kam
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Recap of week 16.....four month's on the trail
Andie
Cathy
TuTu....moving
Don...staying warm and dry indoors
KAM.....
[ 18. February 2008, 08:08 PM: Message edited by: kam ]
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kam
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Sunday....one hour outdoors in power chair. Good outing
Monday...20 min on the trail...made it to the first crop of small boulders. Good outing.
Tuesday...timed walk today to first crop of boulders...it is 20 min. 25 if I take the side trail first...but straight walk through is 20min
Walked first thing in the am. Heard this was not a good time due to more wildlife possibilities...mainly the javelina
But, saw more two legged wildlife on the trail than the later time I go.
Wednesday...out in power chair for an hour. 10 min probably on foot in the pinion pines and mud.
Thursday...20 min walk in forest.
Did 6 2 minute exercises in therapy pool today. Back to where I left off. Hoping to increase exercises and time.
Friday...20 min walk in forest in am 20 min walk in forest while snowing
ON the way there just a little bit of snow on the ground...20 min later...covered with snow and the trees also were frosted...nice.
Also did $10 plus worth of laundry. Still need to fold and put away..but did more laundry today.
Saturday....20 min est.
[ 23. February 2008, 11:57 AM: Message edited by: kam ]
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kam
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What I see on the trail after a snow storm.
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kam
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Andie333
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That's absolutely gorgeous, kam.
My week's gotten off to a slow start. No walking at all on Sunday or Monday.
Tuesday -- 1.5 miles
I'd love to be able to walk and see what you see, kam. I'm in the city...beautiful in its own way, but not the same.
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kam
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Andie..perhaps you can find some pics on the web to show us.
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tdtid
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I love the pictures Kam. Sure would be a great inspiration to keep you walking. It's gorgeous. Did you take the pictures yourself?
For me....I was back to the cane for a few days since I was jerking around and just not walking right. It settled down on Sunday and I've been getting in short walks but feeling so darn exhausted and tired today. Had a dentist appointment, so my walking was from the car, to the waiting room to the dental chair and back. Guess I'm falling behind, a LOT!!!!!
Good walking Andie! Keep it going!!!!!
Cathy
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Andie333
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I can do that, kam...since I have NO idea of how to download any of my pictures on the site, I figured I'd at least post pics of an area about 5 minutes from my house:
Once you get past the first picture (a fountain downtown), you see pictures of the Wissahickon creek area of Fairmount Park. It's a HUGE city park, one of the wildest, most beautiful in the country. The creek at its center has shrunk some over time (old piictures show large groups of ice skaters).
In early days, there were a number of inns adjoining this area. Almost all are gone now--only one still exists as a restaurant in the park.
I should also say this area is tick central. When my mom was visiting from Fl, she couldn't believe the beauty of this place. It really is an amazing tribute to an urban environment.
I'll find some pictures of Philadelphia, too...it's a much more beautiful city than people seem to realize (okay, I'm biased!)
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Andie333
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kam
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Nice pics. Reminds me that I want to head to the east coast for the fall scenerary.
Went to see the Liberty Bell in 1976 on the way to the Olympics in MOntreal.
What I saw of the city, I did not like. Guess I need to give it another chance.
I copied and pasted the pics from another web site. Haven't been able to get my picture taking skills back yet. Miss that.
Cathy, walking to and from places is good in itself. I have times when I am not able to do that.
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tdtid
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Really great scenery Andie. Thanks for sharing. My daughter is going to college in PA (Carlisle), so no, not quite your area, but still reminded me of some there.
Kam, as far as the east coast scenery in the fall, I'm obviously partial, but for autumn, New England (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusettes and Rhode Island) can't be beat.
Today appears to be another resting day for me. Seem to get a few of these racing heart days where I think I've run a marathon before doing much of anything.
So laundry seems to be my accomplishment for today. Small steps.
Cathy
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Andie333
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kam, when my Mom came up and visited from Florida, it was her second time in Philadelphia. We gave her a tour of some of our favorite places, and she was amazed. She said she couldn't remember the city looking and feeling the same.
I think it's always hard to go into a new city and get acclimated. In fairness, Philly has areas that look like a disaster. I worked for awhile running writing workshops in urban schools, so I got familiar with some of the really nasty parts. But I can see the beauty around here, as well.
I live in a long-settled area, on a tree-lined street.
Anyway, kam, cathy, walk on over, and I'll give you a tour. Or, cathy, if you and your daughter get over here when she's at Carlyle, let me know. We could meet for coffee or dinner. I'd love that!
1 mile for me today, Wednesday
Andie
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just don
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It sure is nice to see pics of scenery of OTHER places.
Alas I am coming to the resolution that the travels I always 'wanted' to do to see the country,,will NEVER happen here!!
So seeing all the great pics is as good as its ever going to get.
Thank you for 'making MY day'!!!remaining--just don--
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kam
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Cathy,
I too get those days when the heart beats like I am climbing Mt. Everest and in reality am just trying to get out of bed or something.
I know those are down times or wait it out times.
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kam
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Say good bye to the Canadian Geese. They left this week.
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Andie333
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I love the sound of the geese when they fly over.
don, what a welcomed voice on the thread; great to hear from you!
cathy, kam, I thought about the two of you today, too, and wondered how your days were going.
For me, Thursday, 1.5 miles
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tdtid
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I'm just loving all these pictures since one of my favorite things to do before getting sick was TRAVELING. Now I do much more arm chair traveling, but it still helps me escape. Thank you!
Went out last night for an extremely short work during the eclipse so I could atleast see it. It has been just so cold here though, so don't hold up very long. Cold really does seem to bring on the aches. Ugh.
Today, got out for another short while, but keep thinking each night that I'll be waking up with my energy again, so tomorrow maybe. We are suppose to start getting another snow storm tomorrow that they say will last all night and into the next morning. Fun, Fun!
Hope you keep your walking going Andie and it would be great fun meeting for dinner or something sometime. At this point though, we don't make the drive and my husband is a private pilot so when we have gone, we fly it, right into a small private airport in Carlisle. But hey...until we can meet, keep those walks going.
Kam, As always, thanks for your support. It feels so good to be able to talk to others that I honestly believe knows what I'm talking about during these hardships. Sadly you have to be inflicted with this as well, to understand, but since we are...I'm glad that we have this place to come.
And hey Don....good to see you here. Don't ever give up on your dreams. If you want to travel again sometime, hold on to those ideas and until it becomes possible, enjoy armchair traveling too. It really is great!
Cathy
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kam
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Don,
I agree with Cathy....I dont' know about you but I have to believe I will be able to travel again.
And I kept thinking wouldn't it be fun to have the funds to share it with others too.
So, one never knows what the future will bring.
Cathy, it is nice to know that others do understand what it is like living with this.
Andie, it is also nice to have you as a hope for our future. I keep looking forward to those days when I can walk a mile or two again.
The trail head I take is a mile if one goes the complete trail. I wonder at times if this time next year if I will be walking the complete trail.
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tdtid
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Kam, you have such a positive attitude. I'd like to think that ALL of us will be up to walking a trail like yours in a year. Positive thinking!!!
I have an appointment with my PCP for my yearly check up. Always get uneasy with that. So far she hasn't bucked anything my LLMD is doing, but I always go in rather braced due to my experience with my PCP before I changed over to her.
Cathy
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kam
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Cathy,
I know how you feel. I tend to get this fight or flight thing going on when I see a person in a white coat now.
I need to go for my annual too but since the last annual was a pap only...no blood work, etc and I was told I did not need to come in for another annual for 3 years..I am wondering about this primary doc.
When I questions why no blood work or mammo etc, she said I had so much work done all ready from my records that I gave her that she did not feel it was necessary.
But, that work was done in 2001/2002 when I was looking for answers??
At last, another obstacle or decision that needs to be made in a time when just getting basic needs taken care of each day seems to be all I can do.
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tdtid
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Kam,
I was breaking out in sweats by the time I got to that appointment. I think due to the horrid time I had with the doctor before her thinking I was going crazy, I just fear most doctors now that don't understand lyme.
But all seemed to go well. She had so many different tests she wanted to run, so I guess mine is the opposite of yours, but in my case, I knew some would be off due to the lyme and tried focusing only on the things that hadn't been done in a long time.
I'm always getting so much blood work from my LLMD and the PCP gets the results, so I thought that would even save me from more blood work, but she found more things to look at. Ho hum. But hey...atleast she wasn't belittling me or making me feel like I'm crazy....so all went well basically and I worried over nothing.
Didn't really get in walking today either. This darn physical took two hours and I think just the stressing I was doing before it, wore me out. We are still getting snow, but maybe tomorrow I'll get my butt moving again.
Cathy
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Andie333
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Wow, I think it's great you two have PCPs. Since getting dx the only other docs I've seen (aside from my LLMD) are my gyn and my dentist. I guess I really don't trust any GPs, because the last one I saw never even tested me for Lyme, despite my having almost all the symptoms.
All she did was send me from one specialist to another to another.
My gyn would like to send me to the CDC, he said, as a testament to long-term abx AND the severity of Lyme. When I was an active journalist, he used to read all my national stuff and thought that would give me credibility with them. Right. He also told me doctors here in this area don't take Lyme seriously, unless they get sick or someone in their family gets sick. Then they break out the iv abx.
If I get the flu or something, I have no idea what I'd do.
Anyway, today, I shoveled out my car so I could poke to work in the snow, only to be sent home by my boss. I worked from here but was able to exercise a little.
a mile for me today--friday.
About travel: I love it. I'd spent a month in India and another in Paris in the past, with a lot of shorter trips to other places. For two years, I barely left the house. And I had no idea if I'd ever be able to go anywhere again. So far, my travel in treatment has been:
Florida several times to see my family. NC, the Delaware beaches, NY about 4 times and this past summer, a week in Canada. In Sept we have a beach house in DE for a week. We're talking about a second trip--maybe out west. But we're still trying to get out of the horrible debt from my being sick.
None of this is easy, and I think we're all amazing to survive it and to cobble our lives together. I don't take a minute of it for granted--ever.
Cathy, I agree it's great to talk with people, too, who understand. I look forward to this thread every day!
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kam
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It's Saturday. We made it through another week.
My travels so far today have been back to the forest for an est of 20 min.
The babbling brook is now a flowing creek. Crossing it was tricky.
Except for rosie...can that girl leap. I am guessing it was about 5 feet across and she made it.
She looks like a deer when she does that kind of leaping.
I had shortness of breath or heavy breathing the whole trip thsi time. But, at least the brain was talking to the legs and that was not a problem so I kept going.
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tdtid
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Well, I KNOW I'm not getting in as much walking as I had hoped at this stage of my lyme. I feel like parts have slipped back but other parts have definitely gotten better.
In the time I thought I was kicking this in the fall, we booked a three week vacation with the permission of my LLMD to South America. I've traveled the globe and it's been my passion, so this was like trying to get my life back.
We've taken many cruises and I decided this was probably a better way to travel since I could rest up on sea days. But the time is coming. We leave on Wed and although I'm struggling wondering if I can get the energy to even get packed, I'm thinking that the change of scenery will give me a new spurt and hey...maybe even get me out walking more than now.
But basically I'm telling you this since I will be gone for three weeks and I didn't want anyone to think something was wrong when I didn't log on here during that whole time.
I've got my pre-existing travel insurance if we have to cut it short but I don't plan on needing to use that. But I do have it.
Andie, when you talk about Paris and India, I know you too understand my passion for needing to do this. My only fear is that I'm trying to tackle it TOO SOON and yes, I know I am, but at the same time, none of us know if we have tomorrow and I need to keep plugging away.
I may come back saying this was one of my worst ideas ever, but on the other hand, even if I spend half of the trip in bed and the other half exploring, it will still be worth it to me. I'll have my cane and will take it slowly, but if anyone has tips, I'd definitely like to hear them.
Keep walking and as I said, I leave Wed, so will be back here up until then. Basically just didn't want it looking like something bad happened and I disappeared.
Cathy
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kam
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Cathy...this is very good news.
Looking forward to hearing how the trip went.
I have a friend with lyme who was not able to walk daily but was able to travel on a cruise to Europe and did fine.
This is such a tricky condition...we don't know until we try what we can or can not do and it changes hourly at times. Posts: 15927 | From Became too sick to work or do household chores in 2001. | Registered: Dec 2002
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kam
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Cathy...this is very good news.
Looking forward to hearing how the trip went.
I have a friend with lyme who was not able to walk daily but was able to travel on a cruise to Europe and did fine.
This is such a tricky condition...we don't know until we try what we can or can not do and it changes hourly at times.
It seems to me I recall some people I met many moons ago going to South America and coming back with some great shells.
Another went and paid for schooling for a young man who was not able to work in the fields due to health issues.
It was a very reasonable amount...something like $50 a month to keep him in school and it would give him the opportunity to provide for his family in other ways besides farming.
She said that the big city was just that but when she drove a few miles out of town it was a completely different setting.
Sorry, don't recall which town in South America she visited.
Looking forward to hearing what you experience while there.
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kam
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Summary of week 17
Andie....Able to walk 5 out of the 7 days .........averaging a mile or a mile and a half each time.
KAM....Able to walk 7 out of 7 days average 20 min
Cathy.....South America here she comes!
Tutu...still moving
Just Don....???
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tdtid
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Kam,
I really needed to read about your friend doing the cruise through Europe with lyme since for whatever reason, I'm having major panic tonight.
It's part exhaustion or fatigue with racing heart and I honestly use to travel like this all the time, so I don't know why I'm acting like this. But my system is really whacking out on me.
The good thing that I know is that although I feel horrid right now, I could wake up tomorrow and this particular feeling will be gone but something else in it's place. So I figure that even a few good days will be a huge accomplishment at this point.
And hey....maybe walking the decks on the ship will be easier than going out in the snow here. I just need a boost maybe??????
Thanks for the support.
Cathy
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Andie333
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I'm so excited about your upcoming trip, Cathy!!!!!!
With whatever traveling I've done since being in treatment (airline travel), the main thing I've needed to remember is to be sure I have enough water on the plane. For some reason, I seem to get thirstier now.
It's great, too, that you're able to go to South America. I haven't traveled to that part of the world. Actually, i'd hoped to go to Machu Piccu, but it's a trip that involves about 3 miles of walking each day on some tricky terrain. I'm just not there yet.
But cruising sounds absolutely ideal! I'm so excited for you.
Keep your hopes up and enjoy everything, so you can come back and share it all wtih us. Take pictures!!! Be bold, and have fun.
It looks as if we'll be traveling too. My step-father seeems very near death at this point, and it's just a matter of time. He's reminding me of all the reasons I mistrust so many in the medical profession. He's been getting such almost indifferent care...
This family stuff has taken up a lot of my free time, so I've been off my walking schedule this week. I'll hopefully get time in tomorrow.
I love coming here and seeing all your posts!
Andie
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tdtid
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Andie,
Ahhh yes, Machu Piccu.....that would have been right up our alley pre lyme...but obviously not in the cards in my condition. We are doing the southern countries. Starting in Chile, going around Cape Horn, Argentina and Uruguay.
Nothing that would need immunizations and although plenty of places to hike in Patagonia, just won't be in the cards for me this trip, so will be taking in the scenery from other ways.
The only place in South America we have been is Venezuela, so this is really new territory. Lots of anxiety with the aspect of what I do when I start walking like a spaz and jerking around, but you know....it's one day at a time and I'll do what I can.
Even having a couple good days will make it a success so onward I go. We leave tomorrow.
Thanks for the optomism because I have to amit my anxiety has been getting the best of me. I honestly thought I would be "healthier" by this point when we had booked it since we booked it at the time I have probably done my best.
But hey....I'm HOPING this will inspire me to get in some walking and get me going on the right track as long as I don't push too hard in any one given place.
Now you all make sure you don't trash this place while I'm gone. No big parties until I get back.
Cathy
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Andie333
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The ranks are thinning, I guess.
Just a quick post for me, Wednesday, on my way out the door to work:
1.5 miles this morning
Keep Walking!
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tdtid
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Andie and Kam,
Just a quick temporary "goodbye". Leaving in about 1/2 an hour. Hopefully this place will still be up and running since I do think it's a wonderful insentive.
Happy Walking!
Cathy
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