Health

Thanks, kids!

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Until I had children, I’d never had to deal with allergies. It’s not unusual for children to inherit certain health conditions from their parents but, in my case, it almost seems as if it’s happened the other way around!

When Richard and I moved to Japan three years ago, we were delighted to find that deliciously fresh pineapple was one of the least expensive fruits in our grocery store. For a time, we enjoyed it with breakfast every morning. After awhile, I began to develop mouth sores. Of course, we were eating a lot of unfamiliar foods at the time so, in spite of the fact that our daughter has been allergic to pineapple for most of her life, it took awhile before I realized that it was the culprit. Since that time, my allergy to pineapple has worsened to the point where an anaphylactic reaction is a very real possibility and I must avoid it at all cost. Very sad, considering how much I used to enjoy it.

Environmental allergies plagued our oldest son, especially in the springtime. Every spring, snow moulds, grasses and pollens would invariably trigger a severe asthma attack. In fact, we used to say that poor Matthew was allergic to spring! I felt so sorry for him. For several years now, Matt seemed to have outgrown those allergies but now I’m beginning to think that he just passed them on to me!

For the past few springs, something on the golf course would leave me sniffling. Something other than my score, that is! The day before yesterday, as we finished our round, it felt as though I had something in my eye. When hadn’t watered out or even moved by later that evening, I realized that something else was going on. It felt like there was a bump on the underside of my eyelid that scraped my eyeball every time I blinked. By last night, my eye was quite badly irritated so, since I was in Camrose on other business this morning, I paid an unscheduled visit to the eye care clinic. Fortunately, a doctor was able to see me right away. He flipped my eyelid inside out, a very strange feeling indeed, and told me that rather than being smooth as it ought to be, the underside looked like cauliflower! A severe allergic reaction was his diagnosis. To what, he couldn’t say but most likely something environmental. Thanks, Matt! Hopefully, the eye drops that he prescribed will take effect quickly.

What else are my kids allergic to? Well, Melaina is allergic to penicillin and Matt didn’t used to be able to eat eggs. Will those be next, I wonder?

Golf is good for me!

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After battling tendonitis in both my shoulders for more than a year and then being diagnosed with adhesive capsulitis or frozen shoulders a couple of months ago, I worried about whether or not I’d be able to golf this season. As it turns out, golf is actually good for me! Imagine my delight when I first swung a club earlier this month and discovered that the motion was almost the same as one of the exercises that I’d recently been given by the physiotherapist! Shortly after that, I read that playing golf can actually enhance strength and mobility of the shoulders, hips and other joints. It’s actually recommended by the Canadian Arthritis Society as well as the Arthritis Foundation in the US. Though I don’t have arthritis, the recommended exercises are the same. Sweet!

Over the past few weeks, I’ve worked hard on the exercises that the physiotherapist gave me and have been delighted with how quickly I’ve seen positive results. Not only are my shoulders no longer sore but I have regained almost normal range of motion. When I saw my doctor last week, he actually told me that I could start lifting weights again! I’m not planning to do that until fall but I do have a new fitness goal that will help rebuild strength in my arms and shoulders. I want to learn to do push ups! I don’t understand why but even after all my years of lifting weights, I’ve never been able to do a push up, not even a so called ‘ladies push up’. Hopefully, that’s about to change. I found a great little video entitled Push Ups For Beginners on YouTube and started working. So far, I’m only doing the super simple wall push up but eventually I’ll graduate to more difficult versions and hopefully someday I’ll be doing the real thing. Maybe before I’m 60?

With our two month missions trip to Saipan coming up soon, we won’t be golfing as much as usual this summer. Apparently there are five golf courses on the island though and we hope to have the opportunity to try one or two of them. I can do shoulder exercises and work on learning how to do a push up anywhere though and we’ll also continue to keep in shape by doing some hiking and lots of walking. Since setting my 100 mile goal back at the beginning of September, I’ve actually walked just over 300 miles and am still counting! Anyway, the sun is shining and golf is good for me so guess what I’ll be doing this afternoon?

26 no shows!

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After waiting more than a month, I finally saw a physiotherapist today. He was brought in to supplement the regular clinic staff for a week in an attempt to clear the backlog as the waiting list had become much too long. According to a sign above the receptionist’s desk reminding patients to phone and cancel if they’re unable to keep their appointments, over the past month there have been 26 no shows! 26! That’s more than one a day! What is the matter with people? How much effort does it take to pick up the phone and make a simple call and what has happened to common courtesy? Surely 26 people didn’t forget that they had appointments! Had they bothered to call and cancel, 26 of us who were waiting could have received treatment sooner.

My appointment went well. After a thorough evaluation that included using a protractor device to measure my range of motion, the therapist assured me that I still have plenty of strength in my arms. That was definitely good news! He agreed, however, that the range of movement in my shoulders is quite limited and went through a series of exercises with me that are designed to increase flexibility in those joints. Several of them involve using a wand. In the clinic, he had me use a cane but any straight rod would do. At home, a broomstick would work well but I’m using my old golf putter instead. After all, one of the reasons for wanting to get my shoulders back in shape as quickly as possible is the fact that the golf course opened this week! We haven’t been out yet but I’m hoping that I can still swing a club. Of course, if 26 people had bothered to cancel their appointments, I would have been doing these exercises sooner and my chances would have been a lot better! Grrr…

My WordPress 5k walk

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When WordPress invited bloggers around the world to join 80 staffers in 62 cities and take part in a 5k run/walk anytime during the week of April 4 to 10, I decided I was in! It was simple. No getting sponsors and raising funds; just getting out and getting some exercise then blogging about it. The idea obviously caught many people’s fancy as bloggers from across the US, Canada, Europe and Australia began to respond. It truly became a worldwide phenomenon as others from Islamabad, Indonesia and India joined in.

I decided to do my walk this afternoon. I knew that 5 kilometres or 3.1 miles wouldn’t be particularly challenging as I walk at least half that far several times a week. After saying hello to the pigeon that has taken to sunning itself at the edge of our driveway the past couple of days, I headed north and out of town. It was a chilly +4C but the big Alberta sky was blue. With the sun on my shoulders and the wind at my back, the first leg of my walk was marvellous.

I passed by the golf course where the greens have recently been cleared of snow and covered with grow tarps and daydreamed about the upcoming golf season. Some years the course opens as early as mid April but it will clearly be awhile before we swing a club this year!

Hole #3 - Sedgewick Golf Course

The walking trail is still mostly covered by snow so I walked along the edge of the road. As I looked out across the snow-covered fields, I wondered how long it will be before we’re out on the land seeding this year’s crop.

When I first planned today’s route, I intended to walk down to the shore of Sedgewick Lake but when I realized that the road into the park wouldn’t have been cleared, I chose a different route. Turning around at the park entrance, I headed back toward town. Walking into the chilly wind wasn’t as pleasant. I was glad I’d decided to wear a hat but I began to wish that it covered my ears! As I entered town and heard the school bell ring, however, I was reminded how lucky I was to be out in the sunshine, wind or no wind. I enjoyed my days in the classroom but oh, how much more I’m loving retirement!

After walking to the centre of town, I turned left at the second 4-way stop. There are exactly two of them in Sedgewick! I stopped at the post office to pick up the mail and, as people in small towns are prone to do, I stood on the steps for 15 or 20 minutes chatting with a friend I hadn’t seen for quite awhile. From there, it was a short walk back home again. Along the way, I looked for signs of spring and was delighted to find a few.

running water

budding trees

and the season's first pussy willows!

I’ve been given the cold shoulder

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Well, in actual fact, I’ve been diagnosed with adhesive capsulitis which is more commonly referred to as frozen shoulder. The symptoms are stiffness, pain and reduced range of motion in both shoulders making it difficult to do simple tasks like applying underarm deoderant and doing up a bra! Fortunately, in my case, it’s just developing and I’m hopeful that by taking action now, I can keep them from freezing up completely.

The cause is often unknown but in cases such as mine, it can start when the shoulder is not used normally for a period of time. Over time, the connective tissue tightens and restricts the joint’s movement. Apparently, the tendonitis that started in my left shoulder a year and a half ago, then in my right several months later, led to this. Gradually, especially over the past winter, I stopped doing things that caused discomfort. Richard took over the vacuuming and washing of floors and I adjusted my exercise program to eliminate those activities that put stress on my upper arms and shoulders. One of my biggest frustrations is the fact that I wasn’t able to lift weights all winter. My once muscular arms are skinny again and I really don’t like skinny!

The good news is that the condition usually resolves itself over time without surgery. The bad news is that that can take up to a couple of years to happen! Treatment usually begins with anti-inflammatory drugs but unfortunately, I can’t take those because they destroy my stomach. The doctor that I saw yesterday doesn’t feel that there’s enough evidence to show that either ultrasound or cortisone injections are very effective so for now, I’m on the waiting list for physiotherapy and I’m doing lots of gentle stretching. I also haven’t ruled out acupuncture.

I plan to follow the example of Bikini or Bust blogger, Donloree Hoffman, whose physical challenges are greater than mine. Rather than feeling sorry for myself, I’m determined to remain positive and work at overcoming this. I WILL have strong arms again! It’s just a matter of time.

And while I’m waiting for my shoulders to thaw, I’ll look for the silver lining. After all, this has turned my husband into quite the gentleman! Not only does he vacuum, wash floors and open the heavy garage door for me, he also holds my coat for me these days. Of course, he remembers the night when I cried because it hurt so much to take my t-shirt off. Fortunately, most days aren’t like that one and compared to the health issues that many people face, mine is really pretty trivial.