recumbent Bike

Went about 30 minutes on the recumbent bike this morning and then did some stretches in the living room. I was going to go longer, but I chickened out.
My back was still a bit tender, but nothing like it was. I am a bit tentative about pushing too hard as I’m beginning to think healing this thing is going to take a bit longer than it used to. Regardless I’m going to do some stretching and back workout at lunchtime.

That being said, I could sure use a burger at lunch.

I JUST CAN'T WIN

 Just getting ready to go ride the recumbent bike and see what I can do. 

The sun rose slowly and warmly across the backyard Sunday morning. The multi shade of green garden of pumpkins, tomatoes, and corn was buzzing with bees pollinating all the plants. Bill walked out of his back door at 6:30, stopped momentarily, basking in the morning sun reflecting off the dew, as if he were some colossus standing guard over the land.

Ah … Yertle the Turtle.

He passed the garden opening the side door to the white garage. There they were – his weights; his constant friends for more than four decades. They would never let him down. It was a mismatched collection of Weider, York, Billard and, a bunch of weights without names; some made in china, others the U.S.

From one of the rafters hung a giant hook which held four exercise bands of surgical tubing Bill used for tricep extensions. He’d switch from two to four bands depending on his mood, strength, and caffeine level. The old weightlifting bench was in near the back of the garage and on it was two bars; one an e-z curl bar resting in the padding loaded with about 60 pounds and a strait bar resting on the steel bar supports for bench pressing it was loaded with 85 lbs. There two 45 lb. dumbbells and another straight bar on the floor with 60 lbs.

Bill figured he’d get an early morning arm blast before he and his wife went to the realtor at 11 to finalize the listing for their home.

He picked up the straight bar and began slow curl repetitions, fully extending his army and then bring the bar back to shoulder level. With each movement his body began to glisten as the early humidity collected on his skin.

He moved to the e-z curl bar and did the same thing. More sweat. There is a certain visceral enjoyment in lifting weights, he thought as he moved to the other straight bar.

He reached down, drops of sweat falling off his nose. Instead of doing curls with the lighter straight bar, he decided to do some military presses and then put the bar down to do another set of curls. He knocked out the presses, put the bar on the ground, changed his grip, and felt a ripping, binding, searing pain tear through the small of his back.

He couldn’t breathe – only grown. He was having muscle spasms.

He dropped his weightlifting belt and struggled to make it back inside the house with his weightlifting gloves still on. He waddled like a fat man to a birthday as he made it to his recliner in the family room. As he sat, a woeful groan escaped his lips.

“Billy, are you okay,” his wife called.

“No, I threw my back out,” he said. “HELP ME!”

His wife ran from the room pulling her night gown on as she went. “What can I do,” she souted on the run.

“Get me some Naproxen and come over here please.”

Kate fished through the cabinets, tied her house dress around her, found the medicine, and ran to the living room.

“Take my gloves off my hands,” Bill said.

“Are you okay?” she asked as she peeled the Velcro from his wrists and pulled the gloves off.

“I can’t believe it,” he said. “I can’t move anything. I’m in terrible pain.”

“We have to get some ice on that.”

“I know,” he said. “But don’t move me. Let’s just wait a minute.”

This exchange, or some like it, lasted for about a half an hour until the two eventually were able to get ice on the area and the pain subsided enough to get Bill in the car for the realtor appointment.

When they entered the office, the realtor, Jessica, greeted them, “How are you?”

“Oh I’m fine,” Kate said. “But Bill is a bit stoved up.”

“Really,” Jessica said. “What’s wrong?”

“I hurt my back working out this morning.”

“Really,” She said in disbelief. “You workout?”

Bill Potter

I have a big appointment Wednesday with my oncology doc – I guess he’s a hematology doc really. I’m a bit leery, but we’ll see what happens. I still have the underarm ache and hopefully it’s tendonitis from lifting weights like a 20-year old with a 54-year old body. Speaking of which, I have made huge jumps in my strength, but need to turn to my core training. I’ve been kind of tentative because I still get some pain from the bowel resection scar, but what the hell …

My back was pretty messed up all weekend, but it is slowly coming back – another reason for strengthening my core.

That’s it.

Love ya all

Bill

back to the drawing board

Back to the drawing board

I’ve decided to start writing on this blog again. Maybe people will see it maybe they won’t. At some level it really doesn’t matter. I hit a snag n my recovery when I hurt my back lifting weights last Sunday.  I cried like a baby. Anyway there is a perspective here I missed. I can’t track the challenges I am going through and can’t leave a trail behind like Arne Saknussemm.
It’s back to the drawing board with back exercises and core tightening before I can start hoisting the weights I was banging out.

short going work post

Good morning all:

The Appalachian Trail

Well it’s back to work after the best week off I’ve had in a long, long time. No chemo. No chemo, no appointments, no doctors feeling me up. I hiked, played golf, and went fishing. It was marvelous!

I also had the best biscuits and gravy I’d had in years. Superb I tell you!

My big appointment is next Wednesday. I have a little anxiety, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be okay.

I’ll be spending the next few days busting tail on the big state plan that has to be in some type of finished format in the next 11 days so it can be reviewed and commented upon before the final submission in August.

vacation over it was great

Well my friends it’s Sunday – work tomorrow.

This was a very good week. Almost no neuropathy and I really pushed myself. Maybe we got this thing on the ropes for the final push.

Feeling a little queasy. I think that was from so much sun this week; I’m gonna lay low today and putter about the house.

Need to clean my room; it is a mess. I have discovered that if I throw clothes on the floor, no one puts them away and it becomes a carpet. That wouldn’t be so bad the, but the dogs hide bones under it all and I keep rolling my ankle.

No petechiae to report so that’s good.

Well that’s it for now.  See ya

bragging

6JUN2012

Okay now I’m just bragging. You can pretty much hear me tell tales of how wonderful I am most any day, but this is kind of special. Well as you know everything I write is somehow special; it is as if the fount of some grant sage is open and the words hop from fingertips to the page. Ah the wonder of my sagacity and me.

Okay enough of that; I’d probably stopped reading by now if I were you.

Okay this week I took my first non-medical time off in almost two years. It was heavenly.

Kate and I hiked on the Appalachian Trail, took a tour of the caverns in Luray and painted two rooms when we got home. Okay that may sound kind of mundane. But I only returned to work six months ago and fulltime about six weeks ago.

Lest than a year – much less in fact – I couldn’t walk from my bed to the master bathroom and I maxed out at about 1/10^th of mile for walking. Now I can do all that, but it has taken a lot of hard work.

Although I’ve taken the past two weeks off from working out, I usually get up at about six and workout with weights or biking.

Anyway just a quick update. I’m going fishing tomorrow and Friday I plan to attempt 18 holes.