Not sure who to tell...

[DonnaMarie]

......so will do my talking here. First off, no, I did not smoke

I had the stitches out of my hand last week and was asked to wait until today to get back to the pool. The long story is two shoulder surgeries got me repaired enough to swim, but had the trigger finger surgeries to get my hands back in order, and now, my body is mine again. 

I checked out what aqua exercise classes were scheduled and joined one of those today, The swimming lanes next to us were calling my name...big time. I stuck with the class for a half hour and then ducked under the lane divider and got into a shallow lane of my own. I did a few walking laps and then decided to try breaststroke, then some floaty stuff with kicks, then a freestyle, then some walking again and could I do it? Yes, I could - I swam a lap of backstroke, my goal for the last year or so. I didn't use my left arm the whole way, but I did use it 10 strokes at a time before resting and just using the right arm. In all, I spent a half hour in the swimming lane doing swim/walk work, and damn, it felt like I was on top of the world. I'm sure to be tired later, but who cares?

The goal is to go very, very slowly at first and build the shoulder up to where it once was. 

Guys, I'm back in the pool. I'm almost in tears. 

For what it's worth, swimming, slow as it was, was easier than it used to be. (I found out walking uphill, though still hard, is easier when I went to Busch Gardens last week.) So, not only is my anatomical stuff back where it should be, my lungs are not as pissed off as they used to be and I didn't get short of breath with minor effort. I'll never swim as speedily as I once did, but perhaps, just perhaps, I can get my stamina in better shape.

No more medical stuff please. I'm moving on. I don't smoke. I eat right. I now exercise again. I sleep okay. I have a good personal relationship with my husband. Etc.....I'm ready to be the person I've become

Thanks for everyone's help with the quitting and for listening as I went through my surgical woes. Let's get back to it!

Donna

Day 252