Six month Check Up

Yesterday's mail brought the notice for my six month followup since my hip replacement surgery.  The appointment is a month away but even so, it has been five months since I have had my surgery.  Things are certainly a lot better, there is such a big improvement. No pain in the hip joint. I am still working on mobility, I expect everything to be perfect but I have to do the physio exercises, which I neglect often, and I have to work hard to continue reducing my weight and building endurance. All easy if you say it fast but all take concentration and effort.  Sometimes too much effort at the end of a long and tiring day.

This past week has included an eleven hour workday, followed the next day with a funeral for a distant cousin's wife. Emotionally and physically demanding for me. But I have bounced back, I am looking forward to a four day weekend at home, true two days will be work days in my home office, but I enjoy my home office and wish I could work from here everyday.

So what do I want to achieve before my six month check up?  Lose at least another five pounds, Do my exercises everyday for the required number of repetitions and to get the rest my body needs and demands.

The six month check up will also be a chance to discuss getting my knee replacement surgery done sooner rather than later.

Doing the Same Thing Doesn't Work

I have been a faithful member of TOPS for four years.  In that time I have managed to lose a few pounds but I have also gotten caught up in the trappings of the organization.  By that I mean I volunteered to be an area captain, for several reasons, and while I did enjoy most of the experience I have resigned from that volunteer position.  The expectations were high, my own and the organization's. I have always felt that if I am to commit to something I must meet all the requirements and I came to the realization that I would never be able to meet all the expectations that were part of that position. Not that the TOPS organization was complaining, they weren't. But I didn't feel I could accomplish what the position needed.


There is also the expectations of the weekly meetings.  It isn't a matter of going and getting weighed, having a discussion about how to improve the next week.  Our chapter spends a lot of time as a group.  There is the annual 10 Km walk, which because of severe arthritis I haven't been able to participate in. There are the cute phrases, I've been a bad girl this week.  For pete's sake we are all seniors so what is it with the bad girl phrase.  Just because someone ate a piece of pie that doesn't make them a bad anything. Christmas parties are centred around food...a meal at a restaurant and a pot luck.

The conclusion that I have finally reached is that doing the same thing and expecting different results is a sign of insanity. I know that isn't original but it does apply to me and my weight loss/weight control efforts to date. Maybe giving myself time to feel good about who I am and what I am will go a long way to helping me control my weight.  Gee you think?

2011 will be an exciting year. I am ready for new ideas, and new experiences.  New books, new hobbies and new friends.Of course, there are many friends that I want to keep and that I hold very dear, they are important to me.  It will be interesting to see how this new year unfolds.

Update on the Arthritis Materials and Progress

First the positive, I lost two pounds this morning at weigh in. This is the lowest weight I have recorded in three years. Yippee! Going to keep moving and losing!

And the update on the continuing saga of the Arthritis brochures. They didn't arrive in time. The courier that promised they would be in Liverpool by 9:00 am this morning lied. That's what promising something and not delivering is...lying. The parcel was not there at 11:00 am. The parcel that was at the Truro bus station has made it as far as the Bridgewater bus terminal and I will pick it up tomorrow...but my talk was today. I had several brochures to hand out but not everything that I wanted. So I 'made do', I did 'good enough'. And I am not happy that I was placed in that position. Changes must be made, more conversations and more followup and more monitoring. Of course after this I may not be needed as a speaker by the Arthritis Society.