Family Happenings and Other Stuff

Lately I have been quite busy with family happenings. My mother passed out and fell and hurt her back. After a couple of doctor visits it was determined that one of her doctors had prescribed a bp medication with too much diuretic. Her cardiologist believes that this caused dehydration which caused the fainting. I went to the cardiologist with her on Friday and was all prepared to spend the weekend with husband and son at our deer camp-"669". My mother's neighbor called me on Saturday afternoon telling me that I was needed because my mother was hurting in her back. I went to stay with her... went to bed at 11:00, was awakened with her beating the ceiling wall with a cane at 12:30. When I got down the stairs, she was writhing in pain. I had to call 911 and she was transported to local hospital. Would you believe after our arrival at 1:15 a.m., we waited until about 6:30 before a doctor came and examined her. Ugh... I was very tired, but thankful that the X-ray revealed no broken bones. I had a hard time going to sleep, but finally was able to take about a three hour nap on Sunday afternoon. I stayed with my mom the next three nights. I had planned to go home tonight and leave in the early a.m. for Dallas to stay with my granddaughter while her parents worked. My schedule got switched around, and I was needed to be there early in the morning, so I left as soon as I got off work and got here at about 8:45. Not meaning this to sound rude, but I think it will be more fun taking care of a three month old vs. an 81 year old.

On Saturday before I had to leave 669, I had a great time with my husband in a flatbottom going up and down the Neches River. We are trying to find a good place to put in and get picked up after kayaking. I have a couple of friends that want to make this trek. I kayaked last weekend at the Martin Dies State Park outside of Jasper. The trip is called Paddling the Rivers. You are shuttled up to Bevel Port, and you kayak down where the two rivers, the Neches and the Angelina come together. It was about 10 miles long, and took the majority of the day. It was a gorgeous day. I never knew the Angelina River was so wide. I did not see any alligators last weekend, but the day I was with my husband, I saw one about 4 feet long just basking on the bank of the Neches. He made his way into the river, submerged himself, and you would never know he was there. Umm.... scary to me.

Well, let me not miss the opportunity to talk more about my foot. I have been to four sessions with the physical therapist. My foot is not well, but I do think I have improvement. He has used ultra sound which sends sound waves deeply into the tissues. He showed me how to tape my foot, and I have learned to do many exercises to stretch that fascia. I am beginning to think that this pain will always be with me, but just maybe be manageable. I actually went on a four mile walk on Monday. I am beginning to think though that my dream of doing a triathlon will not occur. I have biked very little recently and I have not been swimming in 9 months. With so many other things occupying my time, I have not had the time or the energy to train properly. Oh well.... we shall see.

My Foot

Is this subject of my foot just a mundane, boring, unexciting, exhausted topic? Well.. I would have to say that it is certainly the reason that this blog has changed so much. And yet others who have injury just get past it, and don't seem to let it slow them down much. I am wondering... was I looking for some excuse to not do as much? I would have to argue with myself that that is not the truth. But the real truth is that having an injury can certainly get you off track. I have been easily distracted from doing what I need to do. I continue to hope for each new treatment that I try. This week I began physical therapy. Yes, it is going to be expensive. But it seems like I have had some result of less pain since my two sessions. Right now my PT has applied ultrasound to my foot and then taped it. Today I learned several new stretching exercises. I have also learned that I definitely pronate when I walk. Therefore, I must always look for a shoe that has a pronate guard on it and the bottom of my shoe should not taper in the middle but be thick throughout. My PT also has plantar fascitis. He knows exactly the pain that I have had although he does not have the heel pain. I have not quit my FF class through all of these months. And, I did go on a 14.5 mile bike ride last Friday. I hope to go biking more along with getting back to swimming since the weather is warming up. Saturday I have an all day kayak trip planned. This should be a fun time, and I will report on that later. I just wanted to report since I don't post often like I did. I hope to soon be posting again as I become once again more disciplined with my eating and my exercise. Now let me leave you with a photo of the cutest little Texas Ranger.

What to Post

Gosh.. it has been about 3 weeks since I posted. Since this blog started out about exercise for middle-agers, I just feel like I am not giving it its due. With this foot problem, my schedule of exercise is certainly not what it used to be. I still go to my FF class, and about once a week I do yoga. I need to get back doing more cardio- biking and swimming. My foot is not bad, but if I do too much, it will bother me. It just has not gone away. This week I helped a friend who caters do a luncheon for over 600 people. There were 25 of us serving, but still it was constant moving on our feet. This was a luncheon about keeping a healthy heart sponsored by the local hospital. So at the end of the day, my foot was definitely bothering me. I had a patient this week whose husband is a physical therapist. She said he also suffers with this problem, and that now they are using ultrasound to break up these deposits known as heel spurs. I got my MD to write an order for this treatment, and I hope to find out more about it soon.

My husband and I made a quick trip to College Station on Friday to see my youngest. He showed us the business school where his classes are located. We also saw the townhouse he will be living in next semester as well as the infamous Northgate. We had a good lunch at McAlisters and also got to visit our niece, her husband, and their two children. It was a nice day.

We had a storm come through early this morning. It knocked out the electricity for several hours. I did not make it to church. Last night I was once again at Camp Street Cafe to see this guy who is a very old country western singer. I cannot remember what his name is. We had a good time though.

I am leaving you with a photo of my dear grandbaby. I won't get to see her until the end of May. She is just such a little doll.