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June 15: In Stow at Judy’s for my rehab.


June 14: Hey, celebration day…as it’s been exactly 4 weeks since I was on the operating table. And in a sense this was a day to celebrate in a number of ways. First off, I’d have to say the night before, Monday night, was my absolute best night of sleep since I was doing that Wednesday ride back in May 11th in Nevada. I’ve been able to do multi-hour stretches of sleeping on my side in the fetal position, this with a big pillow bolstering my chest. It’s just fabulous to be able to get back into my normal sleeping posture. 

So I must have had a ton of sleep Monday night because I woke up this morning and just felt more peppy and energized than I’ve felt since surgery. The chest is still feeling pretty stiff, but the soreness, no the awful mind-numbing pain, is completely gone. Today, this morning it’s down to just a lot of stiffness and some moderate pain based on how I twist and turn my upper torso. This is also readily apparent during sleep, where before I would just dread making a move in the bed due to the chest pain. Now I can pretty much use my hands and forearms to maneuver myself around in the bed so as to switch back and forth from side to side. 

Now second off with respect to the celebrating, is the fact that I felt better today, overall, than any day since surgery. As I said, I just had way more pep and a spring to my step today. THAT in itself just really gave me motivation in this whole rehab process. So I did my walk in the late morning, deciding to go just a tad further than my prior longest walk. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I’m on a mission to PR every time I go out for a walk. More like I just felt so much better today that I felt I wanted to get a little bit more time into the walk. To me the walk is more than just PT. It’s like my mental therapy to. 

I just let my mind drift to a myriad of different subjects. But even more than that, it’s this peacefulness I get that really feels good. I get that content, peaceful feeling x3 when I’m riding my bike. I’ve often told people jokingly that I regularly attend the “Church of Cycletology”, in that I get this wonderful, freeing feeling when I ride a bike. It just never gets old. It’s always new and exciting. It’s part of my DNA! So anyway, that walk right now is my replacement for my cycling. And though the feeling of contentment are somewhat duller on the walk than on the bike, it’s still contentment nonetheless. 

So I went up to my previous farthest walk point, which I’d done on Sunday, and went one power line length further, about 3 minutes one way. I’ve been trying really hard to keep my intensity level at that RPE 3-4 range, and that was the case on this walk as well. Yet I seem to be getting a little further at the same RPE I’ve been holding myself to. Does that mean I’m getting fitter? Don’t know really, but it appears that I am based on my getting just a tad further with the same amount of walking time. Today for instance, I ended up with the same about of walk time as Sunday, 1.5 hrs, but I walked one power line’s length further. 

Later in the day Judy helped me get pop to his cardiologist appt. And then in the evening, John aka “Maddog”, Jeff and Ken came over to Judy’s with this amazing dinner and wine selection. I mean these guys brought over a dinner you’d get in Downtown 140 in Hudson for gosh sake! Had a wonderful meal supplemented by red and white wines. We sat out on the patio talking, eating and drinking until well after sunset. 

I just continue to get blown away by thoughtfulness of all our friends and family. I’d say we’re a couple of pretty lucky people to have all of you in our lives. Thanks again to everyone!!