That’s what I finally just did for the first time since July 2.
My sudden incapacitation on July 3rd rudely interrupted my almost-daily rhythm of taking my dog, Stella, for a 2 to 3 mile walk.
Hell, it interrupted ALL of my rhythms, as I have described in my sporadic blog entries since then. And it forced me to focus on myself as I worked through a rehab period focused on physical therapy, exercise, and rest — lots of rest.
On the front end, I was impatient for a quick fix. I started out thinking it would probably require surgery or at least some sort of invasive intervention such as spinal injections, to restore a reasonable level of functionality. Repeatedly hearing that PT, time, and rest should be tried first, I finally accepted that.
And while it has been slow, I must say my recovery has been somewhat steady for the last little stretch — no real setbacks as I build up strength & stamina. I started back to walking outside a month ago today. I made one block — with Sara supervising me for safety. Gradually, I increased the daily distance each week, and Sara stays home these days.
Mostly, I do pretty well walking. I did manage a serious stumble and fell to my hands & knees after about 2 weeks ago. It shook me up, left me with two skinned knees any 5-year-old would be proud of — and tore my jeans. My last pair of untorn jeans at that.
But I finished that walk and have kept going. My tracking app shows that I am also slowly increasing my speed, almost daily. My gait feels closer to becoming normalized. I do get fatigued and will continue to be cautious not to over-exert myself.
But today’s walk definitely represents a major Mile-stone on my personal road to recovery.
Buller's back porch 