It's a cloudy, showery, day here in Cow Town, we were told that there would be "am showers," but that they'd be intermittent, and not amount to much, I had made a tee time for 10:00, and we (Billy and I) figured we might be able to get in a fast 9 holes. Since it was his first time out since before his dad died, he was hanging on to every possibility of playing golf... I'm sorry to report that it just didn't work out.
It's been a great week, for me, physical-wise... Two weeks ago, I was just recovering from an angiogram/angioplasty on my left femoral artery, to fix a blockage that was causing a great deal of pain in my left leg, essentially from the hip down. My doctor sent us pictures from the fluoroscope, before, during, and after the procedure, and the difference is pretty amazing. I have taken on a personal challenge to do the 10,000 step challenge on my Fitbit, five days per week, and maybe six. I started on Monday, and have four consecutive days at more than 10,000, but it won't happen today... It's way too wet outside, and the nearest indoor mall is in Fairfield, and I don't go to Fairfield unless I have no choice. I'm thinking of trying to replace steps with time on our stationary bike. There's a function to track time on a bicycle, but I'm not sure if it would convert to steps... More on that, later...
The "claudication" in my left calf is gone, although I've had some problems with both calves burning, but nothing like before the angiogram/plasty... And it's getting better every day... Although I've used a cart during the four rounds of golf I played this week, and that the 90-degree rule was in effect, I would leave the cart, most often, on the cart path, walk out to the ball, play my shot, and walk back, a self imposed "cart path only". Towards the ends of the rounds, I'd start to get tired, and take the cart out closer to my next shots, but more than 8,000 steps were recorded, so I walked a lot... and did it without pain...
Those of you who are fortunate to have escaped the ravages of time cannot fathom the depth of a desire to do "normal, everyday" stuff... Bend over, and touch your toes... Stand up from a kneeling position... without having the "Anvil Chorus" played out on our joints... As for myself, I was brought back from chronic back pain by Radio Frequency Ablation... This stuff in the left leg is probably old business, but was OBE (overcome by events) because of the back pain... Once the back pain was alleviated, all these other things start popping up... I am, I am so proud to say, OFF of the Norco I had been on for several years, and did it by merely not taking them, and handing over all of the ones I had... No withdrawal, no ill effects, no "wishing I still had some"... I've been on them since we got back from Spokane, so that's like 12 - 13 years, and I know I've had a prescription for most of that time... All it would take is a request, and I could be back on them, but I'm not going there, again.
Funny, I used to take lots of drugs to make me "high," or to try to "escape" from my crappy life... but my life isn't crappy anymore, and addictive drugs, such as Norco, scare the heck out of me, much the way heroin used to scare me. I got over my fear of heroin when I realized that you had to inject this stuff into your veins... That, the thought of me, myself, actually putting a needle in my arm darn near made me pass out... My dad told me, before he passed, that he never worried about my drug use, because I could never inject myself. He knew about a lot of the times during high school, and even a few between then and my enlistment... He didn't know about the "smoke-a-thon" the night before I went to Boot Camp, when a group of us smoked a copious amount of pot, went to Pietro's #2, ate pizza and drank beer for three hours (I was 19), and was still wasted when we left for Oakland. I do not recommend Boot Camp as a way of sobering up...
I'd take something, supposed to be Acid, but who knew? Some people cut the LSD with strychnine, to give it a bigger kick, none of us really knew what was in any of that stuff we took back "in the day"... Now, before I take anything, I read (yes really read) the information that comes with my medications. I've had a couple of allergic reactions to meds, so I try to learn as much as I can before I take anything, any more... Something about understanding your vulnerabilities as you age...
And a "Shout Out" to all of you a-holes who refuse to follow California Vehicle Code, and turn your freaking lights on when it rains, and NO that doesn't mean that because your daytime running lights are on, that you're good... Daytime lights do not turn on your rear lights, so if your headlights are not on, you are darn near invisible, at times, to people behind you. Wise Up!
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