dbmcclellan.com
….be unique, like everyone else!
Category Archives: walking
A Failure to Communicate
Famous Quotation: “What we have here, is a failure to communicate” Can you guess where that line came from? Anyone? Beuller?? Leave your comments below.
This “failure to communicate” on this site is very one-sided. It’s all me spewing verbiage about how things are going in my life and all that. Well, I am not one to apologize for the way things are; so let’s get this started.
May 20th, just 27 days ago, my physical being changed. Got a faulty part removed. The doc said to do it, and he did it. Easy. Right? Nope. Perhaps the extraction was easy (for him), and I guess since all I did was sleep through the entire procedure, the operation was pretty easy for me too. But I am here to tell you, robot assisted laparoscopic removal or not, healing might be the toughest part!
Oh sure, doc said to “the first week, aspire to nothing” (don’t do a thing) and live “a sedentary lifestyle”. Light activities, no lifting, and don’t cough either! The key here is to let the parts and pieces fall back into place and re-connect the way they were before they were surgically violated. Be a good patient and just focus on healing.`
And I gotta tell you, I am a really good patient! You want sedentary? I got that. You want my aspirations to be zero? I can do that too. Didn’t cough or sneeze or lift a finger (thank you Renee!), no not at all. The surgery felt like a punch in the gut, and it was simple to stay “sedentary” that first week.
The second week was easier. The pain was significantly less. I was given a green light for walking. Even VERY LIGHT (less than ten pounds) lifting was authorized. So I walked. Miles at a time, I walked. Since my bladder is still learning how to do its job again, my only constraint was: where is the next toilet? First trip out was around the block, next time it was three and a half miles, next trip about a mile, next trip seven and a quarter miles, and the latest trip was about two miles. Yes, I am good at walking!
Week three was more of the same. Just tried to eat and drink anything that would help me get strong. And sleep too. And I walked some more.
Now I am working on week number four; post surgery. Day 27. More walking and now I am working angled push-ups (using the countertop) into my day and really easy leg-ups. I don’t think I’ll be doing much more until the next visit to the doctor…..which is in twelve days.
And this is what it has all come down to. June 28th is find-out-how-surgery-went Day. One week prior to 6/28 I let the vampires have a go at my veins to draw some blood, then have it checked for PSA numbers.
PSA is Prostate Specific Antigen. If you have a prostate (and are more than 16 years old), you have evidence of it pulsing inside your veins with every beat of your heart in the form of PSA numbers. Detectable amounts are always there, unless you DON’T have a prostate. Like me. And when the PSA levels are measured on June 21st and the results are communicated to me on June 28th, they should be REALLY LOW. If they are, the recent surgical procedure can be deemed a clinical success. Only then will the balloons and confetti fly, champagne with lots of toasting, and speeches and dinners, vacations, etc….all that. Good news like this should come with a parade. Or at least a party!!
If not. It would be a bad sign. The reality is, if PSA numbers are remotely similar to what they were prior to the surgery, the cancer may have spread to another area. Even though the prostate has been removed, the misbehaving cellular activity from the originating cells may continue from their new home (in a kidney or liver or ??). And there we go with the “watchful waiting” and possibly more “treatments”. Ugh.
This may be why I have been a little quiet lately. I’ve been a little distracted…..so that needs to change. I think I’ll just start looking forward to a party!
Break out the comfy shoes!
When I woke up today and checked the weather, the Weather Guesser said it was going to be nice. So I ran a System Check on my body and found it to be fully functional and ready for just about anything (Dr’s blessing is on anything active without heavy lifting. No running. Please walk; often). And shoes? Oh yeah, I’ve got those. So I felt good, the weather was going to be nice, and the shoes are ready. What to do, what to do?
You KNOW I got those shoes laced up and went for a walk, right?!
Departure time: 11:40
First stop, the Post Office. I’ve had this bill to mail for at least a week but it just sat waiting for me to do something about it. So I did something about it and dropped it at the Post Office.
Next stop, StarBucks. It was right across the street from the Post Office so why not? I missed my morning coffee and the lack-of-caffeine-headache was settling in for a spell. As it attempted to gain a foothold, I was going to do my best to beat it into submission. And my effort worked! The coffee was good enough to bring relief, and I was on my way to the next spot on the map.
Where to? Hmm, the paint store was not on the list but as you walk by a place, it takes a while to get from one end of the parking lot to the other, and I’ll be danged if I didn’t think of a project requiring some paint before I concluded my jaunt across the parking lot. Enter the store, talk to the guy, blend it, buy it, and off I go to the next place.
That’s when I got to my actual destination: Windmill Nursery. This was the place I wanted to go, but didn’t think I would actually get there. It is quite a way down the street and I couldn’t be certain I would feel up to the challenge. They have the best plants and ideas for planting plants there….and I just love the place. I found a green Lace Leaf Japanese Maple to buy next time I feel rich. It is perfectly formed and nicely large but priced to stay at the store. If I find an ad with a discount for Japanese Maples for these guys, it will be mine!
And then I hoofed it home.
Arrival time: 2:10
Good thing I had some comfortable shoes waiting for me in the garage, this would be a real test for anything less.
I’ll figure out the mileage and post the update shortly.
And here is the distance covered: 7.26 miles.
Success! Long walk attained
if you recall all the way back ONE DAY, your hero (me) had tried to get out for a walk. It was going to be a long walk and since it would be my first walk, I was going to take however long it took. Well, that effort was thwarted by science, and I vowed to fight again another day. And that day happened to be today.
I walked for 70 minutes and went to Raley’s, our local supermarket. How far did I go? 4 miles. How long did it take? 70 minutes.
I won’t get any awards for speed or distance, but I was quite happy with the effort.
dbmcclellan.com 