Gym Rats

Several months ago Dale made a comment in passing about liking the Ford Explorers. I saw one a while later and commented offhandedly that they were okay. Two days later Dale came home with a new vehicle as he felt I had “approved him” to go buy one. We’ve had that conversation before, I should have known better.  I have tried to get him to say he likes chocolate diamonds and Chanel purses but he’s too savvy. In one of our discussions about spending I said I wanted us to join a gym and work with a personal trainer. As I had him over a barrel, he couldn’t really object to this small expense. So, we’ve been hitting the gym for the last couple of months.

My gym situation is unique. I’ve had a bad knee for decades. It started with a surgery for an ACL repair in 1987 and a subsequent meniscus removal. I worked hard to rehabilitate my knee and I skied and played slow-pitch for years after. But my knee always bothered me. It became inflamed with overuse and I sometimes swallowed Advil like candy. I remember once we were on a little weekend getaway in Victoria. I was limping badly and in a lot of pain. Suddenly we saw a cane in the corner of an antique store we were in. I hobbled over to it and jokingly said that perhaps I should buy it. Dale came over and remarked that it was a good idea. The cane was exactly the right size; it was like it appeared just when I needed it. We bought it and it saved the weekend.

I didn’t use it often. In fact, in Leduc, I didn’t use it at all. I even danced in a musical. But I remember being stiff and sore when we were packing up the house. When we lived in downtown Vancouver, my ideal location, I was out walking every day. And I was taking Advil every morning before I headed out. When we moved into this townhouse, I remember being in so much pain that I thought it would never go away. Finally I bowed to the pressure from my family and went to the doctor. He sent me to get an x-ray. It showed that I have moderate to severe osteoarthritis. I knew that’s what it would show. Then I went to an orthopaedic surgeon who said eventually I would need a knee replacement, but not now. He gave me a prescription for an injection that costs several hundred dollars and that works for less than half of the people who get it. I held off on filling it. But then this summer my knee pain increased exponentially. I started walking with a cane if I had to go more than a block or so. I couldn’t sleep. I went back to my doctor who prescribed Celebrex. Within several days my pain was gone. The seemingly permanent swelling in my knee subsided. I finally felt that I could tackle the extra pounds that had crept in because it hurt to move. Not moving meant I gained weight which put more stress on my knee, which made it hurt more – you see the pattern. Also, one side effect of Celebrex is that it can increase blood pressure, regular exercise would help to keep it down. And the rheumatologist I saw said even a small weight loss would help.

So, here we are, two months into our gym membership. The pounds are coming off slowly, but I feel better, stronger. We have a kick-boxing session on Tuesdays, a circuit training session on Wednesdays and an hour bootcamp on Saturday mornings. If I don’t have a rehearsal on Monday nights I go to circuit training with Dale. If I do have rehearsal, I go to the gym by myself in the morning. I do a mile on the elliptical machine and two miles on the stationary bike. I do that routine on Thursday and Friday mornings too, so I’m in the gym every day except Sunday. The personal trainers are awesome. They provide me with alternative exercises when I can’t do something because of my knee.

I still walk with a cane. My knee is permanently damaged and it doesn’t like to bend but the pain is under control. My leg muscles are getting stronger and helping to support the joint. Dale is at the gym most days too, and we have changed our eating habits. We have increased our intake of fruits and vegetables and decreased our carbs. I can’t remember the last time we had bread in the house! When I make cookies for the kids at rehearsals I limit myself to one, a treat in the afternoon with a cup of tea. Eventually I will need a knee replacement, but that’s way down the road.

So why the push to be fit now? Well, being fit and losing weight will increase our odds to having a longer, happier, healthier life. And now we have Ari, our amazing grandchild. We want to be able to do fun things with him as he grows up and research has shown that it’s never too late to make a change. So change is afoot, and my sore abs are proof of that!

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.