Walking Challenge Day Eight

It was another bright sunny day with the temperatures into the 60’s. I took advantage by walking my two mile route. 

I walk east on Waverly Place to Atlantic, turn left and head north for two blocks to Euclid. From there I head west down Euclid, past Post, past Monroe, all the way to Adams. At that point I head south two blocks to Fairview and then start the final leg for home.

The problem with this route is that it takes me right by the Hub Tavern and it’s a perfect time for a rest and a cool refreshing glass o water. Next week, when Lent is over, I’ll have a beer.

I ran into a problem today with putting my oxygen generator in my backpack. It over heated. I was a good half way through my walk when it suddenly started beeping and shut down. The display said it was too hot. So I pulled it out and continued the walk with it draped on my shoulder. 

I guess I’ll just have to be tough and suck it up.

I have a potential conflict with the Walking Challenge on Wednesday. My friend Rob and I are going skiing at Lookout Pass. I may not get a walk in that day. I will try to take a walk when I get home but I think skiing in lieu of walking is an acceptable trade off.

Walking Challenge Day Se7en

A great day for a walk! My backyard thermometer says it’s 60 out. The sun is shining and there is lots of activity in the park.

I helped a friend move today and when I got home, I immediately went for a walk. I did a good solid mile, maybe as much as a mile and a half and it felt pretty good. I was winded when I got back to the house.

He’s the data downloaded from my oximeter.

I’m surprised by the big drops. I certainly never feel it when I’m walking. All in all, a good day for a walk and I’m keeping the string alive.

Walking Challenge Day Sex

The challenge continues although I only seem to be able to walk a mile every day. I know today is a busy day so I’m not expecting to walk much more.

The larger backpack worked better but I still feel the strain of carrying it. My back and shoulders get sore but that is just a matter of ignoring the discomfort and stop being a puss.

Today was a good walk and I did the mile in about 21 minutes. I was good and winded at the end.

Here is the breathing data for today.

I only stopped a couple of brief times to catch my breath and then continued the walk.

Today’s weight is 230.

Walking Challenge Day Fi5e

I have just returned from my one mile morning walk. It was a tough one today. I again went out without my oximeter. I stopped to rest a couple times and I was really winded when I got back to the front porch.

I tried one new thing today. I have found that carrying the oxygen generator with the strap across one shoulder became uncomfortable during the walk. So today, I put the unit in a backpack and carried it evenly distributed on my back.

I think it worked better but it became uncomfortable because the backpack was too small for me. 

I’ll go out again today and use my good backpack that is larger. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Later: I wasn’t able to walk more but I did visit the Spokane Falls while out doing some errands and I walked around that area quite a bit. 

We also walked over to the Hub and back which I figure is a strong half mile to add to my total. The two glasses of wine I drank while at the Hub might remove a quarter mile from my total distance.

Todays weight is 231 pounds.

Walking Challenge Day Four

I got in another walk today but it was only one mile around the park.

It turned out to be a good walk and I have a theory about why. I did not  wear my oximeter today which means I had no indication when my oxygen level dropped, so I never felt compelled to stop and get catch my breath. I pretty much managed to make the trip around the park without resting.

Another theory is that there are good days and bad days.

Walking Challenge Day Three

I managed to walk today but only a mile. I’m afraid it won't be long until I find a reason not to walk. My resolve sucks.

It doesn’t help that the walk was difficult. I stopped three times to rest. My oximeter was vibrating pretty violently about two thirds of the way back. I figured it’s probably not a great idea to keep walking when my oxygen is below 90%…even if I don’t feel dizzy.

Here’s a screen shot of the data from my walk.

You can see that my oxygen levels fluctuate rather dramatically during my walk.

Walking Challenge Day Two

I have now completed my goal for two days in a row. 

Today was nice enough that I walked the park. I did one mile this morning and felt quite spent at the end. I only stopped once to catch my breath.

My second walk happened a little after three and I again walked the park. This time was harder and I stopped several times to rest. The rest periods were not much more than a minute or two. I was definitely feeling it when I got home.

Today’s weight was 231.6.   

Start of New Walking Challenge

 I am challenging myself to walk every day for the next 30 days. I’m going to try to walk three miles each day. I may walk less but no less than a mile.

Today I weigh in at 232 pounds. My goal is 200 pounds. I am weak, I do not have good resolve and when it comes to pushing myself, I am a Pussy!

I thought by writing it down here, and committing to posting about it every day, it will keep me in line and on track.

I did my three miles today at Northtown Mall. It took me one hour and nine minutes and my Oxygen Generator died on the last lap, so I stop and caught my breath a few times. It did pretty well on my first two laps, equal to 1 1/2 miles. 

It’s a rainy day in Spokane which is why I went to the Mall.

Reminiscing

I have just been looking back at this Blog. Back in 2007 when I started it, I weighed 215 pounds. At that time, my goal was to get to 200.

Right now, I would be thrilled with 215. That is my current goal. 

It’s interesting how your prospective changes in 18 years. Of course, back then I was talking about running a mile and working out on a cross country ski trainer. Today, running…any running is in my rear view mirror and the view of running is waaaaaaay back there.

Well, I guess that is the reason I have this Blog. It gives me the opportunity to look back and try and figure out what the hell I was thinking.

It would be great to have this Blog going back to my twenties when I wasn’t thinking at all.

Fatter

I had a bad day on Wednesday as far as eating goes.

I had a pre-arranged lunch with a guy who is offering to help us with some issues concerning our church. I also was invited by Susan to join the girls for dinner at O’Donnell’s.

I ate light at lunch. A salad and a bowl of soup. I had a hankering for a Rueben sandwich when we got to O’Donnell’s and I satisfied that hankering. Plus a bowl of their chowder. Mmmm Mmmm Good.

I gained four pounds as a result. I lost half a pound yesterday so I’m weighing in today at 235.6.

I cannot seem to break below 230. Every time I get close, I bounce back up.

I’m off beer for Lent so I should be able to drop some pounds but it is proving difficult. 

I shall be tough and fast today.

Ski Day Four

Rob and I headed to Mt Spokane for another Ski Day. Again we chose a bright, sunny day. They haven’t had any new snow in a while but what they have is still in great shape.

Joining us for the morning was our high school buddy Johnny. We ended up spending most of our time on Chair Six. It gets the best exposure to sun. 

I really felt great today! I still had to stop in the middle of runs but I had some great stretches of skiing without stopping. Of course, when I do stop, my legs are on fire and I’m breathing heavily.

Fortunately, I recover within a couple minutes AND there is no chest pain.

We managed to eek out 14 runs. Good day!

February BP

 

Ski Day Three

 Rob and I headed to Mt Spokane for another great day of skiing. The skies were clear and blue and the snow was great. It started out kind of hard but loosened up quickly to give us some great pre-spring skiing.

We did 9 runs in the morning and another four after lunch for a total of 13.

That’s a good day in my book!

Dermatology Update

My little rash that I had frozen a few weeks ago is getting better. I've been pretty good over the last couple of weeks about keeping it covered. That has made a big difference in the healing process.

It probably doesn't help that I'm old and therefore, slow healing.

I was going to take a picture but it isn't really anything worth looking at. I consider this matter closed.

That means I'm moving on to all the other ailments I'm dealing with.

Ski Day Deux

7:45 AM: I am just getting ready for my second ski day of the season. It looks to be a nice, clear day. Here’s a shot from the Mt Spokane Webcam.

One of my criteria for skiing now is “No Fog”. So today meets that requirement.

However, I’m a little worried about the temperature. The mountains thermometer looks like it says 10°. It’s supposed to warm up to 25° by mid day, so we’ll see how we do.

I’m properly equipped with all my cold weather gear and accoutrements, so I think I’ll be okay. I shall update you in the next paragraph.

4:39PM: Well, it was certainly cold up on the ol’ mountain today but it didn’t stop us from having a great day. I got in 9 runs for $40.00 which works out to about $4.45 a run. That’s cheap entertainment in my book.

It was kind of tough skiing because of the cold. The wind on your face would give you an ice cream headache. But it was such a beautiful, sunny day, it took the sting away from the headache.

Overall, I’m thrilled with the day and now I’m going to take a nap!

January BP

 

Dermatology Report

 About a week and a half ago when I saw Dr. Mooney, she noticed a rash on my chest just below my neck. The spot is a small indentation right at my clavicle that I've noticed since the 70's. It used to get a little light brownish discolormentation that made me think it was Ringworm or something. I do not recall if I ever had it looked at.

On Mooney's encouragement, I made an appointment with Advanced Dermatology to have it looked at. Yesterday, was that day.

I met Dr. Keith Parker. He had me remove my shirt and looked me all over. He said he saw nothing that concerned him. He decided we should freeze the rash off which I agreed to.

It was just a matter of spraying some liquid nitrogen on the rash. It kind of stung but was no big deal.

Later in the day, I felt around the rash and the scabby skin that was there fell away and exposed this red oozing sore.

I followed the instruction they gave me and dabbed a little Vaseline on it and covered it with a bandage.

It continues to ooze a bit but other than that, I'm just letting it heal.

Anyway, that's another piece of good news that I don't have skin cancer.

Transplant List Update

If I am reading the notes correctly from Dr. Reddy, who is my Kidney Specialist, he seems to feel that my kidney issues are caused by my deteriorating heart and I would therefore benefit from a heart transplant. My kidneys are not failing because they are going bad. They are going bad, because of my heart.

This is good news for advocating my getting on the Heart Transplant list.   

Kidney Doctor

We saw a kidney doctor yesterday. This was the next step in my looooooong journey to get on the list for a heart transplant. The thing they are trying to figure out is are my kidneys going bad, or are my kidneys going bad because of my weakening heart.

Dr. Reddy seemed to feel that it is the latter, my heart is making problems for my kidneys. They were going to do a kidney biopsy on me but that would require me going off my daily aspirin for seven days. Apparently, that's not a good idea. They decided against that.

Instead, I am on a 24 hour Urine Study. So, since after my first pee this morning, I have been peeing into a jug until my first pee tomorrow morning. Then I can return the jug to the lab and some poor technician gets to deal with it then.

Hopefully, the results of this rather large collection of urine will help to get me on the list.

Breaking the Fast

Susan and I just finished a 12 day fast. It was something that a local church offered up as a way to commune with God. 

The deal was to not eat anything all day until sundown. Then you could have a normal meal.

I have to say that I did pretty good during the fast. I had a few moments of weakness, but a little prayer to build my resolve and I cruised on towards dinner time. And besides, the point was to get closer to God.

In the course of doing the fast, I lost five pounds. For that reason, I think I’m going to continue to eat just one meal a day. I really want to lose 30 pounds. That would get me close to an even 200. 

It’s going to require some good discipline and some walking. I’ve been going to Northtown to walk and the last two times I went, I did three miles. I haven’t done three miles in ages.

I’m not going to fool myself. There will be snacking. But I’m going to try and make it healthy stuff and stay away from the Reeces peanut butter cups.

Excuse me now while I go and scarf!

Reprieve

Yesterday, I had my monthly appointment with one of the doctors on the Transplant team. This time, we met with Dr. Mooney. I brought up how disappointed I’ve been with not being allowed to ski. She thought about it for a while and at the end of the appointment, she said it would be okay if I skied. She said to take it easy and listen to my body.

I can do that. I can hear my body right now. It’s saying, “Let’s go skiing!”

Three Mile Walk

For the first time in a looooooooong time, I walked three miles today.

I went to Northtown Mall to walk and when I got there, I was feeling pretty good so I set myself to walk 3 miles. I did two laps on the main floor (1.5 miles) and two laps on the second floor (1.5 miles). I took a brief rest just after the start of the second floor, about three minutes, and then finished up.

Afterwards, I strolled down to an airsoft shooting range shop on the main floor of the mall. Practically every time I walk by this place, there is nobody in there. I decided to give it a try. It cost me $15.00 for 80 shots. I think I managed to hit 12 targets with my 80 shots. 

I hope to do better in the future.

Heart Alert

I just had a little event that was significant enough for me to come upstairs and record it here so I remember the date and time.

 At about 9:00AM today, I was in the kitchen reading the morning news when I began to feel this discomfort in my left arm. As it grew stronger, it started to radiate into my left shoulder blade on my back.

It got to a point where it was pretty intense and very uncomfortable, not painful. I came upstairs and took my blood pressure. As the cuff finished the reading, 110/72, the discomfort faded and I was back to normal.

At no time during this event did I feel any chest pressure or pain. 

Mall Walkin’

Susan and I went to Northtown Mall to walk on Friday and it did not go well. I didn’t even make it around the main floor which would be .75 miles. I was just shaky and a bit dizzy. We ended up leaving and I took it easy for the rest of the day.

We went again yesterday and had much better results. We walked the whole coarse, both levels which means we walked a mile and a half. I felt much better than the day before. It felt good to know that the walk on Friday had been an anomaly. I was worried that something had changed with me and I couldn’t walk anymore.

To confirm, I walked again today with great results. I made the mile and a half in about 24 minutes. I would like to break 20 minutes but that is going to require some training and some grit. I’ve never been accused of having grit.

Twenty Twenty-Fi5e - The Year Begins Anew

I start 2025 five pounds heavier than I started 2024. I'm at 242 this morning. I know I've said it several times, but this trend has to stop. I'm feeling the 242. I'm tired and easily wear out. I know that's due to my heart issues but it can't help to weigh at over a tenth of a ton.

We celebrated the New Year with our friends Kim and Gary and went and saw "A Complete Unknown", the Bob Dillon story. It was pretty good and should ring up quite a few Oscar nominations.

We woke up to snow, as I had hoped and as had been forecast. It's ending soon and I doubt much of it will stay around. Already the sidewalks are clean and we didn't have to do anything. But, I was able to get this lovely picture to start off the new year.

The main project of the day is to get our tinder dry Christmas Tree out of the house. If I can get to it, I'm going to get all the outside Christmas lights down as well.

10:05PM: Success! We got all the Christmas lights on the house down. We got the tree undecorated and it is currently standing on the front porch. 

Tomorrow, I shall unceremoniously cut it in half and put it out in the alley for the city to pick up. They have a program for picking up trees and composting them.

Anyway, I feel pretty good about our progress today. Tomorrow, maybe we can get some of the boxes stowed up in the Carriage House.