Back to Walking

The only therapy that the orthopedic surgeon allowed after my spinal fusion was walking.  He wanted me to build up to a mile a day as quickly as possible, then gradually add to that distance each day that I walked.  He was hoping for 7 days a week.

I got up to a mile and a half but only 5 days a week and could do that distance consistently in about 30-35 minutes.  What you do not understand yet is that my walking was not done on a flat surface in a gym but in our community where the roads went up and down.

When we started looking for a smaller house, and after finding one, getting both houses ready; one to sell and one to move into, I no longer took the time to walk.  After moving in, then there was putting everything away and organizing.  After three months of intense daily activity, I just did not want to do anything, let alone start back walking

Also during that time and for about 6-8 weeks my cancer was growing and it was making me feel daily nausea and higher than normal fatigue.  As my body got used to the change and the medicine began working, I was able to return to some kind of normalcy.  My last PET scan showed ACTIVITY but no GROWTH.

So, about a week ago, I started walking again.  I did not try to walk fast.  I did not time myself, nor did I calculate the distance.  My plans were to walk like that for several days, then increase the distance and maybe calculate the distance.  Today, I walked the increased distance but did not calculate to see how far that was.  I will walk the same tomorrow, then on Sunday we leave for Myrtle Beach and there will be no walking.

On Monday, our first morning at Myrtle Beach, I will make sure that I walk a mile...  half way up and half way back...  this will be done in front of our condo just like I did it the year before.

While walking is good for the heart and overall health, I am mainly walking because of my back and will hopefully get back to the pre-surgery condition where I enjoyed walking.  When walking is a struggle, it is no fun to walk.