How's it going?

 

It's four weeks since  started on the physio course so I am reporting in.

I had my third session yesterday.  I'm not doing weekly sessions but rather at longer intervals so I get more chance to do more exercise between sessions.  It was actually two weeks since my last session and the next appointment won't be for three weeks as Fay (the physiotherapist) is taking a holiday. 

And it's going quite well.  I have about a dozen exercises to do twice a day at home and they are getting harder after each session with Fay.  Yesterday she asked me to get some ankle weights to use at home and that feels serious!  It may feel daunting when they arrive.  She's been impressed with the things I have been doing for years to try and keep myself functionally fit.  

I am beginning to feel the benefit of my efforts.  I was sitting on a rather low sofa a couple of days ago and I got up fairly easily.  

But I still haven't tackled the biggest challenge - getting up from the floor!  Maybe by the end of my course . . .

I keep on trying!

 

The thought of losing much more physical ability frightens me so I try to maintain at least the level of fitness which I have.  

Yesterday four mermaids went to the pool and had a noisy time as we laughed and nattered and swam quite a few lengths.  The others all favour breast stroke, but I'm a back stroke kind of gal so I always swim at one side of the pool so that I don't plough into them.

I know I have to work hard to retain any sort of fitness and I decided to go to a physiotherapist.  I went to a clinic in Brigg which offers assessments and therapy to help with balance and mobility.  Last week I had my assessment. The physio said I'm not too bad considering my age and the injuries I have had. 

This week I start on the proper sessions.  I've already got a few exercises to do at home to build up my strength.  She was very impressed that I swim regularly so I felt I'd got a few Brownie points.  However, she said I'd get even more benefit if I did breast stroke.  

 I haven't done breast stroke for at least twenty years and it just isn't going to happen any time soon.  However, I hung on to the side and just did the leg movements.  I hope this "cheat" won't lose me those Brownie points.  I'll keep you posted. 

So tired!

 

I went swimming yesterday. I haven't been for five weeks because of health issues or having other appointments but I was determined to go.

I really enjoy my swim but there are steep steps to get into the pool we hire, so, if my legs are unhappy, I can't swim.  It's a really low cost pool which we hire and quite nice once we get in.  (The other four Monday Mermaids are all fitter than me!)

But yesterday I got there and I swam for about half an hour.  I enjoyed it and felt really good when I got out.  I came home and then the fatigue set in.  I paid for that half hour swimming by three hours in bed, most of it asleep.  

But for all that, I'm so glad I went.  

Look what arrived today!

About eighteen months ago I read a post on somebody's blog about Conqueror Challenges.  The challenges allow you to walk around wherever you like but compare your step count to making the same effort on a rather more interesting route.

So I decided to have a go.  I signed up for a five hundred mile virtual walk around the north coast of Scotland.  It has taken me nearly eighteen months of plodding around the house, garden and anywhere I happen to be, to do it.  En route I have had small rewards in the shape of e mail postcards of sites of interest along the way.

And now I have finished the route and I got my medal!  To be honest it will just get tucked into a drawer.

I think I chose the wrong challenge for me.  Five hundred miles over eighteen months was too far to keep my interest.  I shall wait a while before (if!) I buy another challenge.  And it will be well short of five hundred miles!

F is for Fitness - or not!

Often in the winter I struggle with the blues but that hasn't really been so this year.  'Orrible inertia, yes.  The blues, no.  What I have struggled with is physical fitness.

At the beginning of the year, I was walking around the block most days but alas! no more.  This year the cold has affected me more than I can ever remember.  If I get cold, I take several hours to get warm no matter what I do.

And the cold has affected my joints.  The batmobile looks very tempting at the moment!  On good days I get around the house unaided but I've needed my stick a few times recently.

But, all that is better than the winter blues!  I'm happy to phone friends, zoom a bit, sort my stuff and be cheerful.  I'm making myself get out of the chair a couple of times each hour and Fitbit tells me I'm doing around 2000 steps on the better days.  I'm cooking.  I led worship yesterday.  

I may not be fit (to be honest, I'm definitely not fit) but life looks pretty good.

Robert Burns . .

 There are always quite a few quotes from Rabbie Burns around at this time of the year so here's my contribution.  "The best laid plans of mice and men, gang aft a-gley".

Somewhere on somebody's blog I saw that someone was doing a virtual walk.  I'd never heard of virtual walks before so if you are similarly ill-informed I'll tell you that (for a fee) I could connect my Fitbit with another app which would show me street views as though I were walking the same distance on a challenge route.   I'd get virtual postcards as I progress and at the end I would get a medal.  As the walk I signed up for (the north coast of Scotland) is 500 miles long, I feel I will have earned a medal.  I planned on taking a year so 1-2 miles walking Caistor's street daily would make up that 500 miles in twelve months.  Simples,

Wrong.  I bought my challenge on 23rd December and 25th Decenber my legs went on strike.  I took my Christmas morning service OK but struggled back to my car.  And I've had quite a bit of pain ever since.

But today I was determined.  The pain has reduced so I walked to the end of the road and back.  I am no mouse for Burns to write about.  I am determined to be a Conqueror!

I know! I know! I know!

 I've been a very naughty blogger.  Or to be more accurate, I haven't been a blogger at all for thirty five days.  Thank you to everyone who has emailed me to check.  And I think thank you to Jack who has been nagging at me but I'm not so sure about thanking him for that.  

I have no reason, not even an excuse so, if you don't mind, I'll stop grovelling and get on with a post.  

I'll start with a couple of updates concerning my health.  First of all, I've had my second vaccination but as yet I haven't a blood test for antibodies.  I am still being very careful where I go.  I shop only early morning or very late evening, I won't go into cafes etc.  I am, however, making myself go out.  The infection rate around here is very low so the risk will be correspondingly low and I need to face the world again.

Secondly I have now seen a surgeon about my very dodgy knee and I will be having surgery fairly soon.  He said within a couple of months but I'm not holding my breath on that one.  A lot of people have had surgery delayed over these last fifteen months and I'm no longer in agony.  I want it to be done but I really don't mind waiting.  I've stopped my walking around the block but I have started to make more effort to lose weight and this year I have lost two stones (28 pounds) so I am very happy with that.  If I have to wait I will lose more weight!

So, I have decided that it is time for a bloggy challenge to myself.  This is only my twentieth post this year so I have decided that by the end of June I will have doubled that number.  Nagging is allowed, other than by Jack

Crowing!

As you may have gathered Jack and I compare notes on how many steps we walk each day. What he didn't say in his post is that it seemed that we each won on alternate days.  Anyway we decided to have a competition for a whole week.  I won't walk if it's slippery outside: he doesn't like the rain as his dog is rather low slung and gets messy.  As you can imagine there was a fair amount of goading going on both ways.

But today was the day to declare the results.

I WON!

Jack has decided that the return match will be in June when he is working and I won't have a chance.  

Not that he is a sore loser.

But he's a sore loser

Seeking Joy!

Over the years I have established a custom of looking for joy in January on this blog.  January can be such a bleugh month and looking for the lovely things isn't a bad habit to cultivate at any time of the year.

My first "joy" of 2021 is actually very hard work for me - I'm still walking around the block almost every day as I have since about 20th November!  Actually I didn't walk outside yesterday as it was rather icy so I just did my steps indoors, but I've just been out today and I've made arrangements with Claire-along-the-road to go out tomorrow.  To be honest it isn't getting much easier.  I don't feel ready to increase my distance and I still need quite a lot of stops, but the effect on my self-esteem is amazing!   I doubt if it will ever be easy physically.  However, my neighbours reckon I'm walking much better so I'm still claiming my gold star.  

And I'm celebrating my very good friend Claire who cares enough to come out and encourage me come rain or shine.  Truly a wonderful friend.

This and that.

 Jack is coming today so I have been rushing around getting ready for him.  Life is wonderful when he has been but the run-up to his arrival. . . . oh dear!  I now need a sit down.

While I've been sitting Claire-from-along-the-road texted to suggest a walk.  I declined.  I'm still walking around the block but I've been doing it almost every day so I have awarded myself a gold star and allowed myself a breather on the grounds that I will be sending the day chasing around after Jack.  

Most of my Christmas cards have now gone so I can breathe a sigh of relief.  I enjoy writing each card or letter - it's just the sheer number of cards and letters which can be daunting.  

My advent stable is filling nicely with five animals, two herdsmen and a star and there's an angel perched on top.  I take care when I put it away after each Christmas so that the figures come out in some sort of order but I vary the order and I can never remember which order I have put them in so there is still an element of surprise.  

I've had an e mail from Tracing Rainbows to say I have won her giveaway!  That's another lovely Christmas surprise.  

It makes a change!

 I used to enjoy walking.  A lot.  I would walk to and from school,  I would go out for walk of a couple of miles before bedtime.  I walked my dog.  Walking was good thinking time, time to set my mind in order.

But sadly as the result of an accident nearly fifty years ago walks of more than half a mile or so became impossible about fifteen years ago.  A mental breakdown ten years ago left me with panic attacks if I walk more than two hundred yards.

I'm OK around my house and garden so every day I walk up and down the hallway in five minute bursts to walk about two thousand steps over the course of a day but it is always boring and sometimes quite difficult. 

Being stuck at home has made me decide to see how far I can push my boundaries.  How many steps can I manage around the house?  And even, could I walk around my block?  

A couple of months ago when Jack was here I ventured out, taking my mobile phone and making him promise that he would bring his car and rescue me if necessary.  It took me twenty minutes and five "sitting downs" on my walker and he didn't need to rescue me but I hadn't tried again.

This morning Claire-from-along-the-road phoned and suggested a walk.  

I managed it!  It took just fifteen minutes and "three sitting downs".  I deserve this extra sit-down!

Head above the parapet

Blogland is lovely!  I've had a couple of emails asking if I'm OK and a friend whom I visit has also asked where I've been.  Sorry about the lack of posts.  Truth to tell I had a few days ill a couple of weeks ago and I'm just emerging from three days feeling pretty grotty but it's nothing serious and I just need to get my act together.

This post is just what it says in the title - putting my head above the parapet.  I shall doubtless be back properly before too long but at the moment I feel very tired.  

Nimbler in November

Mother used to tell me to use my head to save my legs.  What she meant was think about what you're doing so you don't need to use any more energy than necessary.  These days when I bend down to tie my shoelaces I look around to make sure there's nothing else I can do while I'm down there.

As you know I am "mobility challenged".  I use a trundle truck (mobility scooter).  I have a Home Enhancer (cleaner) and a gardener/handyman to help with stuff I can't do for myself.  All sorts of people help me on an ad hoc basis and most of them would do far more if I would let them.  And therein lies a problem.  It would be all-too-easy for me to lose even more mobility.

"Using my head to save my legs" needs to have  new meaning for me.   I want to keep such mobility as I have for as long as possible and that means I have to move rather more than I have been doing.  I have to find ways to move which I can fit into my everyday life.  This is easier said than done!

This week I have spent a lot of time in front of my computer doing a big job of scanning.  I decided to set an alarm to remind me to walk a few steps (about a hundred) every half hour.  Today I remembered that I owed a friend £1.  This morning I have walked the hundred yards or so to take the money.  I know she would have been quite happy for me to pay her next week when we meet for coffee but the challenge of that walk was important.  I've tried to stand at the worktop rather than sit at the kitchen table to prepare food.  

These "movement snacks" are all things which most people do without even thinking about it.  For me they are important.  I want to save my legs.  

February Fitness

Anybody who knows me personally may greet a post about fitness with a delicately raised eyebrow as not only am I not an athlete, I'm not even the person you would ask to fire a starting pistol.  I've never been sporty - but I still need to maintain the level of fitness which I have.

That level is pretty low.  I used to have a dog but can no longer walk a dog so Fido hasn't been replaced.  These days I can manage about a hundred yards on a good day, some days a few painful yards from the car to the house are about as much as I can manage.

But I don't want to give up on myself.  I work on the "Use it or lose it" principle for the abilities I still have.  A few years ago I bought a FitBit One, a handy device to measure steps walked, steps climbed and one or two other fancy bits.  I wear mine very discretely (clipped to my knickers if you really want to know) and I wear it all the time.  I keep a record of how many steps I walk around the house and garden and anywhere else I feel safe walking.  For most people the sort of staggering around I do would not count as "steps" but I am me.

In January 2016 my average steps each day was just 950.  January 2018 I averaged 1650.  One day I managed 3700 but the next day I was in a lot of pain,  For most people my average would be woefully inadequate but for me the fact that I can move more now than I did two years ago is really important.