1. < Just Want to Talk
Mentor

Let’s Go Walking! Join me for a virtual walking support group

Posted by Becky, Volunteer Mentor @becsbuddy, Feb 19, 2020

Many of you living with cancer or an autoimmune disease, like me, deal with daily fatigue. You know that exercise is so important to your health, but it’s so hard. There’s always an excuse: it’s too cold or hot, it’s going to rain or it’s raining, or it’s snowy and icy, or I just don’t want to. I, too, have all these excuses, but I have a new rescue dog who wants to go out and who doesn’t care about my excuses! And I’ve got traction devices for my boots.Now I just need a walking group who will keep me accountable. People who say, ‘let’s go for a walk.'

And I thought: What about my virtual friends on MayoClinicConnect?

Mayo Clinic has an easy 12-week walking program to get us started! Here’s the link:
- Get walking with this 12-week walking schedule https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/get-walking-with-this-12-week-walking-schedule/

So let’s form a virtual walking group. We can agree to walk every day and encourage each other through Connect. We can walk outdoors, in a mall, or in the red center, or in the hallways of our apartment building.

Who’s in? Who’s going to join me?

Come on, Let’s Go Walking!

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Just Want to Talk Support Group.

Amanda Burnett | @amandaa | Sep 9, 2020
In reply to @cindyjk "I'm in! My name is Cindy, I have a dog named MOW (Moment Of Weakness) and..." + (show)
@cindyjk

I'm in! My name is Cindy, I have a dog named MOW (Moment Of Weakness) and he loves to walk. We normally head out no matter what the weather. I have stage lV lung cancer and my motto is do it while ya can! 🙂 How does it work?

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@cindyjk Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect, Cindy. So glad you could join us. I am sorry to hear about your stage lV lung cancer. Is this your motivation for walking with us? How is the weather where you live? Is it still extremely hot or are you getting some reprieve from summer? Would also love to know your back story.

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1 reply
lioness | @lioness | Sep 9, 2020
In reply to @deborahfrick123 "@lioness How are you making it tthrough the CA heat wave? Did your lights stay on?..." + (show)
@deborahfrick123

@lioness
How are you making it tthrough the CA heat wave? Did your lights stay on? I wonder if a garlic enema burns???

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@deborahfrick123 My power didn't go off but the smoke from the bobcat fire I can see when I look west out my window these fires are terrible we have 2 more months of summer yet here .I don't know how the garlic enema felt since I was to young at the time. Mom said it worked she just flushed the toilet down they went sorry to gravic .How are you doing Any exercises today? Not feeling good today so will rest

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2 replies
lioness | @lioness | Sep 9, 2020
In reply to @rivergirl8243 "check out the "red sun" tonight" + (show)
@rivergirl8243

check out the "red sun" tonight

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@rivergirl8243 Didn't see it .It's to high in the sky here Bet it was beautiful

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mayofeb2020 | @mayofeb2020 | Sep 9, 2020

@rivergirl8243 I saw it, was taking a picture of it, but for sone reason it didn't show up in the picture . There was another person in the park taking picture too, she could capture it either. Then again, we wete using our phones only. It was really beautiful!

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Mentor
Becky, Volunteer Mentor | @becsbuddy | Sep 9, 2020
In reply to @cindyjk "I'm in! My name is Cindy, I have a dog named MOW (Moment Of Weakness) and..." + (show)
@cindyjk

I'm in! My name is Cindy, I have a dog named MOW (Moment Of Weakness) and he loves to walk. We normally head out no matter what the weather. I have stage lV lung cancer and my motto is do it while ya can! 🙂 How does it work?

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Hello @cindyjk Think I’m supposed to be leading this exercise group but... Sounds like you are already out and about! We’re supposed to be exercising 3-4 times a week, but the hardcore athletes are out every day. Sounds like you’re one of them? We had about 3” of snow last night so we were out checking on all the trees! Glad you could join us!

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fiesty76 | @fiesty76 | Sep 9, 2020
In reply to @becsbuddy "@fiesty76 and @lioness Heat wave? We’re due for SNOW today! And it’s only 33 degrees! Yesterday..." + (show)
@becsbuddy

@fiesty76 and @lioness Heat wave? We’re due for SNOW today! And it’s only 33 degrees! Yesterday was in the 90’s and the sun tried to get thru, but the smoke and soot from not-so-near fires cancelled the sun and blue skies. Guess I won’t walk outside today!

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@becsbuddy, @lioness, @mayofeb2020, Yay! First stop this morning was to my thermostat...from ac to heat and warmups! Ash and dark haze from Colorado mtn fires were littering daughter's Boulder porch until snowfall this morning which was so heavy, they have multiple broken tree branches from their still leafed out trees! When Nature decides to make a statement, she can really deliver, yes?

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fiesty76 | @fiesty76 | Sep 9, 2020
In reply to @cindyjk "I'm in! My name is Cindy, I have a dog named MOW (Moment Of Weakness) and..." + (show)
@cindyjk

I'm in! My name is Cindy, I have a dog named MOW (Moment Of Weakness) and he loves to walk. We normally head out no matter what the weather. I have stage lV lung cancer and my motto is do it while ya can! 🙂 How does it work?

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@cindyjk, Hi, Cindy, glad to meet you and that you'll be joining our friendly group on walks. Mentor, Becky, started this group in Feb. and if you scroll to the very top, you can read her intro. for the group. The beauty of this is that there are no hard and fast rules of any kind. Some strive to walk daily, others walk whenever they can or decide. Some use devices to track the number of steps or how far they walk; others work to build up endurance and distance while some are more house bound and "cyber walk" on machines or do chair exercises to videos or whatever.

I'd set a personal challenge in Jan. to see if I could discipline myself to simply walk three x's/week and set specific days for those walks to further motivate me. After my wonderful furry friend died, I just couldn't get back to walking alone. While it is certainly not a record, I have met my challenge and starting the 9th month; have thrown in some "extra" walks but meeting the personal weekly challenge is my goal. The support and sharing from this group have helped me with my consistency because there have been days when it would have been so easy to procrastinate and put off a scheduled walk.

I Really like your dog's name and so glad he is a walker, too! Was MOW a result by any chance of an impulse adoption??? I am familiar with impulsive acts, like overbuying yesterday of freezer foods with an already fully stocked freezer...sigh so that is what prompts the question. lol

Stage IV lung cancer is no laughing matter for sure so your upbeat spirit of "do it while ya can" is impressive! We just share our walking experiences as we wish; no competition for sure; the goal is to keep moving and the cyber group sharing is great encouragement to keep on keeping on as we can. Some days we can't and that's ok too. Welcome aboard!

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fiesty76 | @fiesty76 | Sep 9, 2020
In reply to @lioness "@deborahfrick123 zShe didn't want to try the garlic enema ??" + (show)
@lioness

@deborahfrick123 zShe didn't want to try the garlic enema ??

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@lioness, Can't stop laughing at your question!!

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fiesty76 | @fiesty76 | Sep 9, 2020
In reply to @ellens "I learned how to do flotation when I was working on a horse farm in MT...." + (show)
@ellens

I learned how to do flotation when I was working on a horse farm in MT. I used sugar or salt in a test tube of water to saturate it very highly and then I'd have a manure sample in the tube and stuck a clean slide on top and the parasite eggs would float up and cling to the slide (this is all I remember from many years ago). I'd put the slide under the microscope and count parasite eggs. I imagine that sort of thing is what they do for human parasites. My poor mother had to boil our underwear and maybe sheets too for a couple of weeks. My brother was little enough to be using a potty chair on the floor and that's how our mother spotted the pinworms. She had a degree in medical technology and our father was a pathologist so from their education in parasitology they knew what to do. They came in at night when I was asleep with a flashlight trained on my butt and I woke up to hear them whispering "there's one" and "there's one"--they knew the worms came out at night to lay eggs. So then it was off to Mayo because we could stay with grandparents for the procedure.

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@ellens, I know at the time this was no laughing matter but the way you tell the story has me laughing out loud. What a way to be awakened in the night!!! Glad your parents knew what to do but I can only imagine a small child waking up to her their whispers!!! Too funny!

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deborahfrick123 | @deborahfrick123 | Sep 9, 2020
In reply to @fiesty76 "@lioness, Yes, I was so surprised on a visit to San Francisco with daughter in the..." + (show)
@fiesty76

@lioness, Yes, I was so surprised on a visit to San Francisco with daughter in the fall that Sept-Nov were the warmer months. I will be eternally grateful that I was visiting her there on 9/11. At least we were together to experience the unfolding horror and uncertainty. Will make extra ice cubes to send to you and others in "hotspots" now. Maybe an extra lemonade with your chair exercises for the next hottest days?

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@lioness
Are those fires close to you?? Did your electric stay on or did the grid go down?

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