Rest. Recharge. Recuperate. Catch up on my reading.
The first 3 words are what I am required to do for the next three days. The fourth one, I just added because reading was the first thing that came to mind when I was told that I had to refrain from walking so much (haha).
After enduring much pain for the almost a week, I was diagnosed with tendonitis on my right Achilles. Thankfully, it did not tear and no surgery is needed for now. We have yet to find out what caused it because other than the extreme pain, I do not have any other symptoms from their checklist. I did not do any strenuous exercise the past few weeks (since I am on medication for my auto immune disease). I did not have any accidents, slips or fall recently. All my blood work and x-ray are good. Doctors could not figure it out yet. So hopefully it is just due to overuse, and thus I was required to rest to give my tendon a break.
Honestly, more than the pain, I am most anxious about being still. I am used to moving around, especially now that I am retired from the corporation world. I am thankful to my mother-in- law who takes turn in taking care of Hendrix on weekdays so I can have my rest and “me time”. But even so, I consume the rest hours doing all sorts of things; doing home projects, gardening, blogging (LoL), and (recently) installing our Christmas lights. I am not required to do so, but I guess it is me not wanting to be idle. I have this notion that because I exercise a lot and seems to be at the healthiest point of my life, I can continuously tire myself out.
Listen to your body. I often hear this from Adrianne, my favorite yoga teacher whom I follow in YouTube. But lately I seemed to have been ignoring it as I am always excited to accomplish a self-imposed task. When I was diagnosed with an auto immune disease, I was told that I would most likely be more fatigued than usual as my immune system is always hyperactive, always on the lookout for something to attack. From that alone, my body is already telling me that I can not do everything that I want to accomplish. I needed to slow down. Yet still, I did not listen. Until it has gotten to this point:
Now, my body literally halted me from moving around in the next 3 days. Bummer. This time I had to take this rest period recently. I feel really guilty as the rest of my family had to adjust to me being immobile. But I know that forcing myself to be useful around the house can led to further injury. It can lead to an Achilles joint tear which will require surgery. Surgery means hospitalization and longer recovery period, which is a lot more burdensome. So 3 days is better than a few weeks of being immobile.
To end, I would like to borrow this line from the kdrama series,Hometown Cha Cha Cha:
“Do you know what it means to be a good parent? It’s staying healthy for a long time. They should take care of themselves.”
I hope that through this blog you will be reminded to really take care of your health, not just for yourself but more so for your loved ones. As for me, I am taking this time to rest, read and admire this beautiful view outside my window.
