Finger/Thumb Right Thumb joint's LRTI coming up October 8!

[Grammyof2]

The Bean link to the poles was broken, it turns out, because between the time I decided to buy them and when I went back to make the purchase, their very last pair was sold! When I checked the next day, the original page was back, but decorated with an Out of Stock note.

SO... off I clicked to Ebay, where I found two pairs of the same poles, one said to have been lightly used and the other brand new with tags, and ordered the latter. Eagerly awaiting their arrival. Oh, and while I was there I bought a pretty sweater, too.

I've been drinking extra water for days now, and have had no more belly pain. So far so good.

Saw my PT again today and was told I can add 1/4 mile or so to my walk every couple of days unless I feel pain. I also got to do some different exercises there--I'd been getting so bored--their modified exercycle, the thing you stand on and lean forward to stretch calves & backs of knees, and some leg lifts with weights. Happy-happy. Then the usual part where she pushes hard on knots until they give up and relax followed by ultrasound.

Today's walk-time temperature was around 19; tomorrow's will be 10 or so. Thank goodness for layers and a good parka. I've lost another couple of pounds, which gets my total to ~40. By this time next year, I might well have a normal weight for my height. That'll be especially likely after my eventual vaccination when I can return to the YMCA.

Feeling so positive these days, and so grateful to you all for your encouragement and wisdom.

 

[Jaycey]

Well done on finding the poles on eBay! Hope you got a bargain.

I am so envious of your weight loss. I have gained weight since the pandemic arrived and can't seem to find the motivation to get out and get active again. Weather isn't exactly encouraging either. Wind, rain and temperatures averaging 5-7C.

 

[Grammyof2]

I guess temperatures depend on what one is used to. This morning's temperature here in central Maine is minus 12 C. I plan to walk nonetheless. After 45 years in Maine, my mind has adjusted I guess, even though I grew up in Santa Monica, California!

I was stuck in pre-contemplation of weight loss for years and years. A visit to a physiatrist for sort-of unrelated reasons somehow bumped me into contemplation, and the next thing I realized, the pounds were sliding off--I'd gone through preparation into action.

The funny thing is, he's kind of an oddball, and subsequent appts. haven't impressed me much. But that first afternoon, for the first time in my life, I really felt heard about my body and its problems. Also, I heard myself explain to him that my weight problem was absolutely not from eating junk food, but from over-large portions of excellent home-cooked meals while doing nothing all day with my arthritic, painful body but sit, eat, and sleep. Oh, and snacking too many times on nutritious stuff!

I'd already bought the UpWalker, just so I could get more than a block from my front door on foot. Walking one loop of our little 55+ development was a natural thing to try, then doing it every day became a habit. I realized deep inside that though my body still hurt, every pound I lost would ease the pressure on my lumbar spine.

After a while, it occurred to me to haul the dreaded scale out of the closet into the bathroom... seeing a loss of one pound, then two was deeply encouraging. One day I told my husband to keep the butter dish on his side of the table--stopping butter has always been the best diet starter for me. It took a few weeks of pointedly wrapping up and refrigerating half the food he dished onto my plate before he got the idea to serve less to begin with.

And that's how it went. Once I got used to the way the scale bounces my weight around, I stopped worrying when I'd seem to gain three pounds in a day; it always slides down again. One of my big triggers to overeating has been feeling depressed because I've gained weight. The irony!

Anyhow, I'm just really happy with my miracle and pray it will continue.

 

[Grammyof2]

I've had Rhizotomy #2--great success! As with #1 (right side) the multiple anesthetic injections were really painful. I yelped, yelled, hollered, and howled. The actual procedure, of course, was painless. I just get really sensitized to pain, such that at one point when he just brushed his fingers across that part of my back I felt not gentle touch but agony.

Anyhow... I've removed my training wheels! The UpWalker sits in the garage, loved but lonely, and every morning I walk past it holding my trekking poles.

Morning temps here are in the teens, but can feel colder or warmer depending on wind and sun. The streets in my little development basically form a figure 8 with a couple of tangents to take if I wish, so I start with one circle, stop by home for a bathroom break (my bladder is 73 years old, poor thing), and often wind up trading a heavy sweater or parka for a lighter one--or vice versa. Then back out I go for the second circle.

At first it felt so strange to walk within a big black thing in front of me, but I'm getting used to being bipedal (well, quadrupedal, if you count the trekking poles). They give my arms a good workout, including those repaired thumb joints--a pleasant surprise.

I've only used the points once, to navigate two icy parts of my path. It's impossible to slip the rubber covers over them without shop tools, so now that the ice is largely melted I keep the rubber tips (narrow versions of what you'd use on the bottom of a cane) on all the time. The next storm will change that.

Look at me typing "all the time." I've taken exactly four walks post-Rhizo #2!

The lack of pain is astonishing. There's just one small place--maybe the size of a quarter--in my lumbar spine that occasionally hurts a little. I'm learning to stand straight and tall, so naturally my upper back is sometimes stiff. A heating pad helps.

Oh, and I've now lost a total of ~50 pounds and fit into Size 18 and XL. Bundled up more Fat Sharon clothes for Goodwill, so I've splurged on some eBay clothes though I fondly hope they'll be too large in another couple of months.

Tomorrow I'll have the injection to quell the pain in a bursa on my left thigh. Probably a week or two after that, I'll be discharged from PT with an amended list of exercises to do at home... probably forever. I enjoy getting stronger.

Now if only I could get vaccinated soon... As you can see, this old lady loves piercings just as much as today's teenagers, only for different purposes in different places.

 

[FCBayern]

Sounds like you're doing great @Grammyof2. Isn't modern medicine wonderful?

 

[Grammyof2]

Thank you, @FCBayern ! This adventure is absolutely thrilling. I'd given up hope, but hope has returned as my efforts are finally paying off.