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A Sunny Sunday End of July

Sunny Sunday

Sunday, July 31, 2022

17:01

A DAY IN THE LIFE

 

Yesterday’s naps kept me awake until after 2:00 AM. I slept in until 8:30. Got up. Slurped down a plant-based yogurt-like cuppa with ten billion probiotics. Gathered up the myriad of pills I'm now taking every morning and then sat the table with a glass of apple juice in front of me. This is my new morning routine. I follow the swallowing with either Vietnamese or Guatemalan coffee and toast.

 

Stepped on to the deck and played some tai chi up to the first wave hands part or about a third of the way through the full 108 moves in the set. Lifted three pounds weights to work the arm muscles. Absorbed vitamin D for while, horizontal on the chaise lounger and was off the oxygen for about half an hour. A little after 12 noon I felt a nap calling and finding no reason to resist, I lay down. Slept hard for an hour and a half. Not on oxygen. I had the nosepiece and tubing close by, but didn't need it.

 

I'll take these two periods today without oxygen support as a sign my lungs are healing a little. With any physical activity from crossing the room to cutting veggies for a salad, I have to have oxygen. The more energetic I need to be, the higher the flow rate needs to be. When I'm still, I don't need any more than 2L (litres per minute). If I'm doing tai chi or pacing the deck the flow rate needs to double to 4L.

 

I washed some dishes today. Even though I'm standing still, there is a surprising amount of exertion with my arms. Lifting, dropping, scrubbing, rinsing, racking. Definitely needed oxygen at 3L. This seemingly insignificant job did something else for me. I felt useful.

 

Having PF and being on oxygen means there isn't very much I can do. You know, the simple stuff that keeps the place clean. Dishes. Floors swept. I have always wanted and needed to be useful. So any small things I can do to feel like I’m contributing are important. I remember my Scottish grandfather wanting to help my dad and I with moving a piece of equipment. My dad growled at him to get out of the way. I realize now that he was just trying to be useful. The way he had always been useful. If someone in your life is going through this, give them something simple and light to hold or carry. They won’t be in the way and you’ve given them something they can do. You’ll help them feel useful again even if ever so briefly.

 

For me, going from being someone who has been active and energetic to someone who can’t do very much has been as much a physical adjustment as mental. I used to be able to jump and do things. Now I have to prepare to do things. If I’m going to the bathroom, I have to first breathe as fully as I can for 30 seconds or so to ‘pre-oxygenate’. This allows me to move without breaking into panting and gasping, although that might happen anyway. I have always been a speedy person. I moved quickly and decisively. Not any more. Slow, deliberate steps are they way I move now. Slowing my brain down and then slowing my body down when they have operated oppositely for seventy years is an ongoing adjustment.

 

If you’ve read this far, you’re probably wondering about the picture of the unicorn floaty. Suffice to say, it was a perfect beach day with a hot sun, a nice breeze, good rolling waves, and no jellyfish. Heather and her unicorn and Mary went swimming. Was I envious? Yes. But I enjoyed how much they enjoyed their beach day.

 

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