Dawn Sellers

Try, try again

So my first bike/train commute attempt didn't end well. When I got off the train in downtown Hillsboro I had no rear brakes! The cable must have slipped out and although I tried to fix it had no luck. I ended up walking the mile and a half home. Made for a long day.

Doug was able to fix the brake cable and showed me how in case it happens again.

So today I'm trying again. It is a nice commute and I'm hoping that once I do it for awhile I will be able to do less train and more bike. Tonight I'm riding one of the fancy new trains, they are more like the streetcars inside than the other trains.

The really great things are that I'm less stressed than driving in traffic and I have time for knitting on the train.

Trying to get back on track

I guess it has been quite awhile since I've posted. As usual for me, life has been crazy busy. There has been no art completed by me but I have been busy with artists.

Today marks day one of attempting my nearly 20 mile commute each way via a bike and train combo. I think it may take me a few tries to get my timing and route down. This morning went well except for the realization that I am horribly out of shape. Once upon a time I considered myself an athlete, not today.

I do enjoy being back on my bike and I know my muscles will remember what they are suppose to do soon. I especially like not being in the car and not dealing with traffic.

My hope is that I can get myself back into a healthy mode and use the time to blog, like I'm doing now, or knit.

I know, I'm a terrible patient

I really don't like to read those long posts about illness.  I am not one to run to the doctor for any ache and pain.  Actually, I will put off going to the doctor until I cannot stand it anymore or I know there is something wrong that isn't going to heal on it's own.  This system works for me.  I figure I know my body best and I know when something is "off". 

I'll spare you the long explanation.  But will share what's going on with me.  Basically, I have chronic neck and shoulder pain.  That is where I hold my stress, my neck is like a rubber band, stretched to it's maximum capacity, ready to snap any second.  I really need a weekly massage.  Not feasible for me.  I was headed to my doctor today to get a current prescription for massage because then I can use my flex spending account and get reimbursed.  At least I'll be able to go occasionally.  The diagnosis on the neck - arthritis.  Great, that makes me feel even worse.

The real issue though, is this horrible, relentless left low back and hip pain I've been having.  I can't even roll over at night it is so painful.  It seems to feel better, go away for awhile and then there it is back, worse than ever.  There are days I cannot even bend over to pick up the dogs.  I sit all day, four days a week, for 10 hours.  I know this doesn't help.  I also move furniture, heavy boxes, bend and lift and pack and carry and move stuff.  I know this doesn't help either.  It has been so bad over the last week, I'm starting to realize it needs to be checked.

I mentioned it to her today, while I'm there for the neck issue, thinking that maybe it is a kidney infection.  That is exactly what it feels like.  If you've ever had one of those you know how painful they are.  But I feel fine otherwise so I'm thinking that probably isn't it.  Well, my doctor tells me, she thinks it is the sciatic nerve.  As it runs through the muscles in my butt it is obviously being pinched or impinged or whatever.  All I know is it hurts like crazy and I feel like an old woman.  We are testing for the kidney infection, just to be sure though.  Maybe some massage will help too.

I can't wait to get home, relax, take some pain meds and hopefully get a little relief.  What can be done for it?  Doesn't sound like much, take 800 mg of Advil three times a day and rest it.  Hah!  Rest.  What's that?

We have fruit flies at work.

All morning long, as I sit at my computer in my little cubicle, I keep seeing little gnats flying around.  I'm sure everyone in the office thinks I'm crazy because I keep swatting at them.  Someone must be keeping some fruit that is wayyy past it's prime.  Saving it for what?  famine in the office I suppose.  I really dislike the cubicle environment.  Not only is the noise and smell toxic but now we have fruit flies.

I am planning a little lunch time trip to the bead store, just for inspiration and who knows what I'll end up with.  I need a mental break today and the bead store is the perfect place to take that break.

This morning I slapped some paint on a couple of journal pages and I'm hoping to work on the True North Arts map prompt today.  Yesterday, I clipped out some collage materials and I have a plan for my map.  I am going to try and have it finished in time for the deadline of tomorrow (!) to post on the True North Arts blog.   If you have a chance check out some of the other maps that have been done, it is a great prompt that can be interpreted many different ways.

Your *heart*

February 1, 2006 is National Women's Heart Wellness Day and the inaugural event of Women's Heart Week.   Check it out!  This site has some great information on health and excercise for women of all ages.  What better time to take care of your heart than February?  Take care of yourself and your heart . . . . for you and your family.  Yes, I'm still getting up at 4:30 am to workout four days a week.

Many people think breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women.  While breast cancer should never be discounted, the truth is that heart disease is the real killer in women.  It usually goes misdiagnosed because the symptoms are different in women than in men.

Some Facts:

• Heart disease is not just a disease of older women. It is the leading cause of death for women aged 35 and older.
• Heart disease kills 6 times as many women as breast cancer.
• Heart disease has killed more women than men every year since 1984...and the death rate for women is rising.
• 27% of women smoke. Cigarette smoking is the #1 controllable risk factor for heart disease and is contributing to women's rising death rate from cardiovascular disease.
• A growing number of younger women are taking up cigarette smoking.
• Women often experience milder symptoms of heart disease. About one-third of women have atypical symptoms of heart disease with no chest pain at all.
• Heart disease symptoms often go unrecognized and untreated in women. This results in more advanced vessel disease with a poorer outcome.
• Risk factors such as smoking, diabetes, family history (you have a parent, brother or sister who has had a heart attack, stroke, angioplasty or heart bypass surgery), and dyslipidemia (your "good" cholesterol, called HDL, is under 45 or your total cholesterol is over 240) interfere with estrogen's normal, protective effects, contributing to the advancement of heart disease in a younger woman.