The Transition to the Summit

                                          
No, I don't mean the N. Korea Summit or the summit of peak. I'm talking about The Summit fitness facility. It opened when I was elementary school as "Second Wind." My best friend had a birthday party at their pool and I remember the ripping of gift wrap (it was pre gift bag) in the lobby-type area. Since then, the place has grown and it has been updated significantly. In 2009 when I returned to Kalispell I planned to work on my own physical well being, work in education, care for my mom, and perhaps coach, in that order.

I found my education job and it wasn't long before I started to coach; girls' middle school basketball, then cross country and finally track and field, hurdles, both boys' and girls. Oh, and I did the morning crosswalk duty at Hedges one year. My mom laughed when I said one of the reasons I came home was to help with her as she aged. She told me she was just fine, then.

As my love for coaching grew and my mother's decline began for real. I retired from my classroom job but continued coaching the running sports; cross country and track. More time went to my mom, then. We took great outings, shopped, saw doctors and physical therapists; first quite often, then less and less. Shirley passed recently so Mom-duty is done and the single season I coach is only six weeks so I have loads of time to fill.

Now, exercise is what I do even though I'm not training for a race. My personal fitness routine is for different reasons and I am in charge of how and when I do it. As an athlete I have always had a coach. Physical therapists worked with me to overcome injuries but now I am alone in my quest to stay fit.

Exercise, now, is to maintain my regained abilities. As a former pretty-good collegiate athlete you would think exercising would be second nature but I have never really liked it. What I did like was winning so that's why I trained.

Prior to joining a gym, I attended a Silver Sneakers exercise class in the basement of Sykes, a local diner that's been here for eons. Attendees were mostly older than me, no, they were all older than me. But when the instructor decided to take her life in a different direction and classes ended, I decided to join The Summit.

Since my head injury my go-to exercise has been water aerobics. I feel free, submerged in water, and can actually run although it is in slow motion and there is no finish line. Plus, if I fall I don't get hurt. The Summit has two pools so I joined.

The Summit has been a delight and has added to my life experiences positively. I go to the gym at least 3 days a week but have a specific class I can attend each day, me with my rollator (better known as a walker.) My high tech rollator is a badge of honor in the gym because others are automatically impressed that someone with, what appear to be, life long issues still "tries." No one wants to be the one to trip me up because how would that look? Not good. Patrons give me ample room!

Carol, my neighbor turned exercise partner, did Silver Sneakers with me and also joined The Summit so we remain partners. Companionship in these situations leads to more accountability for sure. They offer various classes for all levels of fitness and, as in my case, different capabilities period. We started with a Flex and Balance class because it was similar to Silver Sneakers and we knew we were capable of that.  Also, after caring for my mom, I see how important it is to remain social. The partner thing covers that issue as well as the people we have met.

Another class I do is called "Foam Roller."  My neighbor-exercise partner tapped out after trying it once (she doesn't like getting on the floor) so I enjoy that alone. The formal name for fumbling on the floor with a long piece of foam is self-myofascial release; a fancy way to say you are massaging your own self to release muscle tightness. I like it because the lights are dimmed and it is relaxing. And, because of my oddities, the majority of my upper body muscles are tied in double knots just like those I used to tie my toddlers' shoe laces.

To round out my exercise routine at the gym I do water aerobics a couple times a week. While still in the hospital my physical therapist put me in the pool and I loved it. In water I feel free and if I fall I can't hurt myself.

So that is Lexie, right now. Flailing about in chest deep water trying to move to a blasting beat, chair exercises to work on my declining balance with retired seniors that include my 4th grade teacher, a Catholic nun who taught my older brother and a kind couple who got me involved with my first coffee group!

Water Therapy - It Works

                                                                                                
Mom's water therapy is finally starting to pay off.

She began her therapy for her back, actually, as she suffered a compression fracture last summer. Her back doc had not released her for land-based physical therapy, and I finally convinced her to give water therapy a try. From the beginning she loved being in the water, but after a few sessions, she fell again. She had been to lunch at the golf course and fallen, on the way out, for no apparent reason. She didn't think it warranted a visit to the doc, though. The next water session she mentioned the fall to her PT. She witnessed my mom's pain and tested her strength. Then said she would not treat her until she saw a doctor. An X-ray showed a big chip on the edge of the flange part. Remember, that is the same hip she broke, (snapped the ball clean off,) in February. Therapy changed then, to focus on strengthening that hip.

Let me share with you, the common drill on PT day:  At 9:00 I make a wake up call to mom, and I know now (after finding her still in bed an hour or two later,) that I need to say, Don't go back to sleep!  Then, about 1/2 hour before appointment time, I go over.  I'm almost always met with the comment that she's feeling bad, and that it's the worst she's felt in a long time.  She continues by saying she would skip therapy, but knows I won't let her.  She is right.

Getting out of bed, and dressing for therapy, is kind of a workout in itself, at this point.  I know she has a lot of real pain, but unless she gets moving, she'll not feel any better.  The situation is the epitome of use it, or lose it.

After she is dressed, we'll have some iced mocha, or juice, at which time she asks, Do you think this therapy is doing any good?  My response is the same each time, at the very least it is helping you not to decline further.  She always replies, Oh, that makes sense.

At therapy, she tells the therapist she feels great!  Her medication takes her from worst day ever to feeling great!  Sometimes I call this to her attention, because her tendency is to say
the meds Just don't work! or that her doc is not managing her pain at all!  But, more often, I don't mention it.

The therapist questions her on her pain level (on a scale of 0-10) upon waking, in the pool, and after. She has gotten pretty good at utilizing the scale she once deemed ridiculous. Her pain changed all the time, she said, and she could not rate it like that. Now she gives some thought to the question, and answers without looking at me with the look that says, Isn't this ridiculous?

Monday she had therapy and was re-evaluated.  In the past, these assessments were met with, not only, the look, but verbal disgust, as well. Both her PT and I explained, several times, that medicare won't continue to pay unless she is making gains, so the improvement must be documented.  At this point, she has been through PT enough to know complaining about the process won't change anything.

After this final assessment, we learned she has improved dramatically!  I was as thrilled as she was, and that carried us through the day. Today is Thursday, though, and she is not feeling well enough for therapy. Oh well, as soon as it stops raining, and warms up a bit, we can go for a walk...maybe.