mtnbud

A buddy of mine has developed numbness in the legs after a hard fought battle with a rare cancer which formed in the Sacrum(lower spine). Thanks to God and the doctors, radiation and chemo killed the cancer, but the cancer and radiation drastically changed the condition of the bone.

Shortly before our last tour in August, he started to notice some tingling in the last three toes of his left foot. During the tour, the tingling in the toes reoccurred on several occasions and at one point after a long stretch of climbing, his legs became painfully numb. The numbness eventually went away, but his legs never seemed to recover 100% of their strength. After the tour, his legs continued to feel numb at times and gradually became permanently numb within a few days.

My bud has seen all of his specialists and they have ruled out stress fractures and cancer. The consensus is nerve damage due to the effects of radiation on the spine. They have no idea if his nerves will ever completely return to normal. Right now, he's able to walk and stairmaster, but he can't run and doesn't want to attempt bicycling until he's healed.

I told him about this fantastic forum and the wealth of experience and knowledge I've experienced here. He was hoping there might be someone on this forum who experienced a similar circumstance and might be able to give him some idea of his chances of recovery.

Thanks,

Jeff

MassiveD

Well, while the whole picture is way too complex for non-medicos, what I do know, both from accidents I have been in and the odd fallout from touring toe, etc... is that it can take 6 months or more before the feeling comes back. I do realize he has a far more serious prognosis, but he could also have some additional relatively normal injuries, so there could be recovery on that front. Also, try a trike. After I was seriously injured I went for a recumbent. It turned out that a regular bike was still OK for me, but I got deep into the recumbent and trike options locally, and they do exist. So do motorized bikes. It's still getting out into nature, camping and touring.

Check out Rayjardine.com. Ultralite is my only hope on a number of fronts. He did a Trans am, then follwed it up with two AT thru hikes, and some motorcycle touring.

Another useful concept is mini-adventures. My walking isn't good. I have a backpacking trip planed, that may be as short as a 14 mile overnighter. We get all caught up in some big picture adventures when one can have a great adventure in a local ravine. In fact bike touring you probably are stopping in someone's local ravine every night, and not getting far off the road in it. People often talk about not letting their minds limit them from doing some big thing, but that also applies to little things. Slow down hang out, and go the places others don't. There is a lot of wilderness down ditch like river trips, and small bushwacks.

ks1g

What your friend should do is going to be determined by him and a lot of factors way beyond what you'll get from a bunch of strangers on an internet forum. Based on what I know from friends and family who have undergone surgery, radiation, chemo, and/or are now taking long-term medications as a result of cancer - some of the treatments and meds does cause permanent damage, some wear off with time or when discontinues (meds). Staying active but not killing oneself is a good idea. Kudos to your friend that he is staying active! If any of his physicians are cyclists (or runners or other active sports participants), they may be more aware of the interactions between his treatments and cycling.

I would definitely look into recumbents, trikes, and perhaps tandems if you or another friend can help him continue to enjoy cycling. I'd also consider contacting organizations like Livestrong Foundation that have a particular interest in the links between recovering from cancer treatments and cycling. Good luck to you both!

PeregrineA1 

I am a cancer survivor, 24+ years now. I had nerve damage from the treatment and it took years for it to heal. Everyone is different of course. Best to your buddy.

mtnbud

Thanks for all of your input. My bud is starting to get a bit concerned. The apprehension of not knowing if he'll ever fully recover has to be frustrating. I can only imagine what those of you who have fought cancer have gone through.

I remember those times I came by to visit between the Chemo treatments when it was an effort for him to walk around the block using a cane for balance. About a year after, he completed his 10th 50mi. ultra-marathon. I know he was hoping it was all behind him.

PeregrineA1 - Thank you. You're providing the exact information my buddy was hoping to find. I know he was expecting the numbness to last a week or two, not the 8 weeks he's experienced so far. As you know, the doctors really don't know what is going to happen. At this point, he's just wanting to know if others have experienced something similar and specifically if they eventually healed. Initially, he was avoiding running and cycling and such in case the numbness was tied to a stress fracture or some other issue that needed time to heal. 8 weeks in, he's wanting to do whatever is appropriate in an effort to retrain the legs. I'm going to send him the link to this post. He's going to be extremely thankful to hear of your recovery.