Yeah, I know, it's been awhile since I've updated this thing.

My Health

For the most part, it's been OK. I've been burning the candle at both ends this week, getting to work at 7am to cover for a coworker on vacation. Getting out of my routine also meant I forgot to consistently take my medication, so getting overtired and undermedicated led to my complete feeling of rundown yesterday. I forced myself to go to bed early, and I'm doing better today. I'm still tired, but I'm not at that feverish fatigue point that I found yesterday, when I knew for sure I had pushed myself too much.

I thought that I might continue getting up earlier in the morning once I was done covering for my coworker, but considering how tired I've been this week, I doubt I will.

MS Walk

The MS Walk was supposed to be held in this area last Saturday, but I don't think they got a chance to walk because of the weather. I didn't sign up to do it this year, for a variety of reasons. Last year, it was important for me to do it, to feel like I was doing something positive to fight this illness. But I did two fund-raising events for MS last year, and that took a lot out of me. I'm not a fundraiser, yet I managed to raise almost $1,400 for MS last year. I need to give myself - and the generous people who sponsored me - a bit of a break. If the MS Society does the Pooch Parade again, I'll be there, because the dogs had such an incredible time at last year's event.

Flexibility

I know I've been complaining a lot about back pain and stiffness. Well, my hard work in Pilates class has been paying off, and I can honestly say that I'm more flexible now than I have ever been in my life.

A couple of Sundays ago, I woke up so stiff that I could barely bend over. I dragged myself into the spare room and did Pilates for about 5 minutes. Then I leaned over and touched my toes without bending my knees. I've never done that before. That afternoon, I was showing off to my family some of the stuff I can do now. The girl who couldn't sit down, stretch out her legs, and touch her toes can now wrap her hands about the arches of her feet without bending her knees. Tim flexed my foot during a foot massage that weekend and was amazed at how much more flexible it was than in the past.

A couple of days ago, I did a yoga tape. This was after taking a week off of exercise due to injury. I was ready to laugh out loud when it was time to do a variation of the bridge pose. On the tape, the instructor says to put a block under your waist and rest your body on the block. When I started doing the bridge pose, I would have to fight to lift myself up farther so I could put the brick down. This time, I had to lower my hips to rest them on the brick. It's fun when progress is so obvious.

Am I pain-free? No, I still get twinges now and then. But I recover much faster, and am still capable of doing more to get through the pain. I was feverish last night during Pilates class, and I still was performing a lot of the moves. But having to take a week off for injury taught me a valuable lesson - I've got to keep moving to keep feeling good.