197. Goal #1 Achieved

It may not be much in the grand scheme of things (whatever that is) but I have achieved my first goal in the MySarah project aimed at people with rheumatoid arthritis (which I don't have but I have to do the exercises). I have opened my own bottle of water using my hands. It was bloody painful but it means I have some grip again and I have some strength. Big pat on the back (actually that’s one of the hand exercises tho I don't get why). Next goal is to do it pain-free but as I’ve only just finished week 2 out of 12, I guess it’s early days.

I cannot convey the sheer delight of using therapy putty.

I could play with it for hours. However, you can’t take your mind off it for a second. Touch something and there’s a green mess that seems impossible to remove. I rested my hand on the tv handset and had 5 bright green keys. You can’t pick it off!! Thanks to Google, I learnt that a dab of hand sanitiser will remove it - a little miracle to unscientific me. The other thing you cant do is touch another batch of putty. Do that and you are dealing with countess strings of putty that get so thin they are almost invisible - but the two pieces are still attached. It’s like it has a mind of its own. So much for a simple way to reduce the time on the exercises - I thought if I got one lot for each hand, I’d have things sorted. Forget it. Anyone want a pot of green therapy putty??

Yesterday, it was back to the pool, which we had all to ourselves so I was able to focus on water walking. It sounds so easy and it looks so easy but when you’ve no muscle strength, it’s quite hard. I was actually quite proud I could walk or wobble a full length, ending right on tiptoe/points, but I’ve watched a couple of videos about how to do it this morning and, of course, I was doing it all wrong. Better luck Tuesday. I’m building up the number of lengths (swimming or walking) but I can’t do more than two without collapsing with exhaustion. I also counted the number of strokes I did in a length. I used to be able to cover the full length in 6/7 breast strokes. Now it’s 25. I think I’ve a long way to go!

On the down side, we’re creeping closer to lockdown in Leeds. They’ve done very well in my opinion, the Council I mean, keeping track of where precisely it is, but the number of cases is increasing at a frightening rate and I can see it will be back to isolation and no trips to Cookridge Hall. No more entertaining in the garden, as we did yesterday. I might not even get back to Otley for my new glasses or our flu jabs (week after next). It’s just wait and see. I just don't get why everyone can’t take a long-term view, can’t see beyond the implications for themselves and basically why many people don’t seem to grasp the notion of transmission. Result - Leeds’ figures are way too high for comfort.