KevRider

Stroke Survivor - male
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Everything posted by KevRider

  1. KevRider

    Turmoil

    they are roses - don'yt ask me what type I didn't plant them I just prune them 🙂
  2. KevRider

    Turmoil

    I find the level of turmoil in the USA rather disturbing and it tends to affect my mood. So there's little I can do about that so I try and remember to enjoy each fay and that I almost left the planet. Things are growing rapidly now and we are already eating produce from the hoop house. Our first tomato was harvested this week , we ate it separate from any other food. The flavor was intense after a winter of shop bought ones. Many green ones will soon ripen and follow. Gardening still takes it out of me and often challenges my balance but the headiness of old has all but disappeared. 6 months ago I had written off gardening completely. I still have moments of improvements, like mounting the other day I swung into my saddle more like old times and realized that my left leg was function like old and yesterday I stepped into a pair of pants without supporting myself on a wall, just balanced on eac leg in turn and stepped into them! Of course writing this blog makes me review these little things which build steadily to a pretty full recovery. I ride and garden each day weather allowing, which is most days now as we have some lovely mornings sunny and cool before it gets to hot. Were in the 90s now in the afternoon. Im very regular on the treadmill at 3mph for 20 mins, but have been shying away from the weight scales. I should wear a mask more not for safety but to stop my snacking!
  3. KevRider

    Warm

    At 5500ft we can get freezes as late as May 28th. but it looks like we are clear now. 47F this morning and we will go to 80s lter in the day, Every thing is blooming and the nest built in our chicken coop is now home to newly hatched chics. My stamina seams to be increasing slightly as I get thru more in the day with less breaks. Some lovely sunny mornings which are prefect for long rides. Recovery is small increments now and realizations. Like I went to mount the other morning and I swung into the saddle just like pre-stroke. I hit the saddle and realized 'oh that was familiar!' The time of the year takes us into the garden as irrigation has to be installed for the plants going form pots in the hoop house into the ground out side. Growing is observable on a daily basis now. At the beginning of the year I didn't think I would be gardening this year but here I am already harvesting greens and our first tomatoes are ripening off. Growth is every where. Even after riding and working in the garden I still have energy left to hit the treadmill. That wasn't so last month. These incremental improvements keep my spirits up and my consciousness of them is facilitated by this blog.
  4. KevRider

    OK Bored Now

    Yes but the soil is poor so we cant use the 40 acres. But we can ride around on it 🙂
  5. KevRider

    OK Bored Now

    So the Governor's Stay Home Edict has now expired in Arizona but out covid-19 numbers are still steadily going up, so Deb an I are just staying home. We have a lot to be grateful for. 1. We are retired and so I don't have to work. 2 Our income is still pretty steady. 3 We don't have to go out much , perhaps once a week tp put trash in the dumpster and pick up mail parcels. 4 we are on a 40 acre, with 2 miles of track for riding the horses. 5 We have a hoop house to play in and get some of our food from it. 6 I'm still alive and so we have each other. We've been doing a lot of work in the garden , which tends to use up my energy by 10am each day. So we recoup over a cup of tea. (how British) Its hard to gage small improvement in recovery but there again the ability to take on more strenuous tasks is sign of improvement on its own. The work puts me in physical position that not always easy and challenging my balance. But I suspect that challenge is in itself helping my brain get better control of my body. Only did treadmill twice this week but am staying occupied. Cheers Kev
  6. KevRider

    Critter nets

    So the days slip into each other. I loose track of which is which. I couldn't tell you my regime any more I ride when the weather is good, work in the garden and walk on the treadmill it i'm not too tired. I haven't been here to the chat room for a while as it seems everyone does zoom at 1pm . Perhaps I 'll make it to day. There little improvement to note this week but the gardening pits me in more diverse movement and challenges my balance, which I think is a good thing. After my stroke I found I had more trouble containing emotions. That become more normal but I had a funky time a couple of days ago, it seemed to be triggered by a man shooting a shop security guard in the head because she wouldn't let him in to a store not wearing a mask. I couldn't get my head around that! I had to force myself to focus on the things I was grateful for. We are producing eggs and greens in huge quantity and it was nice to be able to share some of the excess with friends. We didn't see them they just drove by and picked then up out of the garage. So far every thing has been in the hoop house,. But this week were planting outside. We can have frost as late as May31 here so squash plant s were covered by walls of water. Lettuce had to go under nets and shade cloth otherwise it becomes a buffet for the bunnies.
  7. May day marking the advent of spring, brought temperature in the 80s this week, but with high winds. The mornings although still chilly at high 40s were sunny and not much wind, so its been a week of riding a lot. Some very long trots posting left muscles a bit fatigued but it was good to be riding out again. The dog enjoys it too! Been working in the green house also where irrigation problems literally had me on my knees, as the electric are below ground. Working on my knees seemed to put me in positions I would not normally use and the challenged to my balance and induce some headiness and fatigued me more rapidly. My left arm is still unsteady but better than last fall. My riding is still a little bumpy and it suggests that my core muscles still need to recover. Headiness has diminished to where its just lurking in the background. Lunches are usually salads form my own green house which is cool. Recover now is more subtle but identifiable as old challenges get to performed naturally. Wed: Ride & treadmill Thur: Ride and garden Fri: Ride and treadmill Sat: Ride & garden Sun: Ride & garden Mon Ride and Garden Tue: Ride and garden Weight same same. too much snacking. BP 158/88
  8. So very suddenly were approaching summer. Yesterday we were up in the 80's and this morning was the first day of the year that the heating didn't come on. Flowers and trees are blooming all over the place. Iris are adding color to the garden. We have so much asparagus that we are giving it away to neighbors( Well not directly, we leave it at the gate) The warner weather keeps drawing me outside to ride and garden. OF course being me I tend to over do it so lifting a few heavier thins Saturday resulted in my left (previously paralyzed ) arm straining a muscle and forcing Sunday off. Recovery seems to continue not notably every day more in cases of something changing. Like my walking has been very good the other day I found I was weaving a bit and realized that where as before I would have to concentrate on each step I was walking more naturally without that focus and would therefore take the odd miss step, but also corrected the misbalance naturally 🙂 The headiness is pretty minimal and only present in exaggerated motion. So subtle but definite improvement. Stay safe guys!. Wed: treadmill Thu: treadmill Fri: Gardening Sat:Gardening Sun :Ouch Day off Mon: Gardening Tue: Gardening & treadmill Ave BP 155/88 That's pretty normal for me at the moment weight 189 lb
  9. KevRider

    SALADS & ZOOM

    Well last weeks record of 40mins at 3 mph was not exactly by intent. I walk watching cold West Wing episodes and loss track of time. Paid or it with some soreness next day so I kicked back. I returned to exercise Thursday for 20 mins. I should have waited longer! I strained the same muscle and ended up having to take 3 days to get out of pain. In fact I've decide to take the week off the treadmill. Even so the week wasn't all off as we cleaned out the chicken coop. We deep litter this so it only need digging out once a year and the digging went into the compost. It was good to be able to do some effective work. My headiness is not ascent most of the time 🙂 It does return when I challenge my balance with less usual movement ; like digging out coops where you have to work bending over. The hoop house is now providing green in abundance and it the time of year where we eat a lot of salads. It finally warm so we are riding more to. Being in the saddle is also a gage of progress and we ve been doing long trots at the post which is pushing my stamina and I must admit I m a bit wobbly when I get off and back on the ground. So busy that we hardly notice the isolation and weve ben zooming with quite a few friends including Deb's brother in Saudi. They are in house isolation no going out at all except a shopping trip for which you have to get an appointment! Wed:Recoup Thu: treadmill Fri: Ouch Sat:Ouch Sun: Day off Mon: Chicken coop Tue: Gardening Ave BP 156/82 That's pretty normal for me at the moment weight 189 lb
  10. It seems zoom is becoming a regular thing in my life for all sorts of meetings the last one just before I wrote this with my in-laws in Saudi Arabia. There on total lock down except for shopping by appointment and of course no one argues with the King. The headiness has reduce to mild back ground now and I hardly notice it. I made a personal best on the treadmill on Monday at 40mins at 3 mph. I paid for that the following day with muscle soreness on my left leg sufficient to leave me limping around, kinda felt like I had gone back to a couple of month ago. Ive been doing work in the hoop house where the first tomato has started to form:- These pics always insert so big!! DEb has been cooking up a storm; her own bread and some cookies , which definitely didn't help the weight. Safe & isolated, hope yall are the same Wed: Riding & Treadmill Thu: Riding & treadmill Fri: Treadmill & gardening Sat: Treadmill Sun: Day off Mon: Treadmill & gardening Tue: hurting took day off Ave BP 155/87 That's pretty normal for me at the moment weight 189 lb 😞
  11. KevRider

    Spring

    So the use of the treadmill seems to be paying off. For most of the day I can walk around and no one would notice anything wrong and I don't have to focus on movements it starts to fall off a bit as I get tired and wobbly. Also the headiness is absent around only when I make more exaggerated movement. The weather has got warmer so spending some time in the garden and on horse back, but later in the day the wind blows me back inside. We are now harvesting greens as above and had our first asparagus stem (just one) bleow Got a bit grumpy yesterday have to watch that. Keep the post strike attitude that Im lucky to be alive!!! Wed: Riding & Treadmill Thu: Riding & treadmill Fri: Treadmill & gardening Sat: Treadmill Sun: Day off Mon: Treadmill & gardening Tue: Shipment unloading Ave BP 156/86 i'm on prescribed hyperBP weight 182 lb 🙂
  12. KevRider

    Water is Life

    Sill in isolation so tending to use my treadmill as I cant get out, Walking has suddenly become more balanced, only limping slightly when tired. So Im trying to build up the leg muscles and my stamina which is still far from my old levels. My headiness has reduced some and seems to be associate with balance in new or unusual motion. For example I had to go down om my knees while checking tire pressure this weekend, not a usual position and the headiness was induced. One of the community wells in the Navajo nation failed so they were out of water. Found out during a regular lunch meeting with friends which we converted to Zoom. They were going to buy water! Fortunately I had a 275 gall tank I use when travelling with our horses and a another 55 gal. So I set up a trailer and filled it from my well. A guy came early Monday and I had left the rig by our gate so o need for contact and he drove it up to the reservation. Felt good to help but better that I was capable of physically doing the work to prepare the rig. Wed:Treadmill Thu:Treadmill Fri: Treadmill Sat: Prepareded Water Rig Sun: Filled rig Mon: Day off Tue: Treadmill (40min at 2.8 mph) weight: 186 lbs (-4 😁) bp 5day ave 147/83 😀
  13. KevRider

    Weather Break

    Finally a break in the weather ! After a hard winter here we seem to have entered spring. There's an ornamental pear tree that w use as a kid of indicator and its starting to bloom. Spring has high wind but they come later in the day. So there is a gap early morning where the sun is shining and temperature are above freezing so I got a few rides in. Seem the yoga and physio therapies have paid off! I am riding passably, doing best since my stoke. I still finding my posting trot rather bumpy as my muscle coordination is still a bit off so im not quite with the horses motion. Im much more in the saddle now but paying a price for all this in muscle aches later. I use these things to judge my recovery, like my left leg is becoming more effective, when I rode in the fall it was just along for the ride hanging there! After riding, the wind doesn't stop us working in the hoop house, so Deb and I have been doing lots of starts. Riding and gardening test my stamina which though improved I far from its pre-stroke level so by 2pm ( I get up like 4am) I crash in front of the TV wit a cup of tea. My exercise regime suffers wit my energy going else where but I don't worry about that as im active most of the light hours. Wed:treadmill Thu: day off Fri: treadmill Sat: Ride & gardening Sun: Ride & gardening Mon: Ride & gardening Tue: Ride & gardening Ave BP 151/86 weight 190
  14. KevRider

    Isolation

    Yes we have snow We are at 6000ft so snow in northern AZ in the high dessert is quite common.
  15. KevRider

    Isolation

    Well this virus will definitely put a dent in routine. My wife and I have decided to self-isolate as much as possible. We have cancelled all appointments and the Gym is closed and Yoga cancelled for now. We only have 20 cases so far in Arizona and they are all in the valley. Were going out for animal food later today but are paying in advance by credit card and they will just dump the stuff in the back of the pickup when we arrive. Better safe than sorry! On a more fun note the weather broke and we managed to get a ride in , but short lived a snow storm is coming in this evening. No one seems to have warned the flowers the daffodils are out and trees starting to bud. Challenge of trying to loose weight seems to elude me. Of course it doesn't help when I use Maryjane and get the munchies 🙂 Thu: Yoga Fri: Off Sat:Gardening Sun:Yoga Mon: Day off Tue: Rode Weigth: 195 and ave BP 151/86 My headiness continues to decrease but its like an exponential decay half as bad as lst week but still there. I missed the chat room Monday, either the time was altered or they started day light saving - which we don't do in AZ Time to shower , Kev
  16. KevRider

    Nephew Visit

    Life is getting back to old stuff. I have enough stamina to make evening events now, I was crashing about 6Pm before. Yoga leaves me rather trashed for the rest of the day but motion and balance seem to be improving. My headiness has also reduced to a light background annoyance. A bit worrying is that my blood pressure is trending up suggesting my arteries continue to constrict. My nephew is here for spring break so I have him doing tasks most of which involve the tractor , which he loves driving at 15 🙂 Wed:Acupuncture Thur: Yoga Fri: Gym , Lunch with friends Sat: Sun: Yoga Mon: Doctor Tues: Went to movie with nephew BP Ave 151/86 weight 189
  17. KevRider

    Busy

    Well I had intended to do a blog every Wednesday but the best laid plans of mice etc.. Yoga seems to be paying off as walking etc seems a little easier but I seem to get out of balance more, but I also recover the balance quickly. In the mornings you could hardly tell id had a stroke but as the day goes on fatigue will start to show. Headiness/dizziness has receded considerable =. I think that's more the acupuncture. Im engaging in life more like I used to do. So time has been full and taking me out of the house more which is good. However it has meant that meant that I haven't got to the chat room and missed my post here. I had written off gardening this year but a neighbor Jim (closest) is helping big time and this weekend an old friend I hadn't seen for 11 yrs visited (middle) and all three of us prepping the beds for later planting. The downside to work - I forgot to stay hydrated and I think this drove up my BP to 169/91 so yesterday I drank much more and also took some THC to help sleep and this morning im at 140/80 which is good for me. Still losing the weight battle at 189 lbs.
  18. KevRider

    New Mexico

    My father was a master Marine on the Great Lakes run. At 7 he brought me a View Master 3d viewer and I remember most a cavern wonders of the world disc and image of Carlsbad Cavern. Well I finally got to see it. Deb and I took a 5 day road trip for valentines and our 19th anniversary, From a recovery point of view I probably did more walking than ever since my stroke. The caverns were a couple of hours of very up and down and uneven trails but the hand rails were a great help. The trip was fun and I was pretty trashed at the end of each day, but all the walking was at least a substitute for the gym which I didn't get to this week. Wed: House party & Evening meeting Thur: VLA Fri: Roswell Sat: Carlsbad Cavern Sun: White Sands Mon: Drive home Tues: Acupuncture BP ave 149/87 weight 190lb (eating out a lot doesn't help
  19. KevRider

    BP tracking

    So after years of trying to keep my blood pressure down and taking lisinopril my stoke doctor likes the Bp elevated some. My arteries in the base of my brain are very narrow so hes or with higher blood pressure is supposed to push though this restriction. I track it every morning and graph it. It all over the place and no trend is readily visible. Over time a drop would suggest improvement which is what my Dr hopes for. Some improvement are so subtle that it may be several days before I realize the change. Thee headiness Ive had with me since post stroke was reducing but this last week its reduced considerably it seems to come when my balance is challenged. Its absent most of the time and only comes when I make a sudden or unusual movement. I can get thru the day with it absent most of the time. We have a house party today and then off on a road trip for our 19th anniversary to Carlsbad caverns via Roswell for my UFO following wife. Wed: event Thu: Yoga Fri: treadmill Sat: Day Gardening Sun: dat off Mon: Gym Tues: Snowed in - cancelled acupuncture weight 188lb - Bp ave 148/86
  20. KevRider

    A Day late

    I normally try and update my Blog early Wednesday morning but I was in Phoenix yesterday. Im finding that the Yoga , although not as strenuous as physio-therapy, eaves me pretty trashed for the rest of the day. I can feel it stretching some muscles and trying to active others which I have not used since my stroke. It seems to be working since the day after I always move/walk more easily and with slightly better form 🙂 The problem with road trips is that I tend to use the excuse that we can't cook away from home to indulge in eating out. WE had to go frm Flagstaff to Phoenix and we chose to go down the gorge into Sedona which I cant do without stopping for a coffee and a vegan chocolate (see pic) cake We sill eat Vegan with the occasional piece of grilled salmon but I suspect I eat more than I do at home so am not surprised that Im not loosing weight which is staying at around 186 lb. Well I'm home now till Feb 14th. Wed:Yoga Thu: Take it easy Fri: Gym Sat: Gardening Sun: Yoga Mon: Road trip Tues: Road trip Stamina seems to be slowly increasing and my headiness is less than it has been 🙂 So slight and slow improvement but still improvement!
  21. KevRider

    Gardening

    So I wrote of certain activities after my stroke, one of which was growing veggies. I have a 48ft hoop house and come 13 out side beds which had gone to ruin over the summer as I was out of action. Well my wife made a deal with a neighbor & friend who has just retired and wants to get into growing. So now hes going to do the heavy work and I'll do lighter work and we will split the produce. So Saturday he came over with his son and daughter and her boy friend. They did an amazing job and the hoop house is in god order and ready for planting. Meanwhile I did 4 trays on lettuce starts. It good to feel the garden comin back to life! Wed:Gym Thu: Yoga Fri: Tread mill Sat: GYM and gardening. Sun: Yoga Mon: Day off Tue: Acupuncture Kept to regime for Gym and Yoga but failed on snacking and paid the cost in weight which climbed to 188lb
  22. KevRider

    FLU

    The best laid plans of mice and men! Well my new year intent was sabotages by a bout of nasty flu. It attacked my muscles and they ached terribly. It even affected my walking and it felt like I was going backward. On3e night of heavy blankets and sweating and the fever broke an by Thursday I felt better but was washed out energy wise so I decided the better path was to rest and recuperate so cancelled Yoga and Gym. I also had a presentation scheduled for Sunday and wanted to conserve energy for that. Monday felt sufficiently well that I returned to gym. Im trying to regain some stamina I can manage 9 Mins on the elliptical followed by a circuit of weights. I m incrementing it slowly and Im a long way from the 45 mins and weights I used to do. I may never regain that but Im still pushing for it all be it slowly. Reduced exercise and eating out hasn 't helped the weight loss but theres always the coming week! Wed: in bed with Flu THr: took it easy Fri: took it easy Sat: travel to Phoenix: ate out Sun: Presentation . second since stroke Mon: Back to Gym Tue: Acupuncture Weight 182lbs
  23. KevRider

    Presentation

    A goodly amount of travelling reduced mu exercise program but still:- Wed: Yoga joined by my wife. Thu: Gym Fri: drove tp Phoenix ate out. Sat: event & drove home. Sun. Day off. Mon: Drove to Sedona and made presentation. Ate out. Tues drove home got sick - feels like a flu. The big challenge for the week was returning to public speaking. Especially as I still have trouble controlling speech. I was sufficiently concerned that I had a dream 2 days before that I could not speak at all like just after my stroke. Anyhow the presentation of 45 mins was almost flawless except for one word that failed to arrive from my head. In an instant my wife called the word and I rolled on to the end, So we were all quite pleased 🙂 I managed to avoid snacking thru the week but eating out twice this week I didn't actually gain weight but did not loose any either.