Ahhh, the sweet smell of progress! Rehab has felt like it's been going at a snail's pace for the past few weeks; my recovery from pneumonia and this most recent exacerbation has been tortuously slow. But by the end of last week, and more so this week, I have felt better and more able to tolerate movement without disabling shortness of breath.
My friend Gail has been bringing me to rehab since I got out of the hospital and wheeling me from the entrance to the rehab room. Today I walked from the parking lot, into the hospital and to the rehab room by myself. I rested once about half way through. I also walked all of the way back to my car. How sweet it is!
I rested for a few minutes once I got to the rehab room and my BP was 155/87. This is pretty high for me, but I figured the effort of walking in might be the cause. I have a history of high blood pressure, but it's been down since I don't work full time anymore. It was a stressful job and my blood pressure has been good since leaving the job.
First I went to the UBE and worked my uppper arms for 20 minutes. I rested and headed over to the Nu-step. I worked my arms and legs for 20 minutes, and did 1,660 steps on Level 5. Up 5 minutes from last week!
Then on to the treadmill and I finally made it to 15 minutes at .9MPH. Sweet, sweet, sweet! 5 minutes on it had been torture for weeks and now at the slower speed, I am able to do better. This makes me feel so much better about how it's all going!
I can't say enough about being persistent and consistent with trying. I thought I might be in for a decline but it looks like I will be able to come back and even be better if I keep trying and be patient!
Progress, not perfection!
~Eileen
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