Ya Know

Two years ago last July after pinching my Sciatic nerve which left me flat on my back for most of a week and the only therapy the specialists recommended was simple, "Get your ass out the door and walk as far as you can as often as you cant, and carry a backpack to add weight over time.", I weighed about 185 lbs. 

Well a year and a half and 2,000 miles later I was down to 160 lbs with the goal of getting to 150 lbs. Simple I said. No so fast life said, and since last January when I was down to 155 lbs I've been sick almost all the time from a variety of issues, none of which show up on lab test except all the signs and symptoms point to something the specialists have no idea beyond their  typical answer, IBS.

IBS is medical shorthhand for "It Beats the Shit" out of me, which I describe after one specialist said the same thing in medical terms, meaning they don't know. So far I've come to think it's not losing the weight that's the cause but the body's physical and physiological reaction adjusting to the weight loss which has caused some of the problems and left me susceptible to others, like colds and the flu.

Ya know, maybe life is telling me something and I trying hard not to listen.

Age

There are several ages we look forward to with hope or regret, but only two ages have an real significance to our lives, when we turn 21 and we are legally an adult fully responsible for our our decisions and actions from then to the day we die, and when we turn 65 and are legally considered "old" in the sense we are eligible for more things than we imagined, far more than we want, and only a few we actually really need.

Turning 65 to some isn't a day of joy, but one of sadness as we've left a life behind and know the life ahead is one everyone fits into a catagory most young people fear becoming. Turning 65 we lose our identity as a person as much as we are now just old, living with what we have left in hopes it's as good as we want fearing time and age will, if it hasn't already, caught up with us.

Turning 65 we are faced with the reality Teddy Roosevelt said, "Do what you can where you are with what you have."

Setback II

I had a setback to my Sciatic nerve healing in February, which was likely aggrevated by one of the walks in January where I felt twinges in my lower back walking up a hill but it faded so I didn't think about it.

The February setback was the first significant setback since September 2012, but kept going on my daily walks until the body and especially the legs were overly tired and the next day my left leg was in pain from the hip to the big toe (one of the nerve paths down the leg).

I rested for nearly two weeks but got tired of waiting and felt good enough to walk, but kept the walks shorter, just 6 miles to town and back with less in the backpack (~8 lbs). It seemed to work as I was able to add a half mile. Until.

Until one walk my legs gave out about a mile from home but there was nothing to do but just walk slower and slower to get home. The next day, Wednesday 12th the pain returned to the left leg in full force where I couldn't walk the pain away.

This time the quadricep muscles and shin in both legs hurt, but especially the shins, more than I've ever had pain from shin splints, which I knew it wasn't because I've learned to tell the difference in pain, from nerve and muscle pain, from shin pain and shin splints, etc.

So today, Friday the 14th, the legs and lower back are better but this was more than just a rest day or two rest setback, and I don't know when I'll resume walking, hopefully Monday for the 6-6.5 mile walks again.

But it's hard to predict anymore with these setbacks when I can get back to my walking schedule again. I've almost become addicted to walking, the body and the legs get restless and my morning is real unless I'm getting ready to walk, even if I don't look forward to it because I'm tired, it's cold or raining, whatever.

Anyway, that's where I'm at, the third day of rest which is helping, but walking is better than sitting, pain and all. I'd rather give the nerves in the back and leg muscles a reason to yell at me than just yelling.

Walking February

February started of as the continuation of January and my normal walking, and I was going about my life as normal, which these days is being careful lifting or carrying anything in front of me, such as laundry baskets up and down stairs.

Well. on Sunday the 9th after walking 7 of the first 8 days of February I woke up to snow and decided to take a day off and do chores including the laundry (note above). I didn't feel any different later in the day than other laundry days so I walked 3 more days.

On  Thursday I woke up with a little more pain than normal which quickly escalated into full blown pain from the upper hip where the Sciatic nerve starts of the spine down the front and outside of the left leg, around the knee, down the shin, across the top of the foot to the big toe.

I remember the big toe feeling the tingling numb days before when I tape my feet for walking to prevent blisters and bunions but I didn't think much of it, until I read later that's the sign of the Sciatic nerve problem.

Great. So I rested the following week but it only got worse by that Thursday before getting slightly better by the following Monday that I decided to do 6 mile walks. That last two days before the leg gave out from the pain.

The problem isn't the muscles, they feel and work fine. It's the nerves which are yelling at me and it varys during the day from the whole length of the leg to parts like the hip, quad muscle, knee, shin and foot. And the pain varys with standing, sitting, walking or lying down.

In short it sucks as you would expect. So March is for getting back to short walks and see if I can get some consistency again. I also notice the leg and pain are better after walks so the key is to see if I can walk more days and get the pain to fade which is a sign the Sciatic nerve is healing.

Or so that's the plan.

Setback II

Well, it's been just over two weeks since I aggrevated the Sciatic nerve, which I know was caused doing the laundry, an effort carrying the basket up and down two floors of stairs. After 11 days of not walking, the pain felt slightly better by this last Monday so I started walking.

Mostly the body and muscles got bored sitting around resting and waiting, so I went on the shorter 6 mile walks. And after two days, I have to say the left leg hurts almost the entire walk, but it's not the muscles but the nerves

Now the nerve pain is consistent from above the hip (meaning off the spine) down the front and/or outside of the upper leg, the quadricep muscle, around the the outside of the knee, down the outside of the shin across the top of the foot to the big toe which is half numb.

I can't say the walks are good or easy, far from it, but I can do it. It's clear I can't walk the full 8 miles right now but I'll take 6 miles for awhile and see what happens, meaning I'll keep walking with occasional day off until the pain fades away or gets worse.

So that's the plan, to keep walking until something changes, pain and all. I'd rather do something to make it better or worse than just sit and wait. The nerves will yell at me whether I walk or sit, and at least walking I'm getting exercise.