My daughter and I flew to western KY to spend the holiday's with my mom on Xmas eve, and my brother and family drove in from mid-state (5 1/2 hr drive) on Saturday and left again on Sunday. Another whirlwind family get-together. My mom loved it. And was left completely exhausted. She seemed to be doing pretty good this visit. But that can be hard to tell. She is still complaining that it hurts to swallow, talk, basically use her throat. But she'll be ok. We flew back on Thursday the 30th, and then got stuck in Chicago (apparently high winds - hmm windy city?) due to delays. Airlines no longer give you free rooms if you are stranded. They offer "discounts", I'd hate to see what the normal prices of some of these places are. On the other hand, if I think about it, why should the airline have to pay for a hotel for me, when the flight was delayed by weather? Basically they chose to limit the number of flights that could take off or land at any given time due to the high winds. Which in turn caused some major delays and caused us (along with lots of other people) to miss their connections. So is that the airline's fault? I think it makes a little more sense to blame the airline when they just randomly cancel a flight, or they bump you without reason, etc. Last year we had an issue in Cincinnati trying to catch a connection, and went to the gate to be told the plane just left. I said, but I have 10 after, the flight isn't scheduled to leave until 20 after, and had the attendant tell me quite proudly that her monitor said 15 after. When I tried to explain how that still mean the plane left early, she shrugged and said it was already gone, and did I want help getting a replacement flight?
One of my main complaints with flying these days is that checked bags cost at least $25 a bag, unless of course you pay extra to fly first class - then you can get free checked bags (in some cases 3). Ok, if there is a problem with passengers taking too much and they need to limit bags, charging would be a way to do that. But oh, then you hear that they are having to add sand bags as ballast to even out the load since people aren't taking as many bags. Go figure. Then there are all the people that go through security lugging way more bags than the 1 bag plus one personal item (purse, pillow, etc). I guess there are a lot of people that don't know how to count. Also, these same people that can't count are the ones that have the "over-sized" carry-ons and have to gate-check them. Which is free. Which is why these people are doing this. Basically it is like checking a bag, only it is free, and you get your bag back at plane side when you reach your destination. Other advantage I guess is that if you get stranded like we did in Chicago, you got your bag with you. Ours somehow didn't miss our connection (even tho we landed when the other plane was supposedly taking off) even though we did. So we got to spend the night without our luggage. I carry a laptop bag with me that has my essential stuff in it. So I was ok.
We stayed in the Hilton at the Chicago airport - in the airport actually. Cost a little more, but to me it was worth not have to try to go out find and catch a shuttle for a 20 min drive to some hotel and be at their mercy to be able to get a shuttle the next morning and not miss our return flight. It already took us almost 15-20 minutes to walk from the airport itself to the hotel lobby, much less go on outside where the shuttle buses were. The hotel was nice. Not that I ever plan to go back to it. The main down point of the stay in Chicago was walking into an elevator just as a homeless man was exiting to discover he had just peed in the corner. Ewww. and why there? never mind I don't want to know. J wondered how he knew he could be finished in time before the doors opened... I don't know? practice?
M also had her own fun travelling over the holiday. She flew to SC to see W. Was supposed to fly out on Friday and return Monday, making it a 4 day weekend trip. She got stuck because of a connecting flight through Newark, and had her Monday flight rescheduled for Thursday, and then when it looked like it might be cancelled again, ended up having to get another flight home. She is holding her breath waiting for a refund on the original return flight. Which they did promise, so maybe. I think the worst part of her getting stuck was that she was staying with W and his girlfriend D and she got sick of hearing sales pitches for XANGO. The miracle fruit, cure for MS and anything that ails you, that I wrote about before. You don't sell the product, you just find 5 friends that will join and market it, and they find 5 friends, etc. The other issue was that D's cooking apparently left something to be desired, she said the meals were things that really sounded good, but every time she put any of it in her mouth she was disappointed. The other problem was that it was unseasonably cold in SC. And apparently W & D didn't feel the need to turn up the heat. M was talking about having to put socks on her hands to read so her hands didn't freeze. M doesn't normally complain of the cold.
Western KY is really not that far south of where I live in Central PA. But a lot of people from this area seem to believe I am travelling south when I mention going to see my mom. Now, granted if you listen to the accents of the locals, you will definitely hear a drawl. And like a lot of the south, they don't get in any hurry. But geographically, it is really more west than south. Temperature-wise it normally is within a few degrees of here. In fact, we had a white xmas (about 3-4 inches) which was more than here. In any case, I wish it was further south and that the temperatures reflected it. I am pretty much over winter time. Today was a "warm spell" - regular heat wave with temps climbing into the 40's. Feels a lot better than 20's and below. And this single digit stuff with the wind chill - it really has to go. I truly think my MS doesn't like cold. Maybe it is just me that doesn't like cold, but I like to think it is one thing that we agree on. Something we can both be on the same side regarding. I just really don't like the bitter cold. Especially damp & cold. I don't care for extreme heat either, but the cold just seems to do something to me. And plus arthur doesn't care for it either. So the 3 of us - arthur, MS & me all would greatly prefer if we were done with winter now please. My arthritis in my left knee has really been acting up. I saw the dr yesterday and talked about seeing another specialist to discuss a knee replacement. Hiking across the airport, riding my bike, stepping out in the cold. None of those things are much fun these days. So I think it is time. It isn't going to get any better. And the things that were helping (like the walking, exercising and riding bike) don't seem to be doing it now. So I need to take the next step and see what I need to know to plan.
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
HO HO HO and Bah Humbug
Its really hard to accept that this week is Xmas already. Blink once and it was summer, blink again and it was fall, and now its the end of the year. We are having an unseasonably cold winter and even fall. Setting records down in the low twenties, or single digits for this time of year. I don't like the cold. I am ok if it is cold but dry. Meaning no sleet rain mix, or no wet snow. Powdery snow isn't so bad. I could do without the bitter wind though. And to be quiet honest I'd just as soon stay inside when it is cold. I like fall. I like it better when the weather is in the 40's - 70's. 80's aren't bad. I was saying the other day how I don't like the cold, and M was telling me that I don't like hot weather more. Hmmm.... I didn't agree. She insists that I am miserable when it is hot. Perhaps she is right. I used to like hot weather. Hot weather when I was young meant summer break. And if it got too hot, well, then jump in a pool, or the lake, or whatever is nearby. I love the water.
But I know that sometimes I still think of myself as I was when I was younger. When I could jump up and run across the room, when I could play ball, could hop skip jump if I wanted to. Now those things aren't an option. Yes I can jump on my bike and ride. Sometimes I ride better than I walk. M was talking about how happy a friend of hers was about something a while back and mentioned that she was so happy she was skipping across the floor. Somehow the subject changed to whether or not I could do that. Skip. I used to be able to. My brain says it still knows how. My body thinks it can. But alas. It isn't the same body it used to be. As it thinks it still is. So ok. I can't. Most of the time I accept what I can't do. Other times, I think it is unfair. Where has the time gone? Blink and my daughter is now 25. WTH. That can't be right. In a week I'll be 48. Pushing 50 as M's sister calls it. Whatever. I don't really care how old I am. Or whether anyone knows or not. Some people can't seem to believe that I am old enough to have a 25 yr old daughter. I think that is sort of like saying oh but you don't look sick.... I sometime feel oh so much older.
Earlier in this post I abbreviated Christmas as Xmas. or xmas. I do that quite often. The other day I saw someones post on facebook complaining about how people need to put the "Christ" back in christmas, and how it was somehow "blasphemous" to use "xmas" - whatever. I mean I'm sorry if someone is offended. But sometimes I think I'm offended by the extremes some people go to with religion. It's a holiday. The same people that fuss about it seem to be fine with the idea that it is also a day where we celebrate looking for some big fat hairy man with a big belly and beard that wears funny clothes wants little kids to sit on his lap and give them candy canes. Really? How confusing is that for parents to one minute tell their kids to stay away from strangers, and not to take candy from strangers etc to then say go on sit on the fat mans lap.
I'm terrible at keeping up with this blog. I started it as a place to keep track of my thoughts. Which is ok. Sometimes I do want to express things and this is as good a place as any. I sign on and get swept away reading other peoples blogs. I'd much rather be a voyuer I think. Reading about other peoples lives. They do a better job as story tellers anyway. Plus I feel I get to know them. They become my friends. Much more interesting than my boring entries. Dear Diary. It snowed yesterday. Then it melted. LOL
I had my Thyroid surgery. Recovery was really no big deal. Still look a little like someone took a knife and slit my throat and I have the scar to show for it. That should fade in time. Other than that it was a non-event. Luckily the nodules in the half of thyroid they took out were benign. There was incidental traces of cancer cells in the thyroid itself. But not significant. Whatever that means. At this point it is wait and see. I had my thyroid levels checked after 5 weeks and they are normal. Before the surgery they were high normal (or low normal, meaning low number but thyroid was over productive on the edge of normal) now it is mid normal but he wants to check again after 3 months to see if something changes. Then watch the nodules in the right side to make sure they stay stable.
M had her elbow surgery. Tennis elbow. Don't think she has played tennis in her life. But has had various jobs with repetitive motion. That and some heavy lifting. In any case, the surgery went well. Dr had said it would be 2-3 month recovery before back to 100%. She has close to 95% of range of motion back. Is still restricted on how much she can lift (no more than 25lb). And on light duty at work for another month. She's the type to have trouble sitting still and not doing. So having to take it easy has not been easy for her. Also, because of her being on light duty, I've had to pick up the slack on some things. Like carrying 40lb bags of wood pellets in from the garage to put in the pellet stove. So I've had to work harder. Some things I can do no problem. I don't carry things up stairs well. Need one hand free for balance mainly. My problem is as much my knees - especially the left one, as anything. The last synvisc wore off after about 4 months. I'm not due for one until January. The past week or two have been pretty bad. It wants to give out, and it grinds. Most painful is when it is bent and I go to straighten it. It isn't painful while it is bent, just the straightening it up. and the putting weight on it. Trying to decide when to plan to have surgery to just replace it. Right now think I'm going to wait until October. Then I can enjoy riding my bike this year. Course might be sorry if the knee causes more problems.
Like I started to say, M seems to think I sit on my butt all day. I am a network engineer. Work on a computer all day. I do get up and walk around, sometimes move equipment around. but it is a very sedentary job. However, it can be stressful. And it can be tiring. My old job I used to travel periodically. This one not really. 2-3 times a year or less. I pull a lot of on-call. 2 weeks on, 4 weeks off. That gets old. On the plus side, if I get called, I can remote in from almost anywhere. My old job I could work from home. This one office politics won't allow it.
Within a week, my daughter and I will be flying off to visit my mom for xmas. We go twice a year. At memorial weekend, or the anniversary of my Dad's death, and sometime near xmas. Mom isn't doing so well. She's 84. Has congestive heart failure - but she looks so good. To look at her she does look very healthy. But walk with her, you see she can't cross the room without getting out of breath. She has a huge in-operable anuerysm wrapped around her heart along her aorta. Part of the congestive heart failure, her feet swell up really bad, and she retains fluid. She takes meds to take the water off, and ends up in the hospital every month or two to have fluid taken off, but they have to be careful because her kidney function isn't the best either. Too much of the meds could shut them down and she could go into kidney failure. She gets so worn out, and can sound so weak. The latest thing is that she has something that causes her problems swallowing. Her throat is sore but not like with a cold/sore throat. When she eats everything tastes bitter. She says she is still eating. But the swallowing is difficult and that she will eat something that she really likes and hopes it will taste good but it doesn't. I worry about her. Also that she is so far away. 1000 miles. To drive takes 2 days. Flying is an almost all day thing too. No non-stop flights. Unless I want to drive 2 hrs to an airport, fly to another and drive 2 1/2 hrs to her place. Add the time to fly, and get there early enough to through security and it is a long process. This trip we are leaving from an airport only 15 minutes away. Have one layover then fly into another small airport that is only 1 hr from Mom. Good news is that she can drive up and get us. She still drives. I trust her to ride with her. She won't drive after dark, and doesn't like to drive in strange places or big cities. My brother lives about 5 - 5.5 hrs away. He is able to get down there to visit fairly often - least once a month. He worries about her too. Has talked about getting her to move closer to him. She will have nothing of it. As much as I worry about her being so far away, and there by herself, I see her point. In the little sleepy little town that she lives in, she has a lot of friends. People that care about her. Things are different in that little town than they are in other places. That can be good or bad. For her it is good. People know their neighbors. Look out for each other. People gossip, but sometimes in a good way. She has a church family. She isn't alone. If she were to move to where my brother is, she would be in a big city filled with strangers. Other than my brother and his wife, no one would really care. She says she would be bored, feel isolated and alone. Would hate to be a burden to my brother. Wouldn't feel safe driving herself. And would become a shut in. I think it would be the beginning of the end. But that doesn't mean I don't worry about her. And don't feel oh so far away sometimes.
But I know that sometimes I still think of myself as I was when I was younger. When I could jump up and run across the room, when I could play ball, could hop skip jump if I wanted to. Now those things aren't an option. Yes I can jump on my bike and ride. Sometimes I ride better than I walk. M was talking about how happy a friend of hers was about something a while back and mentioned that she was so happy she was skipping across the floor. Somehow the subject changed to whether or not I could do that. Skip. I used to be able to. My brain says it still knows how. My body thinks it can. But alas. It isn't the same body it used to be. As it thinks it still is. So ok. I can't. Most of the time I accept what I can't do. Other times, I think it is unfair. Where has the time gone? Blink and my daughter is now 25. WTH. That can't be right. In a week I'll be 48. Pushing 50 as M's sister calls it. Whatever. I don't really care how old I am. Or whether anyone knows or not. Some people can't seem to believe that I am old enough to have a 25 yr old daughter. I think that is sort of like saying oh but you don't look sick.... I sometime feel oh so much older.
Earlier in this post I abbreviated Christmas as Xmas. or xmas. I do that quite often. The other day I saw someones post on facebook complaining about how people need to put the "Christ" back in christmas, and how it was somehow "blasphemous" to use "xmas" - whatever. I mean I'm sorry if someone is offended. But sometimes I think I'm offended by the extremes some people go to with religion. It's a holiday. The same people that fuss about it seem to be fine with the idea that it is also a day where we celebrate looking for some big fat hairy man with a big belly and beard that wears funny clothes wants little kids to sit on his lap and give them candy canes. Really? How confusing is that for parents to one minute tell their kids to stay away from strangers, and not to take candy from strangers etc to then say go on sit on the fat mans lap.
I'm terrible at keeping up with this blog. I started it as a place to keep track of my thoughts. Which is ok. Sometimes I do want to express things and this is as good a place as any. I sign on and get swept away reading other peoples blogs. I'd much rather be a voyuer I think. Reading about other peoples lives. They do a better job as story tellers anyway. Plus I feel I get to know them. They become my friends. Much more interesting than my boring entries. Dear Diary. It snowed yesterday. Then it melted. LOL
I had my Thyroid surgery. Recovery was really no big deal. Still look a little like someone took a knife and slit my throat and I have the scar to show for it. That should fade in time. Other than that it was a non-event. Luckily the nodules in the half of thyroid they took out were benign. There was incidental traces of cancer cells in the thyroid itself. But not significant. Whatever that means. At this point it is wait and see. I had my thyroid levels checked after 5 weeks and they are normal. Before the surgery they were high normal (or low normal, meaning low number but thyroid was over productive on the edge of normal) now it is mid normal but he wants to check again after 3 months to see if something changes. Then watch the nodules in the right side to make sure they stay stable.
M had her elbow surgery. Tennis elbow. Don't think she has played tennis in her life. But has had various jobs with repetitive motion. That and some heavy lifting. In any case, the surgery went well. Dr had said it would be 2-3 month recovery before back to 100%. She has close to 95% of range of motion back. Is still restricted on how much she can lift (no more than 25lb). And on light duty at work for another month. She's the type to have trouble sitting still and not doing. So having to take it easy has not been easy for her. Also, because of her being on light duty, I've had to pick up the slack on some things. Like carrying 40lb bags of wood pellets in from the garage to put in the pellet stove. So I've had to work harder. Some things I can do no problem. I don't carry things up stairs well. Need one hand free for balance mainly. My problem is as much my knees - especially the left one, as anything. The last synvisc wore off after about 4 months. I'm not due for one until January. The past week or two have been pretty bad. It wants to give out, and it grinds. Most painful is when it is bent and I go to straighten it. It isn't painful while it is bent, just the straightening it up. and the putting weight on it. Trying to decide when to plan to have surgery to just replace it. Right now think I'm going to wait until October. Then I can enjoy riding my bike this year. Course might be sorry if the knee causes more problems.
Like I started to say, M seems to think I sit on my butt all day. I am a network engineer. Work on a computer all day. I do get up and walk around, sometimes move equipment around. but it is a very sedentary job. However, it can be stressful. And it can be tiring. My old job I used to travel periodically. This one not really. 2-3 times a year or less. I pull a lot of on-call. 2 weeks on, 4 weeks off. That gets old. On the plus side, if I get called, I can remote in from almost anywhere. My old job I could work from home. This one office politics won't allow it.
Within a week, my daughter and I will be flying off to visit my mom for xmas. We go twice a year. At memorial weekend, or the anniversary of my Dad's death, and sometime near xmas. Mom isn't doing so well. She's 84. Has congestive heart failure - but she looks so good. To look at her she does look very healthy. But walk with her, you see she can't cross the room without getting out of breath. She has a huge in-operable anuerysm wrapped around her heart along her aorta. Part of the congestive heart failure, her feet swell up really bad, and she retains fluid. She takes meds to take the water off, and ends up in the hospital every month or two to have fluid taken off, but they have to be careful because her kidney function isn't the best either. Too much of the meds could shut them down and she could go into kidney failure. She gets so worn out, and can sound so weak. The latest thing is that she has something that causes her problems swallowing. Her throat is sore but not like with a cold/sore throat. When she eats everything tastes bitter. She says she is still eating. But the swallowing is difficult and that she will eat something that she really likes and hopes it will taste good but it doesn't. I worry about her. Also that she is so far away. 1000 miles. To drive takes 2 days. Flying is an almost all day thing too. No non-stop flights. Unless I want to drive 2 hrs to an airport, fly to another and drive 2 1/2 hrs to her place. Add the time to fly, and get there early enough to through security and it is a long process. This trip we are leaving from an airport only 15 minutes away. Have one layover then fly into another small airport that is only 1 hr from Mom. Good news is that she can drive up and get us. She still drives. I trust her to ride with her. She won't drive after dark, and doesn't like to drive in strange places or big cities. My brother lives about 5 - 5.5 hrs away. He is able to get down there to visit fairly often - least once a month. He worries about her too. Has talked about getting her to move closer to him. She will have nothing of it. As much as I worry about her being so far away, and there by herself, I see her point. In the little sleepy little town that she lives in, she has a lot of friends. People that care about her. Things are different in that little town than they are in other places. That can be good or bad. For her it is good. People know their neighbors. Look out for each other. People gossip, but sometimes in a good way. She has a church family. She isn't alone. If she were to move to where my brother is, she would be in a big city filled with strangers. Other than my brother and his wife, no one would really care. She says she would be bored, feel isolated and alone. Would hate to be a burden to my brother. Wouldn't feel safe driving herself. And would become a shut in. I think it would be the beginning of the end. But that doesn't mean I don't worry about her. And don't feel oh so far away sometimes.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
stuff
Been a while since I posted. Life has been busy. Which is a good thing. Spent Labor day weekend camping with M up at the PA Grand Canyon for a 4 day weekend. Got to site see. I'm not sure what I expected. But it isn't like the Grand Canyon, but it is a huge gorge. Lots more forest and trees. We biked along the rail trail - which parallels the river at the bottom of the gorge. At most it is a 2% grade. The temps were cold. In the 50's and dropped into the 40's at night. That's cold when you are staying in a tent. But we did ok. We have a huge tent - 10'x20' with room to stand in it. divides into two rooms. Basically we have more room that many of the RV's that were staying beside us. The following weekend we took another long 4 day weekend camping trip down to the shore. Went down in Delaware and stayed at Cape Henlopen which is outside of Lewes. Again we stayed in the huge tent. Temps were great - in the 60's - 70's. We biked everywhere from camp. Some great trails, and unlike roads here at home, they have lots of bike lanes, and are familiar with the idea of sharing the road. Here in PA where we live, even on the "bike routes" there is rarely a bike lane, and motorists are rude. Most roads also don't have sidewalks either so if you walk or ride you trust traffic to pay attention. The weekend before Labor Day we also had a nice weekend, at home, just the two of us. W had gone off to visit one of his women friends - he's quite the casanova.
Which is great. He's a sweet guy, in good shape for 70, and loves life. Who says life has to end when you get to be a senior citizen. Apparently that includes an active sex life. I don't want details, but I'm happy to know he is able to have fun. Long as no one gets hurt - what's the harm? One problem he has is trying to juggle mutliple women at the same time. He is back here now, and has one of his ex's visiting from Co. But I think he really likes this one that he just got back from visiting. So guess at some point he will have to decide if he is going to settle down. M claims that now that we have her dad living with us, I should now understand her better, her sister just says I must be a saint to deal with living with both M & W, LOL.
Right now, I have a slight delima and am having to research a product that W's new g/f is swearing is the cure for everything. W has bought into the speil, which my gut is saying do you hear "snake oil?" or pyramid scheme? Come on, drink the koolaid and you too can believe. Apparently there is a whole line of products. Including some sort of stuff W put on his face which cleared up his rosacea while he was in SC. The juice drink is supposed to give you all sorts of energy, help people with MS, help people with joint problems, all sorts of things. According to the testimonials W had heard a tape on, all sorts of people gave up all their med's and were able to just drink the juice and were able to walk again, and have energy they never had before, and suddenly live fuller lives. I was always raised to be a skeptic - if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, and there is no free lunch, etc.
M however promised W that we would hear and investigate this stuff with an open mind. Ok, so anything is possible, and there could be something to at least some of this stuff. So now I'm researching some sort of juice stuff called xango, and mangosteen. For something that is supposed to be the biggest thing since sliced bread, I've not heard of it before.
Which is great. He's a sweet guy, in good shape for 70, and loves life. Who says life has to end when you get to be a senior citizen. Apparently that includes an active sex life. I don't want details, but I'm happy to know he is able to have fun. Long as no one gets hurt - what's the harm? One problem he has is trying to juggle mutliple women at the same time. He is back here now, and has one of his ex's visiting from Co. But I think he really likes this one that he just got back from visiting. So guess at some point he will have to decide if he is going to settle down. M claims that now that we have her dad living with us, I should now understand her better, her sister just says I must be a saint to deal with living with both M & W, LOL.
Right now, I have a slight delima and am having to research a product that W's new g/f is swearing is the cure for everything. W has bought into the speil, which my gut is saying do you hear "snake oil?" or pyramid scheme? Come on, drink the koolaid and you too can believe. Apparently there is a whole line of products. Including some sort of stuff W put on his face which cleared up his rosacea while he was in SC. The juice drink is supposed to give you all sorts of energy, help people with MS, help people with joint problems, all sorts of things. According to the testimonials W had heard a tape on, all sorts of people gave up all their med's and were able to just drink the juice and were able to walk again, and have energy they never had before, and suddenly live fuller lives. I was always raised to be a skeptic - if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, and there is no free lunch, etc.
M however promised W that we would hear and investigate this stuff with an open mind. Ok, so anything is possible, and there could be something to at least some of this stuff. So now I'm researching some sort of juice stuff called xango, and mangosteen. For something that is supposed to be the biggest thing since sliced bread, I've not heard of it before.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Rest & Relaxation
This weekend was a great weekend. Not that anything truly remarkable happened, but maybe because it was just an ordinary weekend. W has been off playing casanova the past couple weeks so M and I have the house to ourselves. We both took off Friday, but not to go anywhere or do anything. Not that we did absolutely nothing, but sometimes M feels the need to have an agenda, somewhere to go, things to do, I sometimes like to just relax and have no plans. So this weekend we had no real plans. Friday we got errands ran, and just took care of things that needed to be done during the week but we never seem to have time for while working.
Saturday we took the bikes down to the Heritage trail and rode 14+ miles, then went to a friend's pool party that afternoon. The weather cooperated, wasn't unbearably hot. The trail is shady so that helps! Sun was out and pretty warm at the pool party but then that just made it feel good to jump in the water. Got to swim a few laps and tease a couple of the dogs that wanted to follow along the side of the pool back and forth... I always loved swiming. I miss having a pool or a gym membership with a pool. I did forget though to watch my knee while trying to swim laps. I have a tendancy to hurt my left knee while kicking unless I either wrap it first or pay close attention and dont kick hard and just use my arms to pull myself along. Well, I forgot. But nothing serious. We had fun.
Sunday we loaded the bikes up again, and went back down to the trail and this time did 18 miles. It was a little warmer on Sunday, but there was a nice breeze and of course the shade on the trail. This was first weekend in over 3 weeks that I was able to get out on one of the trails and ride. I'd been on-call the previous 3 weekends.
Riding helps my knees, but then they are stiff afterward. They were stiff when I woke up Sunday morning, and stiff when I started out riding Sunday, and stiff this morning as I went into work. By now they have loosened back up. Relaxing in the Hot tub also helps my arthritis a lot. I am sooo glad that my MS didn't take that away and I can still enjoy soaking my aching bones in the hot water. There have been some times, usually in the midst of a flare that I can't tolerate the heat but normally it still feels good.
So here's to rest and relaxation. And to a great weekend.
Saturday we took the bikes down to the Heritage trail and rode 14+ miles, then went to a friend's pool party that afternoon. The weather cooperated, wasn't unbearably hot. The trail is shady so that helps! Sun was out and pretty warm at the pool party but then that just made it feel good to jump in the water. Got to swim a few laps and tease a couple of the dogs that wanted to follow along the side of the pool back and forth... I always loved swiming. I miss having a pool or a gym membership with a pool. I did forget though to watch my knee while trying to swim laps. I have a tendancy to hurt my left knee while kicking unless I either wrap it first or pay close attention and dont kick hard and just use my arms to pull myself along. Well, I forgot. But nothing serious. We had fun.
Sunday we loaded the bikes up again, and went back down to the trail and this time did 18 miles. It was a little warmer on Sunday, but there was a nice breeze and of course the shade on the trail. This was first weekend in over 3 weeks that I was able to get out on one of the trails and ride. I'd been on-call the previous 3 weekends.
Riding helps my knees, but then they are stiff afterward. They were stiff when I woke up Sunday morning, and stiff when I started out riding Sunday, and stiff this morning as I went into work. By now they have loosened back up. Relaxing in the Hot tub also helps my arthritis a lot. I am sooo glad that my MS didn't take that away and I can still enjoy soaking my aching bones in the hot water. There have been some times, usually in the midst of a flare that I can't tolerate the heat but normally it still feels good.
So here's to rest and relaxation. And to a great weekend.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
whitewater rafting, biking on vacation, and getting ready for the msbike ride
ok... it has been over a month since I posted. Life is flying by. Next week is the MS Bike Ride, we are planning to ride on Saturday. M has said she has decided to stick with me and make sure I finish, that I am ok, and that I have plenty of water/gaterade. She is worried about the heat. It is going to be hot. It has been hot. Why do they plan a MS bike ride for the hottest part of the summer? I suppose most of the participant riders don't actually have MS? who knows.
We just got back from our vacation at Ohiopyle. great place. known for whitewater rafting and bicycle riding. M & W and I rented a log cabin at a local camp ground. Not exactly camping - but that was ok (great actually) we were there 5 days. The cabin slept like 6 or 8, and had 2 bedrooms, one for me & M, and one for W. Double-beds in each. Also bunk beds but we didn't have anyone else along for this trip. The cabin had AC which was great. We ate all our meals at the cabin. it had a kitchen, plus we brought a grill. We got there on Monday 7/5. Tuesday we went for a bike ride, and mistaking the instructions from the girl from checking in at the campground we turned right on the trail instead of left and travelled about 11miles downhill (2% grade) toward Connesville when we thought we were going uphill toward Confluence. Easy ride, until we turned around. we stopped for lunch figured out what went wrong and started making our way back. That 2% grade was constant, and while it really wasn't enough to notice when we headed downhill, it made a difference going uphill. I was struggling, so I let M & W head on and I was going to take my time and snap some pictures. I was about 4.5 mi away from the car on the way back and had stopped to shoot some photo's of some rafters going down the rapids, when I heard a pfft and hssssssssssssssssssssssssssss, yep, I looked over at my bike, and the back tire was flatter than a pancake. it was now riding on the rim. no way I could ride it that way. I started walking it back, and realized after about 1/2 mi that I was now only travelling about 2 mph. Which meant with 4 mi left it would take me 2 hrs to get back to car. I called M to warn her I was walking. Sweet woman that she is, she pedalled back with a pump to try to pump my tire back up, but we found there was hole in tube and no stem showing. So she walked my bike and let me pedal out on hers. Saying she could walk it out faster than I could limp. Very true.
I'm doing pretty good on the bike now. It feels good to be back to riding. I really need to focus on excersising and getting my strength back. After doing the almost 22 miles last week on the vacation, I feel confident I will make the 25 miles next weekend for the MS Ride, just need to take plenty of water/gaterade. My walking isn't so good. Sometimes better than others. My left leg is definitely weaker than the right. Stairs are a problem. For a change it is now harder going down stairs than climbing up. Think that is the ankle. I'm at the point that I am thinking seriously about planning to have a knee replacement next year. I think it will help with quality of life. Also, I'm thinking I want to have it done now while I can enjoy it, and be active before I might get hit with more mobility issues from the MS and maybe won't be able to do that much anyway.
The vacation was great. On thursday we did a pedal and paddle, we rode bikes 9 miles up river, then rafted the 9 miles back down over some small rapids. it was lots of work but also fun. The water was low this time of year so we struggled a few times getting stuck on some rocks. But we made it. I felt sorry for M, she was stuck with most of the work travelling along with her 70 yr old dad, and gimp of a gf. but we all did our best and we made it.
We had some sadness in the family right before we left for our trip. M's dog was diagnosed with Lympoma a week prior, and we were hoping he would hang in there and make it the 4-8 months the vet predicted. Hunter went downhill fast though. We realized he wouldn't make it til we got back from our vacation. M made the decision to put him down before we left. We will all miss him. The house is much quieter without him. Even the cats all know something isn't right and I think they wonder where the big guy is.
M has been really taking it hard. Hunter was her baby. He was 11 and she raised him from a pup. It is never easy losing someone close to you. Even the animals who become such a part of our lives leave a big hole when they go. I miss him too. I also try to be understanding. Sometimes that is easier said than done. If you take two pre-menapausal (or menapausal - the pre may be debatable), emotional situations, it sometimes isn't pretty. Most of the time I have a lot of patience. Most of the time I can be very understanding. but there are times when you can step on my last nerve and I can't handle any more. Let's just say some days have been rough. M is the type though to sleep and wake up and it is a new day and yesterday is forgotten. I have trouble with that. Because I know a lot of it is because of Hunter I try to let it go. Also because of the various health conditions I have that are all exerbated by stress I try to let it go.
Focus on the good and let the bad slip away.
RIP Hunter Wood 1999-2010 - you will be missed.
We just got back from our vacation at Ohiopyle. great place. known for whitewater rafting and bicycle riding. M & W and I rented a log cabin at a local camp ground. Not exactly camping - but that was ok (great actually) we were there 5 days. The cabin slept like 6 or 8, and had 2 bedrooms, one for me & M, and one for W. Double-beds in each. Also bunk beds but we didn't have anyone else along for this trip. The cabin had AC which was great. We ate all our meals at the cabin. it had a kitchen, plus we brought a grill. We got there on Monday 7/5. Tuesday we went for a bike ride, and mistaking the instructions from the girl from checking in at the campground we turned right on the trail instead of left and travelled about 11miles downhill (2% grade) toward Connesville when we thought we were going uphill toward Confluence. Easy ride, until we turned around. we stopped for lunch figured out what went wrong and started making our way back. That 2% grade was constant, and while it really wasn't enough to notice when we headed downhill, it made a difference going uphill. I was struggling, so I let M & W head on and I was going to take my time and snap some pictures. I was about 4.5 mi away from the car on the way back and had stopped to shoot some photo's of some rafters going down the rapids, when I heard a pfft and hssssssssssssssssssssssssssss, yep, I looked over at my bike, and the back tire was flatter than a pancake. it was now riding on the rim. no way I could ride it that way. I started walking it back, and realized after about 1/2 mi that I was now only travelling about 2 mph. Which meant with 4 mi left it would take me 2 hrs to get back to car. I called M to warn her I was walking. Sweet woman that she is, she pedalled back with a pump to try to pump my tire back up, but we found there was hole in tube and no stem showing. So she walked my bike and let me pedal out on hers. Saying she could walk it out faster than I could limp. Very true.
I'm doing pretty good on the bike now. It feels good to be back to riding. I really need to focus on excersising and getting my strength back. After doing the almost 22 miles last week on the vacation, I feel confident I will make the 25 miles next weekend for the MS Ride, just need to take plenty of water/gaterade. My walking isn't so good. Sometimes better than others. My left leg is definitely weaker than the right. Stairs are a problem. For a change it is now harder going down stairs than climbing up. Think that is the ankle. I'm at the point that I am thinking seriously about planning to have a knee replacement next year. I think it will help with quality of life. Also, I'm thinking I want to have it done now while I can enjoy it, and be active before I might get hit with more mobility issues from the MS and maybe won't be able to do that much anyway.
The vacation was great. On thursday we did a pedal and paddle, we rode bikes 9 miles up river, then rafted the 9 miles back down over some small rapids. it was lots of work but also fun. The water was low this time of year so we struggled a few times getting stuck on some rocks. But we made it. I felt sorry for M, she was stuck with most of the work travelling along with her 70 yr old dad, and gimp of a gf. but we all did our best and we made it.
We had some sadness in the family right before we left for our trip. M's dog was diagnosed with Lympoma a week prior, and we were hoping he would hang in there and make it the 4-8 months the vet predicted. Hunter went downhill fast though. We realized he wouldn't make it til we got back from our vacation. M made the decision to put him down before we left. We will all miss him. The house is much quieter without him. Even the cats all know something isn't right and I think they wonder where the big guy is.
M has been really taking it hard. Hunter was her baby. He was 11 and she raised him from a pup. It is never easy losing someone close to you. Even the animals who become such a part of our lives leave a big hole when they go. I miss him too. I also try to be understanding. Sometimes that is easier said than done. If you take two pre-menapausal (or menapausal - the pre may be debatable), emotional situations, it sometimes isn't pretty. Most of the time I have a lot of patience. Most of the time I can be very understanding. but there are times when you can step on my last nerve and I can't handle any more. Let's just say some days have been rough. M is the type though to sleep and wake up and it is a new day and yesterday is forgotten. I have trouble with that. Because I know a lot of it is because of Hunter I try to let it go. Also because of the various health conditions I have that are all exerbated by stress I try to let it go.
Focus on the good and let the bad slip away.
RIP Hunter Wood 1999-2010 - you will be missed.
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