THR +107

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Big day today. It started early with me attempting to get some work done.

Around 10am, my pal Sheryl called to go for a walk. As the sun was out and I had a rental car, how could I say no?

I met her over in Vancouver's West End. Traffic, even at such an early hour on a Sunday, was a nightmare. This city is not a driver's best friend. I'm so glad I don't have to drive everyday.

Rather than complain about the current civic government and its idiotic transportation ideas, I'll focus on the positive!

I met Sheryl at Sunset Beach and we walked to Third Beach in Stanley Park. And then back to Sunset Beach. It was a glorious day and a nice way to spend a few hours.

We logged 8km (5 miles)... meaning that I'm almost ready to walk AROUND Stanley Park (10km). I'm hoping to do that before I leave in 11 days.

I came home in the early afternoon with the intention of working, but my buddy Steve called and wanted to go for coffee on The Drive. Nice! We went to Fets and hung out on the patio.

It was a weird weather day -- super warm (20C) and really humid.

Steve had to leave around 4, so I did some grocery shopping before returning home to do a little work. Some is better than none.

It poured this evening, but it seems nice now... although it's bedtime. Tomorrow, I have to take the rental back to the North Shore. And then I really have to get stuff done. Methinks time is going to start flying.

Here's some pictures from a great Sunday Funday:

Exercise: 8km walk+, some physio

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THR +106

Saturday, October 18, 2014

It was a busy day today.

I got up at 6 to work on stuff for next week. Didn't get nearly as much done as I'd hoped.

Then I had to get over to the North Shore to pick up a cheap car rental. That meant an "interesting" ride on the #20 bus, a SeaBus ride, and a ride on the #236 to Enterprise/North Van. That took a while.

After I snagged the car (with my buddy Randy) it was time to shop. First stop: Old Navy for cheap shirts. Second stop: The Crab Shoppe for halibut patties. And then all the way out to Ikea in Coquitlam. I needed some kitchen stuff -- knives -- for Guatemala.

After dropping off Randy, I headed home to start sorting through stuff (I'd pulled boxes of unknown stuff out of storage earlier in the summer). I took a bunch of old (and too small) clothes to a donation box.

It wasn't raining, so I felt obligated to hit to Spanish Banks. There's not many opportunities left.  I did a 3.5km walk and took some pictures:

Taking the dogs out for a walk

The days are short

Sunset is just 6:17pm

Poorly exposed self-portrait

Look! A super expensive city!

And then it was night

After the beach, I headed home for a feed of sushi. I avoided wine for another day. It's surprisingly difficult.

The hip was a bit stiff today. I didn't do any physio (the physio dude said I needed to take days off). But I did get the walk in.

The shoulder was ok. No better, no worse.

Oh: I'm also having doubts about going back to Guatemala. No reason other than I'm really enjoying Vancouver.

And... suddenly it's 9:30pm and I'm ready to crash.

Exercise: 3.5km+ walk

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THR +105

Friday, October 17, 2014

Today marks 15 weeks since surgery. So far, so good.

Went for a walk this morning with a CBC buddy. Well, first it was coffee. Then a walk. Then breakfast. Then another walk.

After that I had to rush downtown to take my iPod to the Apple Store. They swapped it for a new one due to a broken button, but the whole back-up restore process took hours. I did some more shopping and spent a quiet evening at home.

Here's me, today:

13.7 lbs lighter than on Aug 1, 2014

Exercise: Physio I & II; 5.5km walked

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THR +104

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Point form:

- Today was my final 'paid' physio

- PT said I was doing well
 - The stairs at home have helped my recovery
 - I walk with a limp, which will go away as my leg strengthens
 - I'll have stiffness and weird feelings for up to a year
 - He recommended ice for the shoulder pain
 - And he said I was still walking too far (!)
 - He recommended trekking poles for hiking
 - He gave me new exercises and told me to drop older ones
 - I'm going to have to make a balance board in San Pedro

- Just two weeks until departure, feeling sad about leaving YVR. Strange...

And so it goes!

Exercise: Physio at clinic. 3km walked
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THR +103

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Sleeping is better than ever. I go down fast and I don't wake up in the middle of the night. I remember those post-surgery nights of having to use a bedpan or hobble to the bathroom. I hobble no more!

I do find it difficult getting up in the morning. I don't use an alarm, unless I have to. When I wake up, I could easily go back to sleep. However there is so much I need to do these days, that I can't stay in bed until I'm totally rested. Still, I'm logging 7-8 hours of solid sleep.

The shoulder is still bothering me and I'm not sure what the cause is. Tomorrow I'll talk to my physio guy about it.

I'm plateauing a bit in terms of weight, but still down 12.7 lbs as of this morning. Here's what it looks like since Aug 1:

Up and down since Aug 1

The weight loss is slow, but it is going in the right direction.

I spent the day working and went for a short evening walk. Nothing exciting.

Exercise: Short walk, physio

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THR +102

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

In point form:

- Decent sleep in newly reconfigured bed

- Hip stiffness

- Shoulder, hand - annoying pain, stiffness.

- Had an early coffee with old TV pal. Feeling motivated after that.

- Worked a ton.

- Feeling stress over all the stuff I need to get done. I'll feel better this weekend as I'll have a car and will be able to start getting rid of stuff.

Exercise: 3.6km walked, full physio

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THR +101

Monday, October 13, 2014 (Thanksgiving)

The day started late.

I spent the night in the suburbs after a big Thanksgiving feast. Caught a ride home to the city around 2pm.

It rained all day, but I still managed to get out to the grocery store and bank. I ended up skipping physio (well, I did some, but not all), just to give my body a break.

I starting to get that overwhelmed feeling with departure just a few weeks away. It seems like there is SO much to do. But it'll get done. It always does.

This evening I caught up on some TV viewing and worked on a piece that's due tomorrow.

It doesn't look like I'll be doing any long walks as the forecast is crap:

Um, no.

I have to get up tomorrow for an early coffee with a former CTV/CBC colleague at 9am. So... zzz time!

Exercise: 1km, some physio, lots of stairs (laundry)

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THR +100

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Day 100!

The hip is great, with some stiffness. But no real pain unless I push it too far. 

It's funny... in some ways the pain has migrated from my left hip to right shoulder. Hopefully that goes away soon.

Sunday was Thanksgiving dinner day, so I didn't walk or do physio. I think a break is called for after much exercise last week.

I had dinner at the Rutherford clan's spread in Coquitlam. Very nice meal (turkey, ham) and lots of laughter with a few other families. Ended up staying the night...

Exercise: minimal
-30- 

THR +99

Saturday, October 11, 2014

The day started on a positive note: more downward movement in my weight. I've now lost 12.7 lbs since August 1.

It's nice to see the weight moving the right way, finally. It sure has taken a lot of work. Try living without wheat, sugar and processed foods. It's not easy.

Actually, the biggest thing is beer. I miss it SO much. I haven't had a beer or wheat since Aug 25.

The weather was dire this morning. Hard tropical rain. Cold. And the forecast wasn't very inspiring. It's definitely not summer.

It's beginning to look like departure time!

But then a funny thing happened. It stopped raining and the sun came out. The timing was perfect as I had to walk about 10 blocks to meet up with Randy and Murray for a broadcasters bitch fest at Cafe Deux Soleils.

We spent a couple of hours drinking coffee, eating vegetarian food and cursing the state of broadcasting today. The best years have come and gone -- of that there can be no doubt.

Following bitchy brunch, I headed home to start poking away at work and departure preparations. I don't leave for another 19 days, but it's good to get stuff done early. Or at least half-done!

The sunshine continued all afternoon, which was nice. It kept the apartment warm -- the central heating hasn't been fired up yet.

Around 5, I met up with Brent and we went for a drink at Fets and then we headed downtown to meet John at the Lions game.

Even though there was a Canucks game on at the same time, 31,000 people showed up to watch the Leos shellac the Ottawa RedBlacks 41-3.

Panorama of BC kicking Ottawa's ass. As it should be!

Next door in Rogers Arena, the Canucks beat Edmonton in a shoot-out. Sweet!

Have you noticed that this blog is getting to be less about my hip replacement and more about regular life? Me too.

Change is in the air!

Exercise: 3km, physio

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THR +98

Friday, October 10, 2014

The day started with this nice morning moon:

Morning moon in Vancouver - October 10, 2014

Today marks 14 weeks since my surgery... and I'm getting closer to fine. I'm also getting lighter, slowly. As of this morning I was down 11.1 lbs from August 1. Just 48 more to go to hit goal one. 68 more to hit goal 2. 

It was a big exercise day. This morning I walked from my home just off Commercial Drive to Downtown Vancouver. I covered 6.25km on a nice fall day. Took some pictures, too.

Here's the route:

The longest walk yet!

Here's what I saw along the way:

Chinatown!

An eagle!

A spray-painted saloon!

A leaf on a hockey net with the word 'Canada' on it!

My super-active feet that have covered over 25km in the past week!

So, yeah. It was a good walk.

Once I had a double americano misto at the CBC JJBean, I hopped on a bus and made it home before the rain started -- which was about 1pm.

Then I did some grocery shopping, had coffee with Hughesie and did all my physio.

I'm knackered.

It's just after 8pm Pacific and I'm about to enjoy a fine Zinfandel and catch up on The Daily Show and Colbert Report from this week.

Despite bad news regarding one client, it's been a fantastic week.

On tap for Saturday: bitch and brunch with TV pals and the Lions-Ottawa football game.

Exercise: 6.25km walk, physio.

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