Kicking LEs butt!! Exercise & Self Care Log
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I sure have not posted here in a while--over-the-top busy! I've stayed in pretty constant motion in the past week, no hard-core cardio but well beyond 12,000 steps each day. Our weather has been great lately--moderately hot, generally sunny, and a joy to be outdoors.
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Good for you, I look for shade to, even crossing the street for it if there is enough of it to make it worth the crossing.
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That's a lot of steps, Carol! Good going!
and yes,, hugz,,, SHADE is major important at this time of the year.
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Jeanni57 you mentioned in an earlier post that you have used an arm bike. I have been thinking about doing this exercise to help rehab my very weak, atrophied arms. I had arm surgery years ago that left me with a very weak left arm; then breast cancer on that side and lymphedema. I have thought about trying the arm bike again; however, a bra fitter said she thought the arm bike might be to repetitive for people with lymphedema. I wonder what thoughts you ladies have regarding this type of exercise. Thanks.
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Ok, after sitting on my couch for way too long, I want to get outside and start walking again. I am always limping along a sore right foot with plantar fasciitis and metatarsal pain. I wondered what type/style/brand of walking shoes those of you who walk are wearing. I am currently wearing those barefoot shoes, the Merrell Ghost, in the hopes of calming the plantar fasciitis, but after four months of wearing them, I don't think it is helping.
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I work with a trainer who is experienced in working with cancer folks. He backed off my weights to 1# (I had been using 5 # weights. He would measure my arm each week till he was comfie that we were not causing a LE flair. Seemed to work for me as now I am back up to the same weights I did prior to all this shit!
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Proudtospin, I couldn't agree more. Lymphedema has changed the way I manage my life in a big way. I am glad I came back to this forum because I was really letting the lymphedema get to me and feeling a bit depressed by it all. Then I come here and I feel hopeful and good again. I am struggling to wear any type of bra because they all seem to irritate the lymphedema I have on the left side of my chest. Yet if I go without a bra, I am reminded too much too often that I had/have "breast cancer." With a bra on under my shirts, I feel like me and I think my family feels the same. It just is hard to wear them even with the smallest puffs and an extra large bra band. Ok, done complaining.
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Coffee, I confess that at beginning, I insisted on wearing my old underwire bras (I am DD~~), I was getting a pain in my ribs, almost like a broken bone~~ so I finally gave in and wearing non underwire, dang if the rib pain did not go away.
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coffeelatte: I had plantar fasciitis years ago. A foot doctor made me a custom insole for my shoe and it made the world of difference. Also calf stretches. It seems that the tendon under the foot gets really tight and doing calf stretches help. Between the two, it really helped me. You might need more arch support than the barefoot type of shoes give you. Right now, I'm wearing Brooks running shoes, as I have found running shoes have more arch support than walking shoes, for me anyway. I have also used Asics (sp?) in the past too.0 -
Had early meeting,,so no walking in the neighborhood today. After meeting, went and walked the mall twice. 1.5 miles in the AC,,, and I was still sweating under the swell spot! Oh well. Came home and did PT exercises. Now work time!How's everyone doing today?
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Just daily-life steps today, 9077 as I head to bed. Tomorrow I am committed to getting into the gym and need to kick my own butt a tad to get some real cardio in. With knee arthritis causing swollen leg with the most minor activity, it's continuing to be frustrating, finding ways to get my heart rate up without aggravating the knee.
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I'm hoping to do a little walking in the pool tomorrow. It will be two weeks since I injured my bum. Rest, while BORING!, has helped a lot but I have a way to go before I will be kicking any "butt!"
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Coffee, like glennie, I too had PF years ago. It was a sudden pain that I experienced when doing an activity so was covered medically as an accident. I ended up getting a special mold taken which fits as an insert in my shoe. It sure was annoying and took ages to get better, or that I could walk without that insert. To this day, it has a tendency to tweak if I run, though not always. Fortunately I dont have to wear it with walking as I can't wear shoes because of neuropathy.
Really doing well on the treadmill, and no I havent forgotten when it dumped me
. Broke my record this a.m and did 3.3K in under 30 minutes including warm up and warm down time.
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coffeelatte my dh and myself have gotten PF relief from an off the shelf insert called Heel That Pain.
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Musical, I thought of you just yesterday when I saw my grocery store carries organic apples from New Zealand. That's a long distance for an apple to travel! Good for you on the 3.3k in less than 30. You're really moving!
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Excellent, musical! Good time on that walk! I'm doing a mile in like 20mins,,, but I claim the heat as an excuse.0 -
Thanks girls on the encouragement! I'm stoked at this considering constantly having to work around Peripheral Neuropathy. Another thing I'm really pleased with is bar only a few I've pretty much walked everyday this year and mostly at that distance. I did have a day or maybe 2 when I had that diabolical noro virus a few months ago.
glennie good on you! that is a respectable time and it is still moving well. It all counts and I can tell you I ain't no fitness freak but this is really helping me. I'm on Arimidex and that can do your bones in. It's definitely helped with the aching joints. I do better in the winter so I hear you on the heat. I HAVE to set off real early in summer, like the crack of dawn.
Ha, well Carol I was thinking of you too as I ALWAYS do when rubbing a certain something on my finger quicks last night!
. I've also been wondering how you're going with your injury and hope that will get better and better. What a nuisance these things are. Funny you mentioning apples... hubby has taken a sudden liking to them lately. We get them at our farmers market here. Not quite organic, but no sprays after the fruit has set. I'm also pleased that Ive lost a little more weight too.
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Musical, the knee if unfortunately not an injury, but a permanent feature--arthritis that seems to give me swollen fits with any activity at all. Sigh. But today I got in nearly 12,000 steps, including a half hour of not-to-fast walking on a treadmill but on an incline to get the heart going some. I also did an hour of strength training so I'm feeling full-body relaxed and glad to get some good exercise in today. Wow, if you still have some of that little pot of cuticle balm I sent you, you're really using it sparingly! I really love that stuff, and it's true that a tiny bit goes a long way.
I have apples on the brain. Trying to convince my brain that an apple is a sweet as a sugary treat. I think I'm getting there...crave apples instead of who knows what else! Last year I crossed over to black coffee (that was really, really hard), and truly I think that my summer project of an apple a day (or two) is helping to re-train my sense of sweet. I think I eat too much sugar and it's making weight control hard. OK, off to have an apple!
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Yum, apples! Berries are good for a sweet treat. I've been eating a lot of them lately.is anyone else having salt cravings during these hot summer months? I swear all I want is chips,, and then I'm sorry I ate them. I know sodium is not really good for us swell sisters,, but i luv chips,,,,, and I'm really craving them lately!
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thanks ladies for the tips regarding plantar fasciitis. I started to do some gentle stretches for the calf muscles, so that is a start. And I will look for those inserts. I noticed yesterday and today my shoulder was aching and feeling heavy (on the lymphedema side), so I got my shoes on and went for a 30 minute walk. Amazing. The pain has been gone for hours. Walking really gets the lymph moving for me. It was just enough. If I walk too far, I swell, but this was perfect today because it was cooler than usual this morning.
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Oh yes the calf muscles, I never knew that. Thanks for the tip. I also remember rolling a tennis ball under my arch, but I don't think it really did much. It wasn't until I had that mold made (plastic or silicon) that I things improved. If an OTS insert helps then great as the custom insert Id imagine is very expensive if you have to pay.
Oh Carol that's not nice. Arthritis UGH. Im sorry. Do you have a pedometer? I remember when I did chemo I had one of those given to me. The first one was faulty, they gave me another...which unfortunately went for a swim...in the loo. (apparently a common occurrence
) So that was that. I think they were el cheapos cuz I counted my steps and it was out by a country mile. Yes I still have the lttle pot and it does go a long way. I don't use it all the time as I consider it too precious. There's still a good 1/2 a pot. It's got a nice natural smell too. Fortunately I don't have to fight the sugar thing too much, though I haven't managed to ditch it altogether in my coffee. I don't have it on brekky cereal at all. Apple is pretty versatile, you can do so many things with it. I love it on pork, especially that crackle. Yum.
The hardest thing Ive found to give the toss is our NZ creamy icecream. (Tip Top) It's the brand I like best but has soy in it, so rats, I had to stop that. I only eat it when I go out or on special occasions. It's the least sweet. I used to love the chocolate one as it didn't seem to be laden with sugar. It was extremely nice with vanilla.
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glennie , Oh when you crave those things you crave! I like them too but don't eat them cuz theyre laced with so many other things. Only suggestion I have is don't have them at home. When I go to the supermarket, for some reason I can easily pass by the icecream, but if I have it at home in the freezer, that's another matter... oh and its a long way to go into town to get some, so that helps... lol
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but they are HEALTHY chips. They have KALE in them! Corn, spinach, kale, sunflower oil and salt,,,, so kinda healthy,, except for the salt ???I do love ice cream. I try not to buy it,, but only have it at this one place in town, where he makes his own and uses healthy local ingredients whenever possible. Like mango is in season now,,, yum !
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Coffee, I get recurrent pf. This last time, my DH watched videos onYouTube about taping me with KT tape, which you can get at Walgreens. It really helped in feeling better. I also got a tight sock for pf at a running store and rolled my foot around a frozen water bottle. I have orthotics, too.
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On the PF issue, my husband suffers terribly from it, and when it's really bad I will stretch it for him while he is lying down, but if you stand on a step and very slowly let your heel drop lower than your toes, and don't go any further than it feels comfortable, it really helps. He also found that those Sketcher sneakers with the heal that is lower in the back pretty much keeps his PF at bay. He had tried the orthotics, the iced bottle, etc. nothing helped except those silly shoes. He gets them in black and they don't look too bad, and if they help.....
On taking the BP with the cuff, it really doesn't feel like it's squeezing, I don't know why, but it seems fairly accurate. They use the same cuff at my PS's office.
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glennie, funny you should mention KALE. Im having my first try at growing it. Never tasted it before so I'm looking forward to that. Ive forgotten exactly what you do with it though when you cook it, but a while ago on BCO I saw it mentioned so many times here and there, I thought I'm going to try this.
I try and give anything with GMOs a VERY wide birth. Most of canola oil is GE or it is here, and Im pretty sure these vegetable cooking oils are pretty much all hydrogenated. Anything with hydrogenated oils I avoid like the plague. These days I'll use only lard, natural butter, organic cold pressed olive oil and I'm about to explore my organic coconut oil which has a high smoking point and they say is great!. Lots of choices.
Great input about that dreaded PF.
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I use only organic butter, olive oil and coconut oil for cooking. I think you'll like the coconut oil.
I sautée kale with some other veggies, kind of like spinach.
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Goldie, I will check into the Sketcher shoes, that is a great suggestion. Through the years, I have tried custom made orthotics (at least five pairs) with not a good result so I am now all about the right shoes. I will check it out.
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Coffee, they are called Sketcher's Shape Ups and they have them on Amazon, which I love because of their excellent prices and return policy.
I am Italian, and we sauté kale in a little olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. So good.
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All right girls. I need a little motivation here. The heat has sapped my energy and all I want to do is eat root beer floats. Yup… it is pretty pitiful in my house right now. I skipped walking because…. I sprained my toe. Actually I did myself in because I am only allowed to do gentle stretches on my toes; it makes my planter metatarsalgia feel so much better but …… I stretched it way to hard due to it feeling so good. Ugh… Had to go to physio for ultra sound and laser. Getting better thank goodness.
For all that suffer from planter fascia you will know what I am talking about. I have the opposite. Mine is on the front of the foot and my physio has me wearing shoes all day.ugh… No more barefoot for me. It is slowly improving over the year. I got it from wearing croc shoes all day in the house. My physio said because they have no toe gripper I was overcompensating to keep the shoe on my foot. Had to give up my favourite slip on house shoe.
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