Take a Walk – Exercise may help fatigue in some of us
Our doctors tell us to get exercise. Our blood cancer friends tell us we need to do some walking. Well today, I went to our nearby state park where we have an annual pass. It was 85F (29.5C) but I didn’t plan to walk very long. As it turned out, I only walked for 5 minutes!!! My legs felt like jelly when I got back to car & sat down.
As I consider reasons why I am so far out of shape, these thoughts come to mind: + Most of my walking during the week is for 30 seconds or less as I move about the house. Once a week, I go to the store but the grocery cart is like a walker as I mosey around the store for about 45 minutes, and into & out of church on Sunday where I park in the “up-front” Senior Parking. + The temperature? Not really a factor as I didn’t even work up a sweat (85F 60% humidity is nothing for West Texas!). + This past year with the COVID shutdown, our sedentary lives have become even more so. + blood cancer or medication fatigue? Perhaps…this could be a factor but not a good excuse to keep from walking some. Plus my wife is in even worse shape. Ten years ago, my wife & I were walking a mile a day at a 20 minute pace. Not breath-taking but certainly good for you.
Therefore, I have decided I need to start walking at least 4-6 days a week. I’m going to stick with the 5-minute walk until my legs are stronger & I don’t feel like I’m going to fall on my face. Then I’ll move it up to a 10-minute walk.
I just read that there are 4 types of exercise that allow us to continue to live independently – balance, strength, endurance, & flexibility. I want to stay as healthy as possible and walking is the easiest thing to do! Let’s Take a Walk everybody!
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- Lyyn Bailey
Lynn married his high school sweetheart, and they have been married for 51 years surviving & clinging to each other during the raising of 5 children. He had a 40 year career with an electric utility as an electrical engineer working in design & operations, and then later in management.
Lynn also served in three churches as youth minister, and then later as music minister directing choirs and leading worship.
When Lynn dabbles in his hobbies you will find him playing his guitar, talking on ham radio, or updating the Linux operating system on one of his computers.
He may be a Texan but he doesn’t have a horse – instead he has diesel pickup truck that’s 23 years old and has almost ½ million miles on it.
He was diagnosed in 2013 with small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) and has been treated with ibrutinib since 2014. He sees a specialist at M. D. Anderson.
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