So, in getting real with you and myself, I should do a little checking in. Part of the reason that I need to do a challenge to jump start my training is because I have been treating myself poorly. I am acting like I am in my twenties with my food choices and as if I am in my eighties with my exercising. This has caused and is caused by my well being. So for some facts:
I am back to the starting weight I was at when my cousin and I decided to start hiking for our health and to get to know each other better; it was also the time we fell in love with hiking. I weigh 198 as of this morning. The weight and lack of movement has me hiking slower and shorter distances. I don’t have the stamina that I had built up. A three mile hike is making me tired. I could definitely do more, but I get to the point of wanting to stop. I need to develop the stamina again.
My blood pressure has also stayed steadily higher than we would like it to be. For two years, my doctor and I have been watching it to see what was affecting it. We learned that without milk, it drops some. Hiking makes it drop quite a bit. Losing weight made a difference. But nothing other than the milk was consistent. I tried to do an anti-inflammatory diet, but I kept having excuses to eat off the plan. So, my doctor has taken it into her hands and put me on a diuretic. It lowers my blood pressure and reduces the water retention hopefully reducing the puffiness I often feel all over.
The first few weeks, I couldn’t hike because the medicine made me light headed and weak. It still does sometimes, but it doesn’t last long. My blood pressure dropped into numbers I hadn’t seen since my first pregnancy. I was feeling less tired and more energized. Then the stress started to build. Things weren’t going well for some family members and I had a lot of commitments. My blood pressure went right back to where it was. I am beyond those stressors and hope to see the numbers level off into a plane. When that happens, we will know what to do next.
My feet were bothering me, so I asked to see a podiatrist. I got new shoes with his advice, and walking around two Disney parks for two days was a lot more comfortable than it would have been otherwise. I am glad to have had that taken care of so easily. I will still get the shot to rebuild the nerve casing because I don’t want to back slide.
My doctor suggested, a year ago, seeing a counselor or psychologist about my eating problems. But when my blood pressure didn’t stay down, she suggested and prescribed that I see one for stress. After five phone calls, I finally have an appointment for tomorrow. I hope that she can help me with both issues.
Then just days after seeing my doctor and getting all of this sorted out, I found a lump in my breast. I had more doctors to see. It started with a mammogram and ultra sound. This showed that the lump was a cyst, but it found what I didn’t find, a mass in the other breast. I had to get a biopsy and an aspiration. The aspiration of the cyst went well and showed no abnormalities. But the mass was a different story. It showed non-cancerous, but had fast growing cells. Time to get a surgeon involved. The surgeon said that the mass was a type that mimicked fibrous masses and would at least take over the breast tissue and at worst become cancerous. So, now I am waiting for removal of the mass. I am optimistic that this is going well. But in the meantime, I have scheduled a hike and taken on this 100 day challenge.
Life isn’t always going to be easy. It isn’t always going to go as planned. But, if we remain in a good frame of mind, we will get past what ails us or learn to accept it. And, I have also learned that a good day of hiking can change my perspective and outlook on many things, so I am going to keep hiking through it all.