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Post by Blossom/Jackie W. on Sept 27, 2007 5:52:52 GMT -5
DAY 6 - PULMONARY REHABILITATION
Today was the first day of rehab whereby I was feeling sluggish. I knew these days would come at times, but this was the first since starting rehab. Some days are just better than others, and I have no special reason for this being a sluggish day but it was. I slept fairly well but became sleepy about 10:00. My rehab starts at 11:00. I wanted to see all the people but just didn't want to exercise for some reason, but I went anyway.
I noticed that when doing my warm up walking and exercises, I did them with my head sort of hung down and wasn't giving 100% of myself but forged on.
Maybe the warm up exercises got "my blood running" or something because when I got on the bike, I did feel more awake and alert and not as sluggish as before. I did 12 minutes total on the bike at a level of 6-7. The last two minutes seemed long to me but I just told myself that today is not one of my best days and I might be sleepy but exercise is important, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to do it, and finished those last two minutes.
Of course, I don't want to forget to say that my stats were taken frequently prior to, during and after exercising.
I had no problems on the Treadmill today. I did 10 minutes at 2.2 miles per hour. Last week I did 11 minutes but they cut it back to 10 and upped the miles per hour. It went well, and seems so far to be the most enjoyable and easiest exercise for me to do.
I may have mentioned earlier that I pulled a muscle in my right arm, and the RT's have not been letting me use my right arm until I saw my doctor. I saw my doctor yesterday, and he doesn't think it's a torn rotator cuff. He thinks it's an impingement, so now I am going to an outpatient rehab clinic for shoulder/arm rehabilitation 2 times a week for one month. They, hopefully, will get me started on Theraband exercises, and assuming all goes well, after the month ends, I can then do more upper body strengthening at pulmonary rehab. My upper body is quite weak along with my thighs, and I want to strengthen both.
I noticed that some people (not from my original group but others who have been coming prior to my group) have progressed to other machines. I hope I can progress to other machines also.
I have gotten in the habit of coming home after rehab to eat a light lunch and then taking a nap. This seems to refresh me for the afternoon, and I think it does me good to nap. Some people don't like to nap and say they feel groggy the rest of the afternoon or evening, so I guess people are just different in their needs and likes and dislikes.
I have now had my first experience with a day of rehab whereby I felt too tired to attend, but I will say that after exercising, I felt better. I want to remember this not only for other rehab days but mainly for times here at home when I might feel sluggish or a little tired. Possibly getting up and doing something productive or just light exercises would make me feel better. Normally, if tired, I wouldn't do anything....just sit around for most of the day or nap off and on, watch TV or get on the computer. It surprised me that I felt better after exercising than I did prior to. A lesson well learned.
Until Thursday---Joyce
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