Thursday, April 28, 2011

Doctor's Orders!

I'm trying to keep myself on a little bit of a routine here with the exercise, such as it is, with walking the dog but boy, some days, I really wonder if it's as good a deal as it's supposed to be.

The last visit I had to see the oncologist, we were discussing my trying to lose a few more pounds and such and I mentioned to him about my attempt to work on that issue by going for walks down the road from the house, checking out the woodsy scenery there and such.

My physician broke into a very broad smile when I mentioned doing this and told me that women who have had abdominal surgery, particularly of the reproductive orders, would all be very well-served if they would take up walking for some exercise. What really surprised me about this conversation though was when he said that although many women these days are doing a lot of running or jogging, he said that kind of exercise is actually pretty unhealthy for women to be doing because it tends to harm the internal organs quite often, to say nothing about the damage that can occur to the feet and knees, in particular.

I laughed though and told him that there was no need to worry about my indulging in that kind of exercise but that I do very much enjoy the walks with my dog -and sometimes the grandkids even go with me too, when I'm not planning for a really long walk that is.

Well, apparently my walk yesterday -which was roughly three miles, round-trip -was a tad more than my old ankles were up to because boy, tonight my left ankle in particular has really been throbbing away! I'm thinking I might have to invest in some protective gear and try using some aircast a60 stuff-provided I could get the purchase of that approved by Medicare, ya know!

Either that or I'm gonna be investing in a lot of Ben-Gay!

I'm hoping this was just a fluke thing -maybe because yesterday was the first time so far this year that I had walked that far or it also could have been because of the really strong storms we had tonight as well as last night too.

Darned rain -and especially when we've had as much of it as we've had in the past month here now -likes to settle in and annoy me by making my ankles ache, swell and even bothers my back a lot too then.

But once I get my system back on track to walking a little farther than I have been doing, and hopefully soon, the weather will be more of the warmer stuff, with loads of sunshine, then I'll be following doctor's orders much better once again.

6 comments:

Maggie May said...

Well done for the walking. I agree that running is very damaging to dodgy discs and joints not to mention the internal organs.
No... lets stick to walking!
Maggie X

Nuts in May

Sandee said...

I'm an avid walker and I love it. I use the treadmill when the weather is bad, but when it's not I really enjoy being outside. It's good exercise indeed. As any cardiologist.

Have a terrific day. :)

terri said...

This is good information! Here I've been feeling guilty about giving up on the running. Seems as if the walking I've been doing is the better option anyway!

And my ankles did hurt when I ran. I could have used some of those braces.

CiCi said...

Running is a yuppy activity. Walking is the healthy exercise for sure, you have a great doctor to take the time to talk to you and share information with you like this. We went for a walk yesterday. I am still not riding my bike much, still too cold when I am riding and the cold air blows in my face.

Suldog said...

Assume you've got decent walking shoes/sneakers? Might be worth investing in something with more support for the ankles? I'm thinking high-top Converse All-Stars, but there's surely something more high tech these days :-)

Travis Cody said...

Get some good walking shoes. And always be careful where you step. Little inconsistencies in the pavement can make you turn your ankles just slightly so you don't notice while you're still walking.

My mom enjoys walking too. After her walks, she ices both ankles for about 15 minutes. Then she does more ice in the evenings after dinner. She says it helps.