(Hey is it me, or is my head shrinking? My face, I mean...It is! I think the moon face is finally waning. Thank goodnesss. I was starting to look like a mocha Stay-Puft Marshmellow man...)Today it is hazy, hot and humid. The temperature was already in the high 80s at 8:30 a.m. this morning. The air is so thick and damp it almost feels like being smothered in a heavy wool blanket that was dropped in a warm puddle.
Still, I walked three miles today and pushed myself through an upper body workout using barbells. I did not want to do it. Neither did my lifting partner, my father. However, we like the pay off, so we kept pushing.
“It’s hotter today,” my dad says as we make it down the trail near the house. “This is the hottest day of the week.”
“It is,” I huff. It’s all I can say. I was conserving my breath for the walk. Sometimes I talk when I walk but not today. Too damn hot. I can feel every breath, but I push through (Below: That is me somewhere on the trail behind my folks house in Lakewood).
My docs are surprised I walk as far as I do and that I lift weights. I have heart and lung sarcoidosis. I am taking prednisone and methotrexate to control the symptoms of the disease, and I take other pharmaceuticals to manage the side effects of prednisone and methotrexate. Six months ago, there was no way I would have been able to push through a walk or a work out. Six months ago, I was in a hospital bed at Northwestern Memorial Hospital listening to doctors and their diagnosis. I vowed I would live better if I got out of that hospital and so far have been able to keep that promise. I am allowing for mistakes, I know I am human, but I strive with my goal in mind.
My dad says he is proud of me for coming so far. His friends who know people with sarc were warning him that I was coming home toting an oxygen tank. He was relieved to see that I did not have one. And I have no intention of every using one. One pulmonologist actually wrote me a ‘script for one. I fired her. That was five months ago. I’ll make sure I forward her a copy of this blog (Below: I am pumping a little iron. I'll be sure to send this to my former pulmonologist at Weiss Memorial Hospital).
I am grateful that I am able to do what I do. I know there are tens of thousands of people who have autoimmune diseases and they cannot endure physical activity. I will do this for as long as I can. It is tough, but I am finally seeing the benefits of moving so "I’m going to keep on doing what I am doing until I can’t do it no more…"
That lyric is from my favorite Isley Brothers song, "Keep On Doin." They rock and I have to move whenever I hear that song. Gotta drop a cool pop culture reference in my column somewhere.
Have a great weekend.
Hey! I have sarcoidosis too. As you are doing, I have found that I very much need to stay out of my chair. My joints ache very much and movement is torture, but we do need to do it. This year the sarc is affecting my heart as well as my lungs. I have used prednisone and methotrexate in the past, but they bothered my stomach. I am now vomiting if I seriously don't watch what I eat. But good luck to you. I read your stories often and say I am glad that he can walk.
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