Shoveling, shoveling, and more shoveling!
Comments
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Navygirl, I like Nat's idea of the cancer card. It worked for me. I got out of a speeding ticket when I was going through rads. My town only has 2 ways in and out, one is going over a small draw bridge, and that was closed for construction, so that only left one way in and out, which was on the way to the hospital that I was being treated. The cops had a speed trap set up, and I was snaged doing 53 in a 40. I had to go to my glove compartment to get my insurance card, and the parking pass for the cancer center of the hospital happened to fall out. Not sure if that is what got me out of the ticket, but I call the parking passes, a get out of speeding free card. They have a new one each year, and my husband wants one for his car for "just in case"
Nats, I'm a big time Mets fan. I think my Dad would disown me if I was a Yankee fan. He's still bleeding Dodger blue from when they left Brooklyn for Los Angeles. Thanks to your belovided Nats last season the Mets weren't in last place.
I had a nice surprise yesterday, my husband did all of the shoveling! And he even cleaned my car off, so the only thing I had to do this morning was hop into the car and go! After the last storm around Christmas, I don't think he wanted to take a chance of me hurting my elbow again.
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Tweety - I'm so glad you said you're a Mets fan - I'd of had to put you on Ignore if you'd said Yankees!
If your dad hasn't read Doris Kearns Goodwin's book, "Wait Till Next Year" I can highly recommend it as a Father's Day gift for him. It's about growing up in the 50's as a die-hard Brooklyn Dodgers fan, and it's just wonderful. And the Nats believe it or not are improved this year - we may give your Mets a run for 4th place this year! (Notice neither one of us is talking about winning the division.)
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Ladies.. I'm in Upper Marlboro, MD and shovelled this morning. My arm was wrapped. I make sure I wrap it before shovelling and it's a great help. I just got my sleeve the other day (before the second blizzard). It's a little tight and I'm not sure whether or not I like it.
Kira, Thanks for the tips. I do go to therapy (21 nodes removed) every couple of weeks, but some of your tips sound great.
I hope you're all surviving the snow...
Beth
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Beth, I didn't get much snow, and just pushed the front walk with a glove and sleeve-my therapist would recommend wrapping. Glad the tips are helpful: the site has more information on it.
Hope the DC people are getting plowed soon.
Hope everyone has power and a place for the dog to go out.
Kira
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Being just outside of Phila, we got clobbered again with this last round of snow. Lost power last night, but fortunately got it back this afternoon. However, I survived another two days of shoveling with no ill effects! This was a real eye opener for me. I've been so afraid of doing too much and making things worse. I think I just realized I won't break. Definitely have to pace myself and do the proactive stuff, but I wonder if I've been a little too careful. Such a fine line between being active, getting good exercise, and overdoing and causing a flareup. I'm still learning how my body reacts.
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Long Island is all dug out from the last storm, and now there calling for more snow on Monday! Yikes! April can't come fast enough! They were just sayin that Vancouver had to make snow for the Olympics, they're having spring like conditions there, and the DC area is having Vancouver type of weather. So much for global warming.
Nat, glad I'm still on your good side! I'll have to look into the book for my Dad. Think it's kind of funny, the one World Series that they won, my Dad was just getting discharged from the Navy, and wasn't even in New York! At least he was around for the 2 Mets World Series wins. Hopefully not to many Mets are going to be on the DL this season, so maybe we will give the Nats a run for 4th place!
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Tina - I had the same thought about that fine line and maybe I've been babying myself a bit too much. I know that I have gained arm and upper body strength after this week, and I'm going to continue my weight training workouts so as not to lose what I so painfully built up this week! Always being careful, though. I've been having my husband do my measurements every night, and I only had a mild flare after the worst day, and it's back down to normal now. So while I never would have willingly pushed myself the way I had to this week, it appears that if I'm careful, I can workout at a bit higher level than I have been.
Tweety - Do find the book for your dad - I really think he'd get a kick out of it. The author's dad taught her how to keep score when she was 6. They had a ritual during the summer - she'd score the games played during the day, then re-create the game with her scorecard for her dad when he got home from work that night. The book really gives you a feel for that whole time of growing up in New York in the late 40's and 50's, and how every house in the neighborhood was either a Yankee, Giant, or Dodger house. And she covers in detail that wonderful 1955 season when the Dodgers finally beat out the Yankees to win the World Series.
Someday the Nats and Mets will compete for a division title!!
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Well, today I had a little swelling at the base of my thumb and index finger, which is really distressing me becuase its a new spot and because I was careful to wear my compression sleeve and glove when I shoveled. Sigh. My husband hasn't done a lot of shoveling because he's been working and because I actually enjoy it, but I told him he has to step up for the next round. More snow Monday and we still havevn't cleared out our driveway.
No mail in a week.
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MOTC, that's lousy! I hope the spot recedes quickly. It's so frustrating when a new area pops up. Good you're taking care of yourself and asking DH to step up.
Didn't notice any swelling all week from the shoveling. Unfortunately, a glass of red wine tonight wasn't a good thing. Haven't had any wine since New Years. I've been keeping an eye on my diet and noticing foods that act as triggers. Guess I can write that off my list, along with salty stuff, vinegars, and beer. Funny how a mixed drink doesn't have the same effect. Hmm, as I'm writing this, I'm realizing it's time for more water.
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Nats,
Sounds like a great book. I'm definitely going to look for it now, and read it myself before I give it to my Dad.
I just got approved for more physical therapy on my arm/elbow. *sigh* I thought I would be done on Thursday. I'm going again on Tuesday, but have to take a break from it on Thursday, due to a biopsy on my left breast on Wednesday, and no physical activity for 48 hours afterwards. I'm totally bumbed out about that, and a nervous wreck about Wednesday. I'm just trying to put both of the situations in the back of my mind and enjoy the long holiday/Valentine's day weekend.
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Oh, Janet, rot! I'll be thinking of you on Wednesday. Let us know how it goes.
Big, gentle hugs,
Binney0 -
MOTC--that stinks that you puffed a bit, but I'm sure with some MLD and glove wearing, it will go down: my LE therapist calls LE "whack a mole"--it pops up. Yet, it never ceases to upset me.
I only had swelling in my index/middle finger and a month ago, my thumb and pinkie joined in: they're getting better, but ARGHH. I may have caused it (likely) by over-wrapping. I've learned the hard way that sometimes "less is more".
No mail in a week?? I really hope you get a break soon.
My younger daughter traveled to Mississippi to do research Friday, and got stuck in Charlotte (they cancelled her plane possibly before she left, and didn't tell her), and there was a 12-24 hour ordeal where due to cancelled flights, she ended up taking a Greyhound to Atlanta, where it got stranded, at 1 am--and thanks to a nice woman at the airport and a helpful homeless guy at the bus station--she took the train the airport, where the flight I booked at 1 am was cancelled at 2 am, but she did get a flight yesterday, and got to the State Archives in Jackson, MS, to discover it was closed for the Dixie National Parade! So she got some great southern food and went back to her hotel to crash. She's 21, technically an adult, but still. Her professor was supposed to fly down with his family to present at Ole Miss, and he's stuck in Boston. This weather!
Janet: limbo is the worst! Hoping for nothing but good news.
Nats Fan: I'm a late blooming slightly reluctant baseball fan (grew up near Wrigley Field and never saw a Cubbie's game, and only saw the orthopedic injuries from bat night at Kaminski park when I was at Cook County Hospital) but living here in Red Sox Nation, it's hard to ignore. I find the games soothing to watch.
Oh, and your excel program to monitor the arm is a miracle! Thank you!!!
I did shovel the walk, and lived to tell the tale, so this crisis is teaching us all something, but I sure hope it ends soon.
Kira
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Well, we got a ton of mail yesterday and the plows are out on our street right now! I'm so excited -- normalcy is returning. I shoveled the rest of our driveway today without any swelling, so now my work is done.
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More snow forecasted for today! Absolutely unbelievable. Fortunately this is just a little Alberta clipper so they're thinking only 1-3 inches. I can live with that. We're now in the process of working on the ice dams on the roof. I can't wait till cherry blossom time and this is all a bad memory!
BTW, if anyone wants a copy of the excel spreadsheet Kira mentioned, pm me with an email address and I'll be glad to send it along. My dh is an Excel whiz, and developed it for me. I have right arm LE, so the first column is for a set of baseline measurements on my left arm. Then I put my right arm measurements in each subsequent column, and the spreadsheet calculates the total differences between the left arm and the right arm, and also any increase or decrease from the previous week's right arm measurements. I measure weekly or after unusual exertion, say, like snow shoveling. It really helps me keep track of my arm and lets me know if I need to go into my "prevent defense."
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NatsFan's excel spreadsheet is amazing--it calculates volume and changes--it's so generous of her and her DH to share it!
Thank you
Ice dams on the roof, hope no leaks....
Hoping for clear skies and warm weather.
Kira
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NatsFan and Kira, we bought a roof rake and it really helped with our ice dam. Clearing snow off the roof is a great way to minimize or prevent leaks. The one we found was light weight aluminum and had several extension pieces. DH had to use three times - once after first storm, and then twice during second blizzard. He was able to clear part of the roof from the ground, but also had to go onto adjacent roof (!) to clear another portion, and then onto a raised bed behind the house to reach the remaining part. We didn't have any further leaking after first round of raking, and the ice that had been running down the side of the house melted and didn't accumulate after second storm. By the way, DH wore those slip on traction thingies on his boots, but it was still pretty scary, esp. when the wind got going!
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Nats, Happy Spring Training! You would never know it with snow still on the ground here on Long Island, and another storm comming on Monday. Grr.........
Good news with my biopsy. The Doctor just called, and it's benign. I'm prone to fibrocystic cysts, and that's what it was/is!!!! Yeah!!! What a big sigh of relief.
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Hey, hey! I just love good news!
Still, kind of a lost week, yes? Wish there was a way to turn off the worry...
Hope you celebrate big (chocolate!
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Binney0 -
I'm getting together with some good friends tomorrow night and celebrating with some margarettia's!
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Tweety - Happy Spring Training back to you to! I wore my Nats Spring Training t-shirt to work Friday to celebrate. It seems like there really might be an end to this winter someday! Hooray on the biopsy news - maggies sound like a perfect celebratory drink!
Tina - never heard of a roof rake, but it sounds like it's perfect for the job. We looked up stuff on the internet, and did end up filling some old pantyhose legs with ice melt and flinging them up on the roof with the legs on the roof and the feet sticking out over the gutters. They helped melt out channels for the water, so between that and a couple of days in the 40's, the leaks have stopped. It looked like we had a wild party with panty hose thrown on the roof!
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Tweetybird, I'm glad you got good results with your biopsy. Hope you enjoyed those margaritas.
Getting my sleeve and shovel ready . . . Good luck to the ladies in New England and throughout the mid-Atlantic!! Fingers crossed - no more ice dams!
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We got at least a foot of snow here today, and it's not suppose to stop until tomorrow night! Yikes! Somehow I made it to work today, and have to schlep in tomorrow.
I didn't even think I would make it in today. My car got stuck in the street as I was pulling out of the driveway, then it was another hour and a half to work when it normally takes 1/2 hour in the morning. I'm in desparate need of the beach or a baseball game. 0 -
bump. Winter in Ohio and I shoved on Christmas without my sleeve. Paying the price for it this week. Upper arm swollen ( I'm weird like that, lower arm and hand almost never swell). And it aches. My old sleeve seems to be working, getting fitted for new one soon.
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