Daily Log
13:15
I woke up at 10:45, after another night of very heavy sleep. I felt groggy, but my strength was all right, and I took a shower and put dye in my hair before coming downstairs.
I did a few things on the computer before going back up to wash the dye out a half-hour later. I got dressed without effort, and came back down for breakfast.
My pain level is pretty average, just at the edge of my perception. My upper back feels stuck and burns a little. My lower back is out again; I'm going to have to see what I can do about that. I'm limited by what I can reach, but I may be able to correct some of it if I try, and right now it's sore, stiff, and sore to the touch on the left side. My right knee is also a little stiff, probably from all the walking. My feet are binding today, the left one is very sore in the heel and my right is stuck on all the medial metatarsal joints. I end up limping on both feet whenever I get up.
I'm tired and lethargic, but my stamina and strength feel good... my guess is that I simply need to get a bit more sleep to catch up from the last couple of weeks.
I'll be running a couple of errands and making some phone calls today, and I feel up to that. This evening is a social event with bowling, which is why I think fixing my feet and back would be a good idea... I should also dig out the knee brace, as I'll be using slick and unfamiliar shoes while handling heavy objects.
22:00
I went out to get a couple of things for the get-together tonight; the first place I got in and out fairly quickly. The second place had a fairly full parking lot, but I managed to score a handicapped spot. I was grateful, as my feet were sore and threatened to get more so if I used them too much. I struck out there, went to a third store and wandered around for about 20 minutes before determining they really didn't have what I needed either. So I came home after about an hour and fifteen minutes.
I had something to eat at a little after 4, and puttered about on the computer. I had an additional snack just before I left at 6, since I knew I wouldn't have dinner once I arrived... I felt pretty good, jazzed up and looking forward to a good time.
I sat and waited for people to show up for about 45 minutes, then got my shoes and went to join the rest of the group. I fixed my feet before putting on the shoes, which seemed to help a lot. I hadn't been bowling in over 15 years, and discovered almost immediately that my swollen right knee would not flex well enough for me to bowl the ball correctly. I manipulated it and did get it to settle so that it would flex right, but after the fourth frame I found I was having trouble just standing up. I asked someone to take the next one, and tried one last time on the sixth. I could carry the ball, I could even swing it, but standing or walking took so much of my concentration that I couldn't pay attention to what I was doing with the ball. I gave up the rest of that game and all of the second one, spending most of my time sitting down. After another hour, I had to sit behind the benches so I could lean my arms along the back, as I was a little too shaky to sit upright easily.
My mind was clouded after each time I exerted myself physically, and would start to clear again after about 20 minutes of rest; the same went for my peripheral vision. My fine motor control was okay if I was sitting down, but it was crap when I was trying to stand. I followed the conversation and chatted with people, but by the time it broke up after three hours I was more than ready to go home.
We had been at the very back of the alley, and it was a long, long walk to the front doors. I focused on keeping my legs steady, as they wanted to wobble, and wished I had brought my cane. By the time I got to the front doors I was almost dragging my feet, and I hesitated when I came to the half-height curb -- my hind-brain said I wasn't steady enough. A friend lent me her shoulder and got me out to my car, which fortunately wasn't very far.
I drove 15 minutes to get home, mostly on auto-pilot. My peripheral vision still wasn't at full capacity, but it was good enough. I gathered enough strength to get inside, but I had to force myself to stand long enough to clean the teapot and set some water to boil. When I talked to my mother, I had to lean on the doorframe.
I'm feeling distinctly shaky, weak, foggy, and I have a flush and a little bit of a chill. My ability to think fades the longer I stand, and even sitting is a bit of an effort. I'll try to get some food (I'm not hungry) and get to bed... I'm hoping I'm in good enough shape to run a workshop tomorrow afternoon.
Maybe I shouldn't have done all that walking yesterday.
I have an account as Torquill on Dreamwidth, and that's where I posted this. You can sign in with OpenID to comment on the original post, or you can go ahead and comment here; either way works.
I woke up at 10:45, after another night of very heavy sleep. I felt groggy, but my strength was all right, and I took a shower and put dye in my hair before coming downstairs.
I did a few things on the computer before going back up to wash the dye out a half-hour later. I got dressed without effort, and came back down for breakfast.
My pain level is pretty average, just at the edge of my perception. My upper back feels stuck and burns a little. My lower back is out again; I'm going to have to see what I can do about that. I'm limited by what I can reach, but I may be able to correct some of it if I try, and right now it's sore, stiff, and sore to the touch on the left side. My right knee is also a little stiff, probably from all the walking. My feet are binding today, the left one is very sore in the heel and my right is stuck on all the medial metatarsal joints. I end up limping on both feet whenever I get up.
I'm tired and lethargic, but my stamina and strength feel good... my guess is that I simply need to get a bit more sleep to catch up from the last couple of weeks.
I'll be running a couple of errands and making some phone calls today, and I feel up to that. This evening is a social event with bowling, which is why I think fixing my feet and back would be a good idea... I should also dig out the knee brace, as I'll be using slick and unfamiliar shoes while handling heavy objects.
22:00
I went out to get a couple of things for the get-together tonight; the first place I got in and out fairly quickly. The second place had a fairly full parking lot, but I managed to score a handicapped spot. I was grateful, as my feet were sore and threatened to get more so if I used them too much. I struck out there, went to a third store and wandered around for about 20 minutes before determining they really didn't have what I needed either. So I came home after about an hour and fifteen minutes.
I had something to eat at a little after 4, and puttered about on the computer. I had an additional snack just before I left at 6, since I knew I wouldn't have dinner once I arrived... I felt pretty good, jazzed up and looking forward to a good time.
I sat and waited for people to show up for about 45 minutes, then got my shoes and went to join the rest of the group. I fixed my feet before putting on the shoes, which seemed to help a lot. I hadn't been bowling in over 15 years, and discovered almost immediately that my swollen right knee would not flex well enough for me to bowl the ball correctly. I manipulated it and did get it to settle so that it would flex right, but after the fourth frame I found I was having trouble just standing up. I asked someone to take the next one, and tried one last time on the sixth. I could carry the ball, I could even swing it, but standing or walking took so much of my concentration that I couldn't pay attention to what I was doing with the ball. I gave up the rest of that game and all of the second one, spending most of my time sitting down. After another hour, I had to sit behind the benches so I could lean my arms along the back, as I was a little too shaky to sit upright easily.
My mind was clouded after each time I exerted myself physically, and would start to clear again after about 20 minutes of rest; the same went for my peripheral vision. My fine motor control was okay if I was sitting down, but it was crap when I was trying to stand. I followed the conversation and chatted with people, but by the time it broke up after three hours I was more than ready to go home.
We had been at the very back of the alley, and it was a long, long walk to the front doors. I focused on keeping my legs steady, as they wanted to wobble, and wished I had brought my cane. By the time I got to the front doors I was almost dragging my feet, and I hesitated when I came to the half-height curb -- my hind-brain said I wasn't steady enough. A friend lent me her shoulder and got me out to my car, which fortunately wasn't very far.
I drove 15 minutes to get home, mostly on auto-pilot. My peripheral vision still wasn't at full capacity, but it was good enough. I gathered enough strength to get inside, but I had to force myself to stand long enough to clean the teapot and set some water to boil. When I talked to my mother, I had to lean on the doorframe.
I'm feeling distinctly shaky, weak, foggy, and I have a flush and a little bit of a chill. My ability to think fades the longer I stand, and even sitting is a bit of an effort. I'll try to get some food (I'm not hungry) and get to bed... I'm hoping I'm in good enough shape to run a workshop tomorrow afternoon.
Maybe I shouldn't have done all that walking yesterday.
I have an account as Torquill on Dreamwidth, and that's where I posted this. You can sign in with OpenID to comment on the original post, or you can go ahead and comment here; either way works.