We finally had a decent snowfall, getting 4”-5” overnight last night. We’ve had snow but just a dusting here and an inch there – nothing to really worth paying heed. We also had that “nice” stretch of cold weather through January that hung around long enough for the lakes and ponds to freeze. That brought out all the ice lovers – skaters and ice fishermen – on just about every body of water. I got rid of my ice skates years ago as we never had ice thick enough or long enough to skate! They were literally just collecting dust. But a week or so ago I was so very close to going out and buying a pair because I used to just absolutely love skating.
With any luck at all, perhaps the weather patterns will change and we will once again begin to “enjoy” true New England winters! I used quotation marks on both nice and enjoy for a reason: I do not enjoy the cold anymore and I know I’ve mentioned that often in previous posts. My body can deal with it, as in my torso, but my fingers and toes just go dead after scant minutes in the cold – especially the fingers. But heated gloves have made all the difference for me – what a wonderful Christmas present! And the while the toes get cold and hurt, after a while of hiking they seem to adapt and warm up to the point that I generally forget about them by the end of my hike.
Recently it was finally time to go have my kidney retested with ultrasound. This time I was in a position to actually be able to see the technician’s screen – at least while laying on my right side as the left kidney was scanned. And I swear I saw something like a thumb protruding from the kidney on the screen to the point where I actually said “what on earth are we growing in there” to the tech (she laughed).
So here’s some of the background on this: during my heart issues last summer, they performed a lot of tests including scans, X-rays, and so forth. During all these tests, in one of them they noticed two lesions on my left kidney. Since I was there for something immediately pressing, and since a lesion or two is not cause for any immediate alarm, they officially advised me to follow up with a urologist once I was discharged from my bypass surgery. And I did – had an ultrasound performed and the report stated they were cysts and nothing alarming – follow up in six months.
But as I said, this time I was in a position to actually view the screen and the images from the kidney were quite alarming to me. I have been involved in ultrasonic testing for over 40 years, we use it at work for a number of reasons, primarily for detecting flaws in welds. I’ve performed it myself in a limited capacity and by the end of my career was responsible for the process at our shipyard. But looking at welds and looking at kidneys are two very different things. And in fact, I am 98% unaware of the physical characteristics of a human kidney; I know it is basically bean-shaped (or embryo-shaped lol) and not much more. And what I saw on the ultrasound screen shook me because I strongly felt it looked abnormal.
It was not.
The report stated that there was no significant change from the last ultrasound test and that I should continue to monitor every six months. And I am obviously greatly relieved with this! I have two of them, and a person can survive with only one, but who wants to go through all that?? So I am delighted that there is nothing nasty going on there, at least right now. We’ll have another look in August!
I continue to hike as well as walk. The weather and winter darkness somewhat disrupted my walking but as the days grow longer and warmer I am beginning to pick up my pace once again. I am back to doing around 12 miles per week with my walking, occasionally hitting 16 miles in a week. I am enjoying the street walking despite the traffic. There are enough wooded and natural areas along the walk to provide balance for the asphalt and concrete.
Street walking is so different from hiking, mostly the hard and flat surface to walk upon; there is almost no uncertainty is any step and it provides great traction for forward motion. I have a pace goal of 20-minute miles while hiking. Depending upon the terrain I meet that goal and at times, exceed it into the 18-minute per mile range and rarely even 17-minute miles. By contrast, my pace goal street walking is 15-minute miles. I am usually in the mid 15-minutes per mile but of late I have dropped into the 14-minute range, several times.
As for hiking, I’ve had a couple of above average hikes, one at 17 miles and my last one at 21 miles. That last hike marks the second time I have hit the 20-mile mark and the first over 21 miles. I finished tired (of course) but at a decent pace at 21:52 average pace, with one mile under 18 minutes (mile 14) and getting under 20 minutes for mile 20. So a long hike but also a really good pace. And it was in Pachaug Forest so it is a rocky hike with plenty of ledges and ravines coming in at 1,444 ft of elevation gain through the hike. I am proud of my efforts but say that guardedly as I have absolutely no idea how many miles or what kind of times others are doing. I focus on my numbers and just trying to improve them.
I have no health news now that the kidney testing is done; my urologist appointment this month was cancelled and rescheduled for August. My next appointment is the cardiologist in April which could prove to be interesting in seeing how my recovery has progressed. I still suffer from light headedness and dizziness at times, but that is almost certainly due to the meds and not anything physiological.
My wife recently had her annual physical and her cholesterol had dropped over 100 points almost all due to her new methods of cooking due to my heart. We barely use butter and all her cooking is done with virgin olive oil. We got a new air fryer and she has been doing a lot of different things in it. We eat fish three nights every week: tuna, salmon, and either cod or salmon on the 3rd night. This compared to my last 68 years on earth where I ate seafood a few times a year – and that would consist of deep-fried fish and chips or fried shrimp!! So while I don’t consider my diet to have changed much, it really has and that is a major part of why my health is what it is.
Days are longer, sunshine is stronger and spring is decidedly in the air. We definitely have more cold to deal with, possibly even snow (we had a massive blizzard here on April 1st back in 1997) but there is no doubt that while not yet turned, that corner is in sight. The angle of the sun speaks volumes to the advent of warmer weather, even on a 40-degree day the sun is once again providing a flush of heat to the skin – delightful! So get out and try to feel the warmth of that sun on your skin dear reader. Stay well!!