Keep on MOVING: June 2019

[Sunshine]

Last night I cut back Baclofen by 5mg per doctors encouragement, to see if spasms still under control and side effects lessen. So I cut 2 min off swim today.
I swam 22 minutes 703 yards. So far so good....Hoping it helps. Because the side effects are so hard.

[Sunshine]

Swam 746 yards in 21 minutes, groceries, resting.

[agate]

Average step count for May (based on 28 days): 1,288--that's 135 steps more than the average for April.

6/1/19 - 1,141 steps
6/2/19 - 1,156 "
6/3/19 - 1,544 "
6/4/19 - 1,130 "
6/5/19 - 1,962 "
6/6/19 - 1,020 "
6/7/19 - 1,176 "
6/9/19 - 1,127 "
6/10/19 - 1,365 "

6/8/19 is missing because the pedometer was in a bad mood.

[Virginia]

Marvelous Agate!

[agate]

[taking a bow]

And that isn't all. Yesterday and today I did something I wasn't sure I could do. I took down an old shower curtain and put up a new one.

I haven't had a new shower curtain in over 20 years and I decided it was time to get something in a lighter color, to brighten up this dark apartment.

The trick was going to be hanging it. I got new rings as well. I just can't deal with the rings I had. They are plastic with an odd locking mechanism. You need to see what you're doing to get it right, and you need more hand strength and dexterity than I have while standing on a stepladder and reaching up.

But I did this job. I did it in stages--a couple of attempts yesterday and a couple of attempts today, and now the old shower curtain is down, its rings are down, and the new curtain is up with its rings and looking very nice if I do say so.

I positioned this project by the wall where there is a grab bar and used it to help with getting up and down the stepladder. I used a couple of pairs of pliers to pry the old rings open. At one point I took one of the plastic rings and sat down to get a good look at it in the best possible light. Sure enough--I'd been attacking them the wrong way, and that's why I was having problems getting them to unlock.

Now I'll wash the old shower curtain and donate it along with its rings on the "swap table" this building has once a month.

I'm glad I didn't try to do this job all at once, which is the way I've always wanted to do things. I'm learning that there's more than one way to skin a cat. (Apologies to Sam and other kitties for that remark. It wasn't nice.)

[Virginia]

Agate, you are so smart. You just said I am going to tackle that job and get it done and then you did. Good for you. I am so glad it looks nice and makes your place look lighter and brighter. Sometime it just takes a little thought and ingenuity.

[agate]

I have a tendency to want to finish a job I start and not break it up over time--mainly so I can put away whatever materials I've had to get out. In this case it was the stepladder and the pliers. But this time I decided to just let that half-unhooked shower curtain hang there overnight until I felt like getting on that ladder again.

I stopped in the middle of a curtain twice to rest and just went back to the ladder when I really felt i could do it. I got off the ladder as soon as I felt my arms and back tightening up or going weak. I've fallen off ladders a few times and am quite uneasy about them.

I even thought long and hard about paying someone to do this job for me.

[Virginia]

But now it's done and I bet you feel satisfaction! You can pay yourself.

[Sunshine]

Agate, you are getting stronger and stronger. But Ladders? Even well people fall off of them as they age....

Bravo for your determination.

Today I swam 22 minutes 720 yards on a reduced Dose of Baclofen to 80mg daily...

[agate]

I have fallen off stepladders so often (at least 3 times that I can recall, probably more) that I'm thoroughly scared of them. I have to work up to getting on one nowadays. At least I've learned to get off that ladder at the slightest sign of shakiness or wobbliness in any part of me. When having to reach up while on a ladder, the arms and hands don't last long at all. I got off the ladder after every 3rd ring at first. Later I got a bit better at the rings and was able to stay on the ladder for about 6 of them. There were 24 in all--12 to remove and 12 to put on.

I was thinking of how I could hire someone, maybe a neighbor who seems tall and strong. If I ever have to do this again, I just might do that.

For a job involving a ladder, I also make sure there are no distractions--no people around, no radio or TV on. I try to stay very focused on what I'm doing.

I also make sure that the ladder is locked and set right. It's only a 2-step ladder and has a nice wide "platform" as its top rung so that my feet aren't wobbling around on a narrow support. The ceilings here are high and so I had to be on the top rung even to reach the shower curtain rod.

That grab bar on the wall made the job ever so much easier. I held onto it on the way up and down.

[Sunshine]

yesterday and today I swam 800 yards in 22 minutes. Felt good...
Before the Ativan, on the really bad stiff legs.

Today I took Ativan at 10 am. DH took me to look at the ocean for 15 minutes. Its not my surfing ocean, but I loved watching the water, breathing in the salt air, watching kids play in the weak, choppy windswell. I couldn’t have done it with Ativan.

Prior to the Ativan today, I could barely walk, and I couldn’t think straight due to severe discomfort. Love Ativan.

[Sunshine]

Do hire it out agate. My uncle, a tall strapping guy, fell off a ladder at age 65, flat on his back. No one was home. It was hours of laying there until he was able to rise up. He was lucky. Could’ve been terrible.

[Howie]

I bought one of those ladders that folds into MANY configurations. It takes a little muscle to move it because, even being made of fiberglass, it's pretty heavy. It is far safer than a step ladder. I used it to do the painting indoors.

[Sunshine]

Can you post a link to that Howie?

[Howie]

Sunshine, I've been trying to, but can't do it. Do you have a Lowes in your area? Here is the description on the ladder.

Werner Fiberglass 14.25-ft Reach Type 1A - 300 lbs Capacity Telescoping Multi-Position Ladder at Lowes.com