4 September 2023
I heard tell that variety is the spice of life. I decided to spice mine up a little. Instead of having my fruit and yogurt for breakfast this morning, I opted for Shredded Wheat – and not the mamby pamby little tiny squares but the manly large biscuits. Life in the fast lane!
The Eagles “Life in the Fast Lane.”
I walked 1.5 miles this morning in my new gauzy shirt.
On one of my morning walks, one of my neighbors was commenting on the heat and suggested I wear a more loose shirt instead of a tee shirt. She thought it would keep me cooler. I thought she made a good argument so I ordered two of these linen gauze shirts. I didn’t bother ironing the since they are linen and will wrinkle anyway. Today was my first walk with the shirt and I think she’s correct – it did seem a little cooler.
Yesterday I was eager to try my yoga stretches and swimming today. I was awake by 4:30 am and finally got out of bed at 5. By the time it was yoga stretch time, I really, really, really didn’t want to do yoga or swim. I was so incredibly sleepy. I finally psyched myself up to do the yoga stretches.
I was about half way through my yoga when I realized I had forgotten most of the sequence of positions I usually do. It’s been that long since I’ve done yoga. Again, variety is the spice of life. After completing my out-of-sequence set, I went back and added the correct sequences I missed to begin. The real question I had was how my left side (breast, arm pit, arms) would react. There were a few twinges here and there but otherwise, I think I’m getting back the full use of my arm.
My yoga stretches take about 18 minutes. By the time I was done, I was ready to swim. Then I had to hunt for my swim cords which allow me to swim in place. I hadn’t used them since the renovation from the flood damage. They turned out to be the second place I looked. When they replaced everything in the utility room for me, they kept the swim cords in sight.
I try to do 4 sets of 50 strokes of the American crawl to warm up. From there I do 100 strokes of the American crawl, 100 strokes of breast stroke, 50 left side strokes, 50 right side side strokes, 100 backstroke and 100 American crawl to finish things off. I managed a complete set and only had a little twinge on one of the strokes – you guessed it – the breast stroke. I was more than pleased with myself that I was able to do yoga and swim. A couple of times during the swimming I got out of breath and had to rest a little longer between sets but I did finish. That was around 20 minutes of exercise added to yoga and morning walk. I hope that I can keep that up. Tomorrow is a wash because of the chemo treatment but I should be back at it on Wednesday.
I usually get a text notice about dental appointments to remind me. I did this morning after the swim. My problem was the appointment was for 3 pm tomorrow. I go in at 9:30 am for my chemo and I have no idea how long that will last. They do a blood workup first and from that, they determine what “extras” I need in addition to the Taxol. The last time I finished at 2:30 which would give me only 30 minutes to get across town.
I called the dentist office and they worked out an appointment at 4 pm on Tuesday. If I finished at 2:30 pm, it would give me plenty of time. I agreed to the new time. A few minutes later, they called back and asked if I could come immediately. I told them it would take me around 15-20 minutes and they said come on. I walked in about 15 minutes later and they did a full set of x-rays, cleaned my teeth and had the doctor check the x-rays and perform an exam. It worked out perfectly and I don’t have to worry about rushing anywhere after the treatment tomorrow.
The last bout of diarrhea was on September 2nd at 2:25 in the afternoon. Since then it’s been semi-solid stool. I’m still on two Imodium every four hours. I don’t want to chance a change in medication since chemo is tomorrow.
Tonight is the Secret Garden but I think after lunch, it’ll be nap time.
Stay tuned!