A Field Report . . .
Time for an update on a number of projects! Lots of finger-crossing ahead :-D
It's been awhile since I posted anything about my Run the Year project (or, in my case, my Walk/Bike the Year). You might recall that the ticker I had created earlier this year didn't work well, so I took the page down. I've been behind on mileage since pretty much out of the gate - seriously, no one expects the Spanish Inquisition (kidney stone and then a month later, torn retina). I haven't focused on it much this summer, but I have kept walking daily - mainly because my average day is about 8,000 steps. I thought I would catch up in August, but no.
I sat down earlier this week and updated my spreadsheet and got all my miles entered. When I last checked in at the end of July, I was about 73 miles behind. Also earlier this week I restarted my former weekday habit of getting up and heading downstairs to exercise. Not to the treadmill at the moment (too much risk of a plantar fasciitis flare), but to my recumbent bike. Yay Me!
So, as of yesterday, goal mileage was 777 miles and I'm at 713.34. Only about 64 miles behind. With my miles on the bike helping, I know I'm going to make my goal, which is 1,009 miles (I split the year with my trainer - he's 180 miles behind :-D but he's running a marathon on Saturday, so he's in no risk of not catching back up).
Both the orchids continue to bloom their fool heads off. This one has been going great guns all summer long. This is its second spray, and there's a third coming just below it!
And here are trays one and two of African violet babies (and a few other gesneriads. Tray three has been incorporated into these two. We last looked at them in mid-August.
Quite a bit of growth now! Yay! As you can see in tray two, there is still a lot of rot on the heavily variegated leaves of Jersey Snow Flakes, but nearly all have sprouted now, so I can cut the momma leaves off if necessary - as I did with the one on the right - you'll see there's no momma leaf any longer, I rotted away. Both trays remain covered, but now they are vented. Time to get these babies on their way to growing, and growing on their own. I want to be able to take a lot of them to the fall IAVS show at Starved Rock.
We had a cold snap here last week and I cut the furnace on in the sunroom. Because our show is so late this year - and because getting plants into show shape requires a certain level of heat and light - I felt the need to maintain the evening temps at a warmer degree than I normally would at this time of year.
I'm excited to be growing a Primulina (formerly known as Chirita) for the first time. I got a leaf in mid-July, and it has sprouted relatively quickly. It's called Primulina 'Aiko.'
In addition, I've moved my Champagne Pink up from the basement for these final nine weeks on the pre-show schedule. I am concerned about it losing its crown variegation again in the warmer temps upstairs, but I was more concerned about it not blooming in time for show. This has the potential to be a show-stopper plant, so I want to give it as much TLC as I can in these pre-show weeks.
We last looked at it in mid-August, too. You can definitely see how well it's been growing in the cooler temps downstairs. Crossing my fingers :-)
The Struggle with Calcium
Calcium has been quite challenging this summer. I found a yogurt that I could tolerate. Noosa. It's awesome. But the added calories of increasing my daily intake to the point necessary to avoid osteopenia and/or osteoporosis were really not helping the size of my ass (nor the middle-aged gut I never, ever had until midlife).
I can see the results of my bone scans on the patient portal and I can see my bone density has definitely decreased over the years. I have a friend who was just diagnosed with multiple compression fractures in her spine due to bone loss - it's terribly painful and she's going to have to have surgery. So, believe me when I tell you that I would like to avoid any more pain.
I also know that my initial massive reduction in sodium was not enough to get my calcium to a level that would keep my bones safe. I'll know more after my next 24-hour urine collection in October, but it is very likely that I will have to take a medication to stop the calcium loss from my bones. They think I have a genetic condition called hypercalciuria. That link will open a PDF created by Litholink Labs. It explains it much better than I can, but mainly it means that my body excretes more calcium in my urine than it should.
I have an email in to my primary care doctor to discuss this with him, as well.
In the meantime, I've discovered Flax Milk. I think this is going to be a godsend for me. So far, no intestinal distress. Cross your fingers :-)
The Kidney Stone Incident
Alrighty then . . .
I must say that this has been a hell of a journey since late February when it all began. More recently, I have struggled with what I know I need to do in terms of life-style changes to avoid making another stone.
I have recently started seeing a body/energy worker who is exceptionally skilled in Ortho-Bionomy, as well as multiple modalities of energy work. Just a few sessions with him have already made a huge difference in how I feel. I think the work I'm doing with him is helping me with the work I'm doing with my health coach. I am far less blocked now than I was a few weeks ago, which is such a relief.
I had an epiphany on Thursday morning at the club. That makes it sound so dramatic when really it was just a simple awakening to the truth of process. I was talking with my trainer, and a number of things were illuminated for me - very much in segments of three (which is my lucky number :-) ).
First was the realization that the first three months after The Kidney Stone Incident were spent pretty much in panic mode based on fear. I was attempting to learn everything I could. I read everything I could find. I coached with Jill Harris and I took her class. As is my wont, I tried to do everything perfectly, all the while having almost constant intestinal distress from attempting to up my calcium.
Second - the next three months since my first follow-up with the urologist have been the pendulum swinging the other way - initially still doing everything perfectly, then starting to make mistakes. Being angry. Rebelling. Continuing to fight with calcium and the calories it has added (which has not helped the size of my ass one bit). Realizing perfect wasn't going to cut it over the long-haul, and beginning to truly understanding that my original rigidity is just not sustainable for me. This was important because it's been my pattern in the past - being perfect until I couldn't be perfect any longer . . . and then the wheels come off the bus.
And finally, I realized that I've been at this for nearly seven months and I'm not much smaller than I was to begin with. Allowing that sense of failure to relax and let go, knowing I've done the best I could while trying to learn something completely new - and knowing that as I move through to these next three months, it seemed pretty clear to me that I will likely be able to drop back in to the groove and actually find what works best for me.
I originally felt that I would just make the changes and move on. In theory - totally. In practice - not so much. Had I known at the beginning that it would be so challenging for me, and would take so long I probably would have given up. But while my experience might have only been one stone, the pain and trauma of that entire episode was enough to propel me down the path - running in fear. And now, I'm already this far down the road - there's no point in fucking it all up completely. This is there the epiphany comes in:
This is the process. It is what it is and it takes as long as it takes.
I didn't know it would take me this long. My entire life I've been a very lucky person to whom most things come rather easily. That I would need to work this hard to figure out something that is, essentially, so simple never occurred to me (i.e., this is not rocket science, guys). And viewing it now from the benefit of hindsight, I repeat: Had I known at the beginning that it would be so challenging for me and would take so long, I probably have quit. Except, you know, the fear of that pain . . . that is very much what kept me going, particularly in these past two months when things have been so frustrating in pretty much every area.
What I do know is something very important about myself. I've known it for a long time but I often forget it until I'm in a situation like I'm in now. Here it is: It often takes me two or three tries to either let something go, or take something on. The exceptions to this with regard to life-style changes were quitting smoking and quitting chocolate. It did take me two times to truly quit smoking, but once I did, I went cold turkey and I never looked back.
From my vantage point of 6+ months in to my new normal, I can honestly say that it's not surprising to me that I've gone down this path in fits and starts. Based on past experience, I would imagine the journey will begin to smooth out now. Crossing my fingers :-)
That's the update from this rebel on The Third Coast today :-)
Run the Year
I sat down earlier this week and updated my spreadsheet and got all my miles entered. When I last checked in at the end of July, I was about 73 miles behind. Also earlier this week I restarted my former weekday habit of getting up and heading downstairs to exercise. Not to the treadmill at the moment (too much risk of a plantar fasciitis flare), but to my recumbent bike. Yay Me!
So, as of yesterday, goal mileage was 777 miles and I'm at 713.34. Only about 64 miles behind. With my miles on the bike helping, I know I'm going to make my goal, which is 1,009 miles (I split the year with my trainer - he's 180 miles behind :-D but he's running a marathon on Saturday, so he's in no risk of not catching back up).
A Look at What's On the Stands
And here are trays one and two of African violet babies (and a few other gesneriads. Tray three has been incorporated into these two. We last looked at them in mid-August.
Quite a bit of growth now! Yay! As you can see in tray two, there is still a lot of rot on the heavily variegated leaves of Jersey Snow Flakes, but nearly all have sprouted now, so I can cut the momma leaves off if necessary - as I did with the one on the right - you'll see there's no momma leaf any longer, I rotted away. Both trays remain covered, but now they are vented. Time to get these babies on their way to growing, and growing on their own. I want to be able to take a lot of them to the fall IAVS show at Starved Rock.
We had a cold snap here last week and I cut the furnace on in the sunroom. Because our show is so late this year - and because getting plants into show shape requires a certain level of heat and light - I felt the need to maintain the evening temps at a warmer degree than I normally would at this time of year.
I'm excited to be growing a Primulina (formerly known as Chirita) for the first time. I got a leaf in mid-July, and it has sprouted relatively quickly. It's called Primulina 'Aiko.'
In addition, I've moved my Champagne Pink up from the basement for these final nine weeks on the pre-show schedule. I am concerned about it losing its crown variegation again in the warmer temps upstairs, but I was more concerned about it not blooming in time for show. This has the potential to be a show-stopper plant, so I want to give it as much TLC as I can in these pre-show weeks.
We last looked at it in mid-August, too. You can definitely see how well it's been growing in the cooler temps downstairs. Crossing my fingers :-)
The Struggle with Calcium
Calcium has been quite challenging this summer. I found a yogurt that I could tolerate. Noosa. It's awesome. But the added calories of increasing my daily intake to the point necessary to avoid osteopenia and/or osteoporosis were really not helping the size of my ass (nor the middle-aged gut I never, ever had until midlife).
I can see the results of my bone scans on the patient portal and I can see my bone density has definitely decreased over the years. I have a friend who was just diagnosed with multiple compression fractures in her spine due to bone loss - it's terribly painful and she's going to have to have surgery. So, believe me when I tell you that I would like to avoid any more pain.
I also know that my initial massive reduction in sodium was not enough to get my calcium to a level that would keep my bones safe. I'll know more after my next 24-hour urine collection in October, but it is very likely that I will have to take a medication to stop the calcium loss from my bones. They think I have a genetic condition called hypercalciuria. That link will open a PDF created by Litholink Labs. It explains it much better than I can, but mainly it means that my body excretes more calcium in my urine than it should.
I have an email in to my primary care doctor to discuss this with him, as well.
In the meantime, I've discovered Flax Milk. I think this is going to be a godsend for me. So far, no intestinal distress. Cross your fingers :-)
The Kidney Stone Incident
Alrighty then . . .
I must say that this has been a hell of a journey since late February when it all began. More recently, I have struggled with what I know I need to do in terms of life-style changes to avoid making another stone.
I have recently started seeing a body/energy worker who is exceptionally skilled in Ortho-Bionomy, as well as multiple modalities of energy work. Just a few sessions with him have already made a huge difference in how I feel. I think the work I'm doing with him is helping me with the work I'm doing with my health coach. I am far less blocked now than I was a few weeks ago, which is such a relief.
I had an epiphany on Thursday morning at the club. That makes it sound so dramatic when really it was just a simple awakening to the truth of process. I was talking with my trainer, and a number of things were illuminated for me - very much in segments of three (which is my lucky number :-) ).
First was the realization that the first three months after The Kidney Stone Incident were spent pretty much in panic mode based on fear. I was attempting to learn everything I could. I read everything I could find. I coached with Jill Harris and I took her class. As is my wont, I tried to do everything perfectly, all the while having almost constant intestinal distress from attempting to up my calcium.
Second - the next three months since my first follow-up with the urologist have been the pendulum swinging the other way - initially still doing everything perfectly, then starting to make mistakes. Being angry. Rebelling. Continuing to fight with calcium and the calories it has added (which has not helped the size of my ass one bit). Realizing perfect wasn't going to cut it over the long-haul, and beginning to truly understanding that my original rigidity is just not sustainable for me. This was important because it's been my pattern in the past - being perfect until I couldn't be perfect any longer . . . and then the wheels come off the bus.
And finally, I realized that I've been at this for nearly seven months and I'm not much smaller than I was to begin with. Allowing that sense of failure to relax and let go, knowing I've done the best I could while trying to learn something completely new - and knowing that as I move through to these next three months, it seemed pretty clear to me that I will likely be able to drop back in to the groove and actually find what works best for me.
I originally felt that I would just make the changes and move on. In theory - totally. In practice - not so much. Had I known at the beginning that it would be so challenging for me, and would take so long I probably would have given up. But while my experience might have only been one stone, the pain and trauma of that entire episode was enough to propel me down the path - running in fear. And now, I'm already this far down the road - there's no point in fucking it all up completely. This is there the epiphany comes in:
This is the process. It is what it is and it takes as long as it takes.
I didn't know it would take me this long. My entire life I've been a very lucky person to whom most things come rather easily. That I would need to work this hard to figure out something that is, essentially, so simple never occurred to me (i.e., this is not rocket science, guys). And viewing it now from the benefit of hindsight, I repeat: Had I known at the beginning that it would be so challenging for me and would take so long, I probably have quit. Except, you know, the fear of that pain . . . that is very much what kept me going, particularly in these past two months when things have been so frustrating in pretty much every area.
What I do know is something very important about myself. I've known it for a long time but I often forget it until I'm in a situation like I'm in now. Here it is: It often takes me two or three tries to either let something go, or take something on. The exceptions to this with regard to life-style changes were quitting smoking and quitting chocolate. It did take me two times to truly quit smoking, but once I did, I went cold turkey and I never looked back.
From my vantage point of 6+ months in to my new normal, I can honestly say that it's not surprising to me that I've gone down this path in fits and starts. Based on past experience, I would imagine the journey will begin to smooth out now. Crossing my fingers :-)
That's the update from this rebel on The Third Coast today :-)
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