It hurts

My first full day out in the open. I decided that a good way to celebrate would be to get a pedicure. However, there was a park-wide yard sale this morning so I extended my daily short walk to take in the whole park and to stop at a few places and chat. I talked to one of the yard-salers for several minutes, and I could feel my leg hurting while I stood there. She was enthusiastic about my knee surgery because she herself had had it done a few years back and is very happy with it. She had other medical tales to tell as well, so the standing kept on. Finally I broke away and headed home.

I keep wondering about this walking. It seemed that I was walking well and generally without pain at the transitional care center, but each day when I set out now I am not all that comfortable. Of course I am working on how I walk, how I hold myself, how I step, how I breathe. I am also not on any drugs during the day. A few more weeks, perhaps another six weeks, and I should be walking longer in comfort.

So many different types of women come here.

I headed for the pedicure at about one in the afternoon. When I walked into the nail place the woman asked me to come back in a half hour. The chairs were almost all full.  Both manis and pedis. I think Saturday is a very popular day for nail work. So I left the building and decided I'd walk to Vons, which is in the same center, and pick up a few groceries. I made my way over there and, relying on the grocery basket for some support, I picked up several things and headed back to my car. I put the bags in the car, then went into a coffee shop for a cup of tea. Finally it was time to go back for my toes.

That's a little fan aimed at my toes.

The pedicure went without incident. No issues with my knee, I'm happy to say. And my toenails are blue! I returned to my car and drove home from there. It wasn't really a big day but my knee hurts. I think I may have given it a little too much to do today overall. Reality bites.

No progress?

Yesterday I volunteered to help at an event to be held at the recreation building in my mobile home park. The rec building is just a couple of doors down from my house, across the street. I carried over two trays with cups and pots and a water pitcher and tea bags and similar items, then went back and forth several times to bring other things or to take things back. It isn't a great distance and nothing I carried was particularly heavy.

During the setup time I was on my feet in the building for a bit, but then sat down and didn't spend a lot of time standing, comparatively. Afterwards, of course, I carried stuff back again. By the time I got in the door of my house for the last time my legs were screaming. I felt exhausted and in pain. I took two tylenol pm tablets before going to bed.

I woke with my legs still feeling extra-heavy. The feeling is something like what it feels when I am carrying something heavy, like 50 or 75 pounds. Each step makes my legs tighten and hurt. I had some time getting out of bed, going to the bathroom, brushing my teeth, doing my little bathroom cleanup routine, feeding cats, getting dressed. Now I am dressed, all but shoes, and finally the heaviness is starting to back off a bit.  I will be off to the gym in a short time and expect to work some of the stiffness and pain out there by just doing my new routine.

A Day Off?

Yesterday I didn't do any exercise.  Instead, I went to a bookcrossing meeting, offered some books, took some books, then went to a fellow bookcrosser's home to grab a bunch more books (she's moving and has to cull). In that process I stayed standing quite a bit of the time, as I chose books and moved them from place to place. I mention this as a possible reason I was uncomfortable last night, in bed, restless, unable to get my legs comfortable.

I finally got up and took a hot shower. I sat under the very hot water for a while, until I felt relaxed. After I got back into bed, sleep came more easily.

Last night, too, though, I went to a concert. I sat in a concert seat for about two hours without getting up. My legs weren't uncomfortable at the time but perhaps that contributed.

This morning I woke feeling sluggish, uninterested in exercise. Nevertheless, I put on exercise togs and I will be off to do my usual routine soon. Yesterday I thought I might try an "Active" class too but right now I don't think so. I just feel tired and that's that. Not to mention my legs just hurt.

Pain management

Well, curses. I do not remember when the pain in my right leg left. You'd think I would have marked that day in my memory forever but apparently I was distracted.

I do remember when the pain came back. It was this last Thursday, two days ago. I also remember what I did the day before that may have contributed to its return.

Wednesday night I went to my local college, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, to attend the screening of a documentary. The film was to be shown in the Education building, a building I had not been in before. I looked at a Cal Poly map before I took off and I thought I had a picture in my head of where the building was. But I didn't. I wandered, actually walked rapidly (for me, considering I'm a bit slow these days) for fifteen or twenty minutes, circling and going through buildings, before I found it. Most of my trekking was on hard surfaces, asphalt and concrete. So this walking may have contributed.

My money, though, is on the standing. After the film I went to the front of the room to talk to the filmmaker. I had to wait a while to get to her and to wait for a friend who also had questions and comments. My friend noticed my discomfort, even though I was trying to hide it. I don't know how long I was standing but I do know that my experience has been that standing is far worse for me than walking.

It irritates me that I did not keep closer track of the pain so I could correlate the rise and fall better than I have so far. I now intend to get a small daily planner type notebook. I will bring it to my bedside with me at night and take it with me through the day. I will note how I feel when I get up in the morning and will note the activities I engage in as well as pain levels, as best I can. That's my plan. I hope, though these actions, to narrow down what causes me the most grief and what helps with the pain as well.

Another trip, another trial

I flew to Pensacola last Friday, from Burbank. I spent the weekend without my glucosamine (I forgot to pack it) and I didn't do the arthritis exercises (lazy lazy lazy!). But I did spend a fair amount of time in Pensacola standing and walking around. So the trip was a bit of a trial for my knees.

And I'm doing all right. I think the hardest thing for my knees is driving. Whenever I make long trips in the car I feel it that night. But it isn't awful.

Overall, the improvements in my knees seem to be holding, even when I fall off the routine.

The Las Vegas Blues

When I was in Las Vegas I was not in as good shape as I was in New York. I was only in LV a couple of days, hardly time to make significant moves, so I do not know why.

Still, although I limped a bit and had a little trouble standing now and then, I wasn't in excruciating pain and looking for a wheelchair.

Not with it

This week has been a bad one in that I haven't done all of the exercise required in this program. It is my last week in my old house and I have felt like I can give myself a break.

Last night, however, was a "riser rehearsal" in the performing arts center. We were on the risers for over an hour, during which time I briefly leaned and "sat" on one of the bars behind me a few times. Mostly, though, I was standing like everybody else. The good news is that although it was uncomfortable I was not in much pain. Actually, I can't say I was in pain at all, just discomfort. That's distinctly different from the last time I had to do a riser rehearsal. I usually start feeling pain almost immediately and just do whatever I can to get through it, mostly by trying to focus on the music and exclude everything else.

We were fortunate that we were done earlier than usual. I was expecting a three-hour rehearsal, total, and was certainly not looking forward to it. But we got loose early because the orchestra had to rehearse a concerto.