature some more.  I want to use some rhubarb to make a cake.  I picked the rhubarb yesterday so they wouldn't be interfering with my tomato plants.  I picked the rhubarb and then I was tired.  Today I washed the rhubarb but was too tired to make the cake.  I have enough rhubarb in the garden now that I could make my rhubarb/orange marmalade.  I just don't know if I would have the energy and stamina to complete the task.  This is a little frustrating.  I really hope that this is not my "new normal".

I did go for a short walk with my husband to help relieve my achy, sore hips.  I'm tired tonight and I'll be off to bed early.  I've heard that it takes up to two years to regain your energy and stamina after chemotherapy.  This may be another challenge for me.