Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2002. I remember a friend of mine sent me this huge exercise saucer for Mattie when he was a month old. When I first saw the footprint on this toy, my reaction was..... where were we going to put this? I imagine all new parents go through this, because it is hard to believe the amount of space baby items consume! I remember first putting Mattie in this saucer when he was three months old. He absolutely hated it. So I figured he wasn't ready. However, as Mattie wanted more movement and independence at four months of age, I reintroduced Mattie to the saucer. He took to it like a duck to water. He loved the feeling of standing up, of being able to turn around in the seat on his own, and of course to manipulate all the toys at hand height!


Quote of the day: All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche


I agree with Nietzsche's quote. Great thoughts can arise while you are walking. But in addition to thought, I also think walking is very good for one's emotional health. It gets you up, outside, seeing people, the world around you, and of course all those physical things translate into one's emotional well being. 

Some of you may recall that I had a horrible February. I was out of commission and couldn't function. My symptoms ranged from nausea, vomiting, dizziness, a mental fog, numb arms and legs, and a loss of ten pounds. Thankfully my doctor took me seriously and though I felt I was having a bad reaction to an anti-inflammatory medicine (taken for a surgery I had in November), she wanted to rule everything else out. 

This of course led me back to my neurologist. I have been dealing with this fellow for six years now, and though I call him "Mr. Personality" (because his lack of one!), I know he is competent and I really needed him to weigh in on February's problems. Fortunately testing revealed nothing but he wanted me to start physical therapy for the numbness in my extremities. I have been working with a wonderful physical therapy practice since the beginning of March. I have two sessions a week and I am still attending therapy now. So I am four months into it and still going strong. Thankfully Peter has good health insurance, as I learned first hand how important this is when Mattie was battling cancer.

It was my physical therapist who suggested I get evaluated for fibromyalgia, which I will be doing in a few weeks. Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues. Researchers believe that fibromyalgia amplifies painful sensations by affecting the way your brain processes pain signals. Symptoms sometimes begin after a physical trauma, surgery, infection or significant psychological stress. There are certain areas of the body that people with fibromyalgia tend to have pain, and I fit the bill for each of these locations.

Unfortunately I am not a very medical compliant patient because I do not like taking medications and when I do, I tend to develop side effects that are almost as bad at the original problem. For example, I was taking a migraine medication long term and had to stop because it was giving me kidney stones every three months. This is a rare side effect on this medication, but if it is rare it will happen to me. So if I do have fibromyalgia, I will be looking to deal with it alternatively, and I know exercising and movement helps. So I am on a walking routine, because otherwise with the Foundation work, I could be sitting all day. 

This afternoon I went for a 3.7 mile walk around DC. Along the way I snapped some photos. As you can see Washington Harbor is ready for July 4th!

I saw this pretend pirate ship today. The "Boomerang" leaves from Washington Harbor and takes families on a Potomac River adventure. This would have been right up Mattie's alley. 

The spray ground at Washington Harbor. This was developed after Mattie died, but I know Mattie would have loved it! I took Mattie to two spray grounds in Virginia, and he had a ball.  

I am standing in DC, but across the River is Rosslyn, VA, where Peter works. 

The trees across the river are located on Roosevelt Island. A place we spent a lot of time with Mattie. 

The wildflowers near the Potomac River. 

On Sunday, after the Baptism, Peter and I came home and had to clear our heads. So we literally went out for a five mile walk. We walked over the Key Bridge into Arlington, VA and then walked back over the Roosevelt Bridge to get back into DC. It was a long trek in the heat.

When we crossed over the Key Bridge, this bunny was our welcoming committee. 

This is the view of DC taken while walking over the Key Bridge. 

This is a view of Roosevelt Island's boardwalk taken while we were walking over the Roosevelt Bridge.