I've done it again: Way too much time betwixt posts. I can (and will) make an excuse. Here it is: I was in too much pain to sit at this machine. You may correctly conclude that since I am at this machine now, pain must no longer be an issue. Almost true, but not quite true. Let's go back in time.
Shortly after my last post in Sept I began physical therapy (PT). It was a thorough go, Three days a week I had--in this order: heat; ultrasound; deep tissue massage; exercises to strengthen the back and torso; ice, and TENS = Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation. When my exercise times increased, this extended to about 2 hours per session.
Last week I was doing 25 minutes on a hand bike (using hands to turn a stationary bicycle crank); 25 minutes on a recumbent bike and 10 minutes of leg presses on a slant board. In other words about a 60-minute workout, with the other 60 minutes being the therapy treatments. I ended up essentially conducting my own workouts and my PT guy was sanguine about that.
This has all been successful. At the beginning I couldn't do anything for very long and used help to get up from the massage table, for example. No longer! I still tighten up and use some heat when I need to in the mornings at home. My PT guy is willing to schedule me on an as needed basis for the rest of my treatment, if any.
So, the past couple weeks I cut back to two sessions per week (T, Th). I really only stopped thereafter because I became fearful of the small spaces in which patients were working out at the same times. Maybe it's unreasonable fear: most of us are not breathing heavily and we are all masked, but the context has changed. First, I have less need to be there, but, second: In Utah right now we have very high COVID-19 positivity rates, ie above 20%. The governor--a strong conservative--wishes to restrict no one's freedom, so has been reluctant with the mandates. Only last week was the first statewide mask mandate. There will be many here who do not give fig for mandates. It is not a good time for an old person with multiple co-morbidities to be fraternizing with strangers.
I had plans to fade out the treatment part of the workout--just doing that on an as needed basis--and picking up at the gym where I used to workout. It has a bigger footprint than where I have been for my PT and is only allowing 4 persons at a time to use the space. So, that is still a possibility.
I had enough energy yesterday to do some minor pruning of our trees in advance of full on winter. (We have snow on the ground today.) And I am a bit more uncomfortable than I have been, but I will stop now, feed myself, get a nap and all will be well.
