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| /Photo from November 2023/ |
"Autumn is the season that teaches us to let go."
On Monday we had a glimpse of sun and blue sky here for a while, in the middle of the day; which inspired me to try a long overdue walk to the nearest "recycling station" (for packaging waste) some 300+ meters or so from home.
I usually go every weekend, but now it had been 3+ weeks (the last time was the same day that I fell and hurt my knee - just after leaving that spot!). Walking there and back usually takes me perhaps 20 minutes, now it took me 40. Besides me now walking very slowly and keeping my eyes on the ground (looking out for wet leaves), it also turned out when I got there, that every recycling container was already over-full... (No doubt a few more people had been taking advantage of that short break in the almost endless rain lately!) I only "just" managed to squeeze in the contents of my own bag too, in their respective containers... (But I did get it all in, and did not just leave things on the ground - as I hate when others do that...)
No photos, as I had enough to cope with just handling myself and my main "mission".
It was my longest walk yet since the fall. My knee is still not back to "normal", neither in colour nor size. But the swelling has gone down enough for me to now be able to wear a compression knee bandage over cotton tights... (which makes it easier for me to put it on vs take it off...)
Later, back home, I snapped the shot below through a window. I'm pretty sure those leaves must have had "help" to gather themselves that neatly below the tree... ;)
Yesterday (Tuesday) was laundry day for me, which is still quite enough "being on my feet" for me for one day. (Still some sorting and ironing left for me to do today.)
Since the week after my annual primary health care check-up, I've been self-monitoring my blood pressure at home (morning and evening, three days per week), reporting the results to an HCC nurse via an app - a new way of communicating with them, recently introduced. (I've been using my own monitor, as I have one since before that they "approve of". Otherwise one gets to borrow one.) That's been a relief in the respect that I've not had to transport myself to the HCC to do it (which I find stressful even in normal circumstances, not to mention just now, when I'd have to take a taxi!). But still a bit stressful anyway. And as my values have been "borderline" (perhaps also affected a bit by my "knee situation"?), I've not been feeling sure how the doctor (new to me) would choose to interpret them. But today I got a message in the app that she found them OK, which means I can just continue taking the same meds as before, and in the same dosage. (I guess she also weighed in for example that my blood tests were all good.) So the official monitoring has been declared over for now. A sigh of relief from me, as I know from previous experiences that adjusting medication can be quite a trial in itself...
Good news on all fronts - congratulations. I hope your knee continues to improve. It's dicey walking when there are so many wet leaves on the ground. I do like the carefully arranged leaf pile, though.
ReplyDeleteJanice, the knee is definitely better, it's just a slow process and not all easy to weigh the need of rest vs exercise.
DeleteGood to hear about BP and meds being in ok range. I’ve recently consulted with cardiologist, with questions and good answers. New general doctor to meet in appointment in a few weeks, and I hope we do well together. Some anxiety there. Glad you could walk there and back - great 600 yards plus laundry! Congrats!
ReplyDeleteThanks Barbara. I do know the anxiety of meeting new doctors, in later years I've had a new one for every annual checkup and then one never really gets to know them (or they me!)
DeleteWonderful news about your B.P.! Usually, pain will elevate it. I think you are doing too much!
ReplyDeleteGinny, my main problem has not actually been a lot of pain, more about not quite knowing how much to "trust" my injured knee or not, or how long it will take to (hopefully) get back to normal - and how to deal with certain things in the meantime. Living alone, there is no one else around to ask for help so a lot of things I simply have to do, but on the whole I don't think I've been doing "too much". To myself it feels like I'm still spending most of each day resting ("with my feet up")...
DeleteA hard-won small victory, managing the long walk, the recycling, and the health check updates
ReplyDeleteRo, it's a slow process, but I do feel that it's in the right direction so far...
DeleteAdjusting medication can indeed be trying. I have been on blood pressure reduction medication for a year now and there have not been two months in which the pill cocktail has remained the same. The knee injury happened so quickly but the recovery remains slow. Quite a contrast.
ReplyDeleteYP, I've been on BP meds since my early thirties, with some adjustments now and then along the way, so on that front I do have some experience by now... I do hope for you that they soon find the right combination to keep yours stable!
DeleteThat must be such a relief! And on the "knee" front, you are taking it - literally - one step at a time, which I can only admire. Like many people, I am very impatient when for one reason or other I can not go about my activities as usual, and tend to overdo things as soon as I'm "let loose" again. You have a much more sensible approach.
ReplyDeleteThanks Meike. I'm struggling all the time with trying to find the right balance... Living alone, I can't allow myself to become too afraid to try necessary "everyday" kind of things - but on the other hand, I know that doing "too much" may still just set me back instead...
DeleteYou're doing well Monica. With a problem knee injury like yours I'm not sure I would have liked to walk as far as you did, just for recycling.
ReplyDeleteThe leaves do look very artistically arranged. There is an area on my driveway, where I normally park the car, and the wind swirls all the leaves from my neighbour's trees into neat piles. I have actually stood and watched it - makes it much easier for me to clean them up.
Carol, in my own mind, I don't think of it as going for a walk "just for recycling", but as combining getting out for a walk (in a rare glimpse of sunny weather) with getting rid of a bag of waste which would otherwise just continue to clutter up my home!
Deleteat first I thought what if you walked there and then could not walk back, but remembered you could call a taxie if you had to.. so glad all is well and meds did not change and that you could walk for 40 minutes. well done.. I have the same shoes as you have on and it all I wear, socks for cold and none for hot.. I do know if not for the fall, there would be a lot of photos from the walk
ReplyDeleteSandra, I felt confident that I would be able to walk that distance, or I would not have tried it. It's not much longer than I had managed before. It was also a dry day, so had felt I need of it, I could have rested for a while on some bench along the way.
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