Shock Therapy

At my last oncology visit- the dr informed me that I had gained a few pounds. 3 from the last visit to be exact. She also asked if I was walking every day. Well no...it's been rainy. I am trying to exercise at my house but with everything going on - I honestly have not been exercising every day like I should be. Well after this past week I learned a very important lesson, one that has me changing my priorities a bit.

As you all know my MIL had a lung surgery on the 11th. And then an emergency surgery 21st of this month. Before surgery my MIL had a pretty sedentary lifestyle. She would get out and feed and water her dogs and sometimes go to the pasture - the edge of her back yard to see the sheep. And she had been helping feed some baby lambs. She would do basic cleaning like sweeping and vacuuming. She would run errands - like to the bank, post office, and picking up groceries in the nearby town. But other than that - a lot of her time was spent watching tv. I think this is what contributed to her having such a hard time with being weak. Yesterday when I was at the hospital she asked how she could go from taking care of herself to an invalid so quickly. And as I thought about it I thought that is was sad that she had not been in any better shape before these last surgeries. Not only that - had exercise been a part of her routine - and after the lung surgery began to walk and get some exercise- there is a very good chance that it would have helped her body to continue to move and she may not have needed the emergency surgery. All of this hit home for me and I realized that I needed to make walking a priority. Not above my quiet time with Jesus, but I needed to make sure that I could walk or exercise some most every day. A day off here and there is not going to hurt you but exercise is very important. There is a book that I have that is called Strong Women Stay Young - and I think it is true I think that if we will work at keeping ourselves mobile and moving it will help us all the way around.

So because of this shock therapy that I have gone through - at seeing how a woman that seems like she is doing quite well can go from doing things for herself to not having the energy to hardly move her arms and legs and having a difficult time sitting on the side of the bed- of course some of this is due to the incisions that she has but when the therapy people are trying to work with her and train her how to roll to her side and then push the trunk of her body into an upright position - and she does not have enough strength in her arms to lift herself up - it made me pay attention.

I will be doing a much better job at making time to walk/exercise. And I know that the effort will pay off and I will feel SO much better. Exercise is SO good for you- there are so many benefits - to name a few - build strength and stamina, helps keep the systems of the body going, helps you sleep better at night, keeps your heart strong, and helps you recovery from surgeries better. Like I said, there are many benefits and it is well worth the effort and time put into taking care of your body. I hope you will join me in trying to make exercise a part of your daily schedule. Please leave a comment and let me know what you are doing for exercise or that you will join me. We can encourage one another. :o)