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Friday, January 05, 2007

Foggy Morning Day 22 Old Photos

I love the fog and this morning it was foggy. I leapt outside with a rain coat over my nightie and tried to get some good foggy photographs but none of them worked out well. I'm posting old photos, some of which I may have already posted, but they are images I feel like writing beside on this foggy unphotographable (at least by me) morning. This is day 22 of my latest push to get back into fighting form. In the past, getting back into fighting form was an image I liked even when I didn't have any specific battle to fight. I certainly never envisioned that I would end up with stage III melanoma after I had taken so many steps to hit 50 in the best shape of my life. That hitting 50 in fighting form became a goal when I was in my mid 40's. Here it is 2007 and I will turn 50 this year. I have until November to get into fighting form, whatever form that might take at this point in my life. I don't see myself going to indoor climbing walls with my daughter like we did in December of 2004 a few months prior to my melanoma diagnosis. My daughter was home for winter break and I got her to go with me to the climbing wall because I was formulating this vague goal of doing an older adult tailored outward bound rock climbing trip in the Sierra Nevadas for one of my 50th birthday present to myself. Her natural balance and youth were rather in contrast to my age in spite of being a very active 47 year old at the time. However, at the time I thought I could spend the next 2 and a half years getting stronger and stronger having already made a lot of progress. I also had a vague goal of running a marathon or a half marathon which are other goals that I'm letting go of in favor of something more in line with where I am now. Where am I now? Well, this is day 22 of my most recent effort towards getting into fighting form and I have walk/jogged 14 of those days, keeping it under 3 miles but doing a minimum of 2 miles. Looking back over my log, I have managed to get in 35 miles during these 21 days. Today is a rest day so I was looking through yesterday. If I make odious comparisons, what I have accomplished is not very much but it's one hell of a good start for me at this point in my life. I think I should throw away my old running logs. I couldn't resist looking back to see what I had done during the same time period from mid December 2004 through early January 2005 and I had run/jogged 75 miles. I don't know why I would look back since it's not a goal to get back to where I was then. I am 2 years older, am still dealing with chronic pain and neurological issues but I am one hell of a lot better than I was when the bone pain and balance issues began. That part of the equation has been dramatically improved with the vitamin D supplements. The frozen shoulder was dramatically improved by P.T. and although I still have pain in my collar, shoulder, arm and neck area on one side, I have full range of motion where at one point I couldn't lift that arm to shoulder level much less get it over head. The left leg lymphedema is dramatically improved. My attitude is enormously improved. PROGRESS!

2 comments:

Heather said...

Hi Carver,

There's absolutely no reason to look back, rather just work at the pace you're at now. And then when that gets easier, you up the pace a bit more and so on and so forth.

I love that your attitude is so vastly improved AND your physical problems, the two seem to be going hand in hand together, don't they?

The better you feel, the better you feel and so on...

The only way to go is onwards and upwards, and I have to tell you that 22 days is a long time. You're doing great and it's just so wonderful to see.

I think by November, you won't recognise yourself!!

I can't wait to see where you're at then, because it's so heartwarming and inspiring reading your story of getting back into decent physical shape and I'm pulling for you on this so hard.

Keep on keepin' on, Carver, you can do it!

Love, Heather

King (Kathie) said...

Carver,

Yeah, yeah, yeah!! You are off to a good start and I can tell that you are determined to stick with it. Physical activity sure improves the mental status (for me anyway).

I'm very proud of you.

Stay Strong

Kathie