Non-biking exercise, and working from home
I've been better than I expected at accepting that I can't bike yet, and I've been trying to get out walking 2 to 3 times a day for 20 to 30 minutes each time. I was hoping to swim too, but 2 things are still stopping me - some swelling on my forehead that will prevent me from comfortably wearing goggles, and the remainder of my post traumatic benign vertigo. I believe it is improving, but going from a vertical to a horizontal position (or from a horizontal to vertical position), while easier than it was, still causes the room to spin.
On Saturday I actually walked into Andover to go to the drug store. A car? Yes, it's easier to drive, but I figured it would be a good walk. Probably 3 1/2 to 4 miles in total since I don't seem to follow a straight route. The walk in was fine, but I was definitely tired and slowing down on the way home. What a change an accident makes! I wasn't at my full summer cycling mileage (per week) at the time of the accident, but I was close. At this point I believe that it's going to take me a while to work up to my normal level of activity - and I have to believe that the bulk of my slowness has to do with the brain injury and not the broken bones. Yes, sometimes the area of the broken pelvic bone whines at me about being sore, but it's typically not sore enough to stop me - and I'm hoping that it either gets better or I get used to it - and I have to have something to think is causing this. Hmmm... I really did get hurt, didn't I?
I asked a colleague to load up our latest software on my work computer - luckily a laptop - and bring it to me. It was good to see him, and it's good to be able to work from home for a while. Not full days yet, but whatever my body will accept...
I'm still having good days and bad days. Yesterday was a bad day, in spite of my managing to get in 2 walks and about 5 hours worth of work. For some reason I had passing nausea on a regular basis. I never actually vomited, but I have to tell you that I didn't feel very good.
Today I felt better - what a difference! I woke up too early, which unfortunately is pretty normal for me right now. The docs say I need a lot of sleep, and I think they mean more than I'm getting. I woke at 5am after falling asleep last night about 11. I stayed in bed in the hopes of falling asleep again, but I think I only managed about another 45 minutes. I finally gave up, retrieved the newspaper from the front walk, and had some breakfast. I then headed to the office for a visit. I was good - I left my work laptop computer at home because I figured if I took it in with me that I'd end up staying too long and then I wouldn't be capable of driving home. (I know, I know, not the kind of problem you're used to hearing about.) It was good to see people again. I was probably there about an hour and a half, then it was time to head home. I still managed to get two walks in today, plus a bit of real work. That is, in between fixing a strange all-of-a-sudden problem with my cable modem. Many thanks to Rob from work for helping me through that one!
I feel like I need to push myself to work at recovering, but I wonder if my body is telling me I'm overdoing it?
