Day 487: Fatigue, Loss of Appetite & Heavy Shrugs

For the third night in a row we went to sleep later than we usually do but I’m looking forward to getting back on track tonight. 

While I didn’t have a lot of meetings today, I had to spend time dealing with finance and HR-related projects and working on a 2016 planning meeting that I’m holding next week. 

I was fighting more fatigue than usual today. I’m not sure if it is from the chemo, from not getting as much sleep the last three nights or a combination of both. Either way, I did have to pace myself through the day. 

We brought the day to a close at work by showing "Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back” to get employees excited as we get closer to our holiday party which is going to see the new Star Wars on opening day. 

Since I skipped the gym yesterday to celebrate my birthday with Laura, I bumped my cardio and core session so that I could get in my shoulders workout. My workout for today was: 

• Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press - 1 x 12 reps (25 lb dumbbells), 4 x 10 reps (30 lb dumbbells)
• Barbell Upright Row - 4 x 10 reps (70 lbs)
• Cable Lateral Raise - 3 x 15 reps (20 lbs)
• Kettle bell swings - 3 x 20 reps (20 kg)
• Hammer Strength Standing Shrug - 3 x 10 reps (135 lbs, 180 lbs, 180 lbs per side)
• Dumbbell Standing Shrugs - 2 x 10 reps (80 lb, 90 lb dumbbells), 1 x 8 reps (100 lb dumbbells)

I had to do the shoulder presses standing up so I reduced the weight since the lifts relied on other smaller back muscles for stability. All of the other weights for my shoulder lifts stayed the same. 

I decided to swap out the cable rear delt flyes with kettlebell swings to switch things up and to help get my heart rate up. 

Where I really jumped up the weights was, again, on my shrugs. Every set was really hard to complete but I was proud of each one when I finished it. 

I spent time when I first came home setting up the new Apple TV and moving the other one into our bedroom. I added a few apps, tried a couple of games, used the voice commands and watched the new screensavers - all were awesome. 

I lost my appetite tonight, which is common during my week on chemo, and so only ended up having a small snack plate with hummus for dinner. It’s unusual for me but nothing seemed appetizing tonight. 

Besides that it has been a low key night at home because Laura woke up not feeling well.