I'm Still Standing

Yesterday was my first power yoga class of the new year. The teacher changed the order of the poses and I really enjoyed it. But, going into the class, I was not feeling very strong as I discovered that I had forgotten to wear my oxygen during the night. The hoses and cannula were on the carpet, running all night. Duh. I was not feeling rested. To help, I wore my oxygen the entire class and I think I was able to get a deeper, better workout because of it.

The 90-minute class flew by. I floated out the door, drove to the bank then, while mailing some bills, I noticed the front plastic cowling underneath the car was dragging on the ground! Oh no! I was too exhausted to walk home, it was wet and I was sweating from the class, so I just had to gut it out and try to drive it home.

The major highway through our town is world renown. People specifically come to our state to drive along the ocean from the city to Southern California. It was on that busy road that I drove 25MPH for almost two miles praying that the large part would not be ripped away. Made it. Called Michael.

I ate a small bit of lunch, grabbed my heavy bathrobe, turned on my oxygen and slept on our bed for over an hour. I felt so much better. So much more rested. I made a killer dinner of Balsamic Chicken and artichokes, took a shower and went to orchestra rehearsal. The entire orchestra was there. Michael removed the plastic piece but warned me not to hit anything as it would hurt the motor. YIKES!

We climbed into bed at 10 but I couldn't sleep. Someone had been using their fireplace instead of turning on the heat and the smell was somehow drifting into the house. (I found where it was leaking in this morning.) It hurt my throat and lungs. I climbed out of bed, turned the furnace fan on to let the hepa filters help clean the air in the house and soon drifted off to sleep. I was amazed how quickly it removed the odors.

Re-reading all of the above, I am so grateful to still be healthy enough to do so much in one day. Yoga, orchestra rehearsal including hauling my heavy string bass in and out of the car, running errands, taking a shower, making dinner. All the hours in pulmonary rehab have paid off. I have the muscles to support what I want to do. I have an incredible quality of life considering I got this disease in late 2003. It takes a day like yesterday to remind me of that fact. I'm still standing.