aLive @ Stage 4!

Today I left my house at 6:45am.  I wanted to make sure I had enough time to allow for traffic, and parking in the hospital garage.  Arriving around 8:15, I made it there with time to spare.  Here's how the day went: First stop: Ground Bles Infusion Center for port access. Next stop:  Nuclear Medicine for Bone Scan injection. Next it's Radiology for CT Scan. I practiced walking up and down the ramp a few times. I had time here for lunch, but I forgot to take a picture. Then it was back to Nuclear Medicine for the Bone Scan. Last procedure of the day was at Cardiac Testing for an echocardiogram. Last stop of the day was back to Ground Bles Infusion Center to have the port de-accessed. Stopped at the coffee shop for a treat (and some caffeine) for the ride home.  Here I'm in the garage waiting for the van to be brought around. And, 4pm I'm leaving the hospital headed home. Traffic.... Finally a...

Monday  -- Training session with Julie today.  We repeated last Monday's exercises, some with a little change.  The weights were upped on a few, the bar was added to the step-ups (see pic on right), and minor adjustments made on others.  It was great.  It always feels good after a workout.  I didn't walk on the treadmill or ride the recumbent bike beforehand this time; I waited until after.  I did 30 minutes on the treadmill, using the Couch 2 5K app, which was great with having my heart rate go back and forth from 104 at the lowest to 117 at the highest.  I then did 30 minutes on the recumbent bike, taking Julie's advice and using the random hill setting.  I'd never done it before because I thought it would be too hard.  I'm so glad I listen to Julie's advice.  It was doable, and I'll do it again. Tuesday  -- Today I had two appointments, spread out, so I didn't get any kind of exercising done.  Back to the gym tomorro...

Monday  -- I wasn't feeling it today.  It's been a little stressful around the house with my husband's vehicle breaking down and trying to make the mortgage this month.  Luckily my son was home so I was able to borrow his car to get to the gym.  I got in 30 minutes on the recumbent bike, then 5 minutes on the stair machine.  I tried something a little different today -- I upped the speed to the next level, which is 28 steps per minute (versus the 20 spm I had been doing).  I thought it might be time for me to try climbing stairs at a more normal pace.  It was really hard!  My heart rate got up to 148. Five minutes definitely was my limit at that speed.  I think that from now on I'll stick to the lowest level until I get used it to more before upping it again.  After the stairs it was 30 minutes on the treadmill.  Today I used Active's Couch to 5K app to help me with the interval part.  It worked like a charm.  My heart rat...

Monday  -- Julie (my friend/trainer) was back today.  Oh, her face when she saw that I didn't have the walker!  Priceless.  Today we upped my game a little bit.  I got there early and did my usual 60 minutes on the recumbent bike.  I got there later than I had planned, so I had time for only 15 minutes on the treadmill before the training session.  At the beginning of the training session, I talked to Julie about using the stair climber, not for it's intended purpose (I don't think my body's quite ready for that) but to help me practice walking up stairs.  I could do it at my house, but then I'd have to walk back down, and there's a good chance of me losing my balance and falling.  With the machine, I continually walk up.  I'll work on walking up the stairs for now, then after awhile I'll add in going down (at home, not on the machine).  The staircase at the school that I work at has 27 steps, so that's my goal for now. ...

Monday  -- I rode the recumbent bike for 30 minutes before my scheduled training time.  I worked with Erin today, as Julie is on vacation.  Erin is fabulous, too.  I feel stronger today.  We are doing the same exercises as last week.  The great news is that on the exercise where Julie had to pick me up every time we've done it in the past, I was able to pick myself up to the bench myself today!  It was by no means graceful, but I did it!  Also, on the ones that I wasn't able to finish before, I finished them.  It felt amazing.  After the workout, I walked on the treadmill for an hour.  I walked at a slow 2.0mph pace, and it felt great.  I kept my hands on the side rails so that I wouldn't lose my balance.  I finished off with another 30 minutes on the recumbent bike.  I am so tired, but I feel so good! Tuesday  -- 60 minutes on the recumbent bike followed by 60 minutes on the treadmill.  #winning! ...

Monday  -- As I didn't get home from the emergency room (see Week 1 Recap for details) until about 2:00am, I slept in.  Once I woke up I took it easy, then after lunch the nausea and stomach pain came back, so there was no exercising today. Tuesday  --  Feeling better today.  Spent the morning moving around culling items in the house for Saturday's yard sale (which is more active than I usually am). Went to the gym around 4pm, at which time I'm usually napping.  I was able to do 40 minutes of my planned 45-60 minutes on the recumbent bike before my toes fell asleep.  I had about 15 minutes between the bike and my workout with Julie.  It was fabulous!   We repeated some of the same exercises as we did last week.  There were two on Thursday that I couldn't finish the second set of 15 reps.  Today I did!  Julie still had to help me up to the bench on one; future goal of course is that I can do it by myself.  At the be...