It’s Saturday. Beth and I spent the afternoon at Fontainebleau State Park walking around a big loop Nature Trail they have there. We’d visited this park a few days ago, and I walked out the pier onto Lake Pontchartrain, and relaxed some on the park bench. This time, I was ready for a much longer walk. My surgeon said the number one best thing I can be doing right now is walking, so we did plenty of it today.
After spending the morning doing laundry and then going out for pho at a local Vietnamese restaurant for lunch, we set out for the park. The trail was pretty level and gravel, so it was easy walking. It leads through a bunch of woodlands, and we stopped here and there to watch birds. I saw a bunch of tiny birds and some big birds in the distance and a woodpecker or two. Most important, though, I just walked. It was a chilly day, so I’m glad I wore three layers and my knit wool cap. Near the end of the loop trail, the trail goes out onto a boardwalk over some wetlands, and we went out there and watched some coots. Eventually, the loop dumped us off in the big park near the pier, and we walked back to our car at the visitor center.
I was pooped afterward! I felt like we must have walked for hours and several miles, but I looked at the clock and the map and realized we were only gone for probably 2 hours and 2 miles. But the way I felt, it sure felt like more than that! Nonetheless, it taught me some important stuff. First, that I’ve got lots of room for improvement still in my walking speed and endurance (but hey, I just had brain surgery last week, so whaddaya expect!). Second, walking through the forest sure beats anything I could’ve possibly done inside a hospital!
After the walk, we stopped off at Starbucks for some hot chocolate, and then came home (to our hotel room) for a much needed nap, before going out for dinner at a totally unremarkable sandwich shop called McAlister’s Deli.
Symptoms at 9 days post-op:
- dizziness: none
- nausea: none
- hearing: I’m not hearing footsteps through my body as loud as I used to, maybe not at all. The sound of my voice isn’t as loud in my right ear, but my right ear is in flux still. Constant medium level ringing in right ear.
- endurance: low
- pain: nearly zero – I didn’t take any pain medication at all today, for the first time since before surgery
- digestive system: constipated 24 hours
- emotions: positive, encouraged by continued visible progress