New Transplant Blog Posts

@contentandwell - When I was losing weight I was counting calories and going to the gym 5-6 times per week. When I started biking I biked 3-4 times per week and did a weight training video at home 2-3 times per week. Biking can be derailed by rain or heat. I have to go first thing in the morning when it is still "cool". I can no longer handle the heat and exercise simultaneously. I prefer biking and burn as much calories on a bike ride in 30 minutes as an hour on the elliptical and I enjoy it more. The very reason the exercise waned was things were not getting done at home. When I exercise at the gym I "lost" a good 2 1/2 - 3 hours (travel time, exercise, shower) every morning. I told my husband that is exactly why I didn't do this before. It's time consuming! I do save time with biking (no travel time and I can do it for less time and burn more calories).

Lately I have been traveling and when home I have had workmen here most of the day which leaves the evening to exercise. I don't have any energy at night. I usually fall asleep from 4:30 to 5:30 in my recliner and I wake up to my husband walking in the door. Then I have to get some kind of dinner on the table and I'm spent. I used to be very productive in the evenings but that is long gone. I know I'm making excuses and I'm hoping that once my daughter returns to high school (next Wednesday) I'll get back into a routine of exercising in the mornings, errands or house chores in the afternoon.

I also need to stop drinking pop and get my eating (portion control) back on track. I think I might sign up for the Mayo Clinic Diet online. I get a lot of their emails (pointers, recipes) but I have held off signing up by telling myself I can do it (I lost 30 lbs in 3 months after the birth of my third daughter by eating right and exercise). Since I have put weight back on I must admit I need some help. After my company leaves next week I'm going to talk to my husband about us both doing it.

Thanks for the pep talk!

Lynn

@lcamino, going to the gym or pool really is a time commitment. At this point in my life, with our son and daughter gone, I do have the time so it is easier for me. I would love to resume bike riding but my town is hilly -- we live on the side of a hill -- and hills of course make it more difficult. When I was single and lived in Boston I would always ride my bike to work in good weather, about 5 miles, and on weekends bike over to Cambridge or along the Charles River, all great areas for biking. I am not sure now if I even have my old bike still, I may have given it to my daughter. If it's still downstairs in the cellar it must be in pretty bad shape, plus it was one of those very skinny tired racing bikes. Not the best for the roads around here. You make it sound so appealing though that I am feeling a bit wistful about my old bike riding days.
JK

@contentandwell - I just posted a long reply and in my attempt to download a picture I lost it all. In short, hills are tough. I treat them like intervals and if I ride the trails vs neighborhoods I have enough around my house. I can go 22 mph down a hill and 5 mph up a hill once I have lost the downhill momentum. I ride a road bike (skinny tires) and my shores are clipped in. But I live in Indiana so I do have to exercise at the Y when the weather does not cooperate.

Recently I have had left flank/kidney pain when I bike strenuously so I'm hoping when I get my transplant they will also do a nephrectomy so I can keep biking. My kindeys will continue to enlarge (cysts will keep growing) after I get a transplant unless they remove my kidneys. My dad had both of his kidneys removed and they were both the size of a football. I'm not kidding. I found a picture online to post but can't figure out how to do it (googgle "kidney size of football" and the image will appear if you are curious). That being said, that will not solve my weight problems but I don't want to feel 9 months pregnant like my dad did (sore back, poor quality of sleep, pain). I forget how much each of his kidneys weighed but I now they can be up to 15 lbs each.

Lynn

@contentandwell - Well apparently I figured out how to post a picture but not the one I meant to. That is my husband and I after a 10 mile bike ride. I'll get help from my kids to post the kidney picture when I get some time.

Lynn

@lcamino, Lynn,no picture here. Your comment "I'll get help from my kids" cracks me up. I am always amused when I have to turn to my kids. I was a computer professional in ancient times and helped them, I never thought my son would be up on computers but he is pretty good now, and his company is an IT staffing business!
JK

@contentandwell - That is weird. As I'm typing now I can see a photo of my husband and I under my post about the size of PKD kidneys. (3 posts above the one I'm typing.

Lynn

@lcamino, Lynn, I see the picture now! What a nice picture of you two. You look great.

I am about to go to my water class. It's going to be a somber one, one of the women who is always there and very outgoing had a stroke yesterday and was air-lifted to MGH. I know at our ages (many of us are in our 70's, where I will be too soon too) we need to realize that these things happen to our peers but it does not make it easier.

She had been working hard at getting into better shape, lost a bunch of weight and did the water and also Pilates two or three times a week.
JK

@contentandwell - Sorry to hear that. Unfortunately things happened a lot that we can't predict. We are dealing with health issues we know about but so many bizarre, and not so unusual, things happen everyday to people. In the past I would hear about a healthy person (athlete, runner) who had a heart attach and just decided that you should live as healthy a life a possible but you can't prevent things from happening. Of course I'm no specimen of a healthy lifestyle but I'm trying and that's all I can do.

Lynn

@lcamino

Love the picture - thanks for posting it~

Teresa

"A picture is worth a thousand words"
@lcamino, You are doing an amazing thing by working to stay healthy in preparation for transplant!
and
@contentandwell, You are a dear friend to be encouraging along the way...with promise of support in the future.

You both are some of the the reasons that make the 'mental health and well-being' in the above referenced mentioned blog, - “Post-Transplant Mental Health & Well-being: Q&A with Shelia Jowsey-Gregoire, M.D.” - a possibility!

Enjoy today, and the next day, and the next day....!
Rosemary