Moving along

A funny thing happened on my way into the Holyoke YMCA's gym yesterday.

I was looking for the regular 45-minute exercise class but instead walked into a two-hour Fitness Marathon that was happening instead. Not knowing what was in store, I started to back out, but one of the friendly instructors told me to give it a try. She also said that of course I did not need to stay for the whole thing.

Well, I stayed for an hour and a quarter and discovered a couple of things. I can do cardio kickboxing even though I had told friends it was not for me. I can actually do multiple jumping jacks (although not doubles), which is an accomplishment considering that a while back when my friend Jo (personal trainer and nurse!) gave me a workout program and said to do jumping jacks, I couldn't even get my feet off the ground.

Knowing the value of not falling down, I marched in place when there was too much jumping around.

Today I rejoined the Wednesday tennis round robin and was happy to see everyone. A few of us talked about our aches and pains and then one of the women said, "Look at us!" My contribution to the conversation is that my toe still hurts, and the podiatrist's conclusion is that it is arthritis.

This is hard to treat because I am not allowed to take anti-inflammatories. A physical therapist is working on it. Also I bought  Triflora arthritis gel at Whole Foods. I don't know if this homeopathic gel will work, but I liked the looks of it.

A friend pointed out to me at tennis that after what I've been through, a painful toe is nothing.

This of course is true, but it is also true that I complained more loudly about my other foot problem – plantar fasciitis – than I ever complained about leukemia.

In any case I had three fun matches, each one basically tied, and I don't feel any worse for wear.