Boy, it has been a while. In some ways that is a good thing, because there really isn’t much to write about. Everything is mostly status quo. No progression but plenty of dealing with symptoms. More on the focus of this entry later. First, let me update you on the previous entry.
Long story short, the fall was essentially a fluke. There is nothing to suggest that it was MS-related, and my recent MRIs showed no new activity. Maybe it was depth perception issues, or who knows what. The bottom line is that I took a header and need to be more careful. So I am now paying more attention when approaching curbs, and at the particular place I fell back in September I make sure I cross where the driveway to the parking lot is so I don’t have a curb to step up onto. So far, so good.
Now back to why recovery sucks.
I am blessed to not really have any major physical limitations as to what I can do. I may pay for it later to some degree or another, but I can still do most of what I want or need to do. What I am realizing now is that the “pay for it later” is becoming elongated. “Pay for it later” generally means I am in some sort of pain or discomfort during the recovery phase after exerting myself. I am finding that the recovery phase is getting longer. That’s why recovery sucks.
We got a pretty good winter storm overnight from 1/6/22 to the morning of 1/7/22. Depth totals varied across the state but we came in around 10 inches or so. Once the storm was done, I went out to snow blow the driveway, the front porch and walkway, and some paths in the backyard for taking Shadow (our dog) out. I did have to do a bit of shoveling as well but the snowblower handled most of it. After some 2.5 hours, I finished and could tell that I was going to pay for all of the work. As of this entry, I am some 30 hours removed from having finished and I hurt. Arms, back, and shoulders mainly. Even though the snowblower does most of the work I still have to wrangle it. It is that type of pain that you feel after an intense but good resistance training workout. The difference is that the pain doesn’t go away as quickly as it usually does after a workout. Strength is lacking; things that typically are not a problem now become problematic due to how worn out I am.
I used to like this feeling, because the only time I ever felt it was after a good resistance training workout. Usually, within 24 hours (typically less) I was feeling better. Those days are gone. I have a FitBit tracker that monitors steps, sleep, etc. One of the things monitored is readiness. Having based on data gathered over time, it can provide an idea of, in this case, what my readiness level is. The level varies depending on activity, sleep, etc. I started snow blowing with a readiness level in the mid to upper 80s. Today when I woke up, my readiness score was 1, as in one. Singlular. Uno. I believe it because that is how I felt today. We will have to see what tomorrow brings. I’m not holding my breath but since I did have to put forth some physical labor today and wasn’t able to rest as much as would have been preferred.
That’s why recovery sucks. I know I am no spring chicken, but neither am I that old. I just need to figure out how to adapt to the limitations that I now have.
For now, that means going to bed in a few minutes. We will see what tomorrow brings.
My MS Journey 2016 