Monday, June 4, 2012

What do you do all day?

I get this question frequently when acquaintances realize that I've had to take a break from working due to POTS.

Well depends on the day and how adventurous I feel.

Occasionally I'll do some errands by myself. Sometimes I feel energetic and good. And sometimes I seriously consider taking a sit down break in the check-out line.

If it's a bad week, I feel successful if I feed myself 3 times a day, and exercised. I'm a rock star.

Oh, and paperwork! I'm excellent at doing paperwork. From appealing health insurance claims, to proving disability to my insurance company, to figuring how to get my doctor to correctly fill out forms, to providing enormous amounts of documentation to student loan companies. Oh yeah, bring on the bureaucracy baby. I'm not afraid of you!

Perhaps in another post I'll list out some big things I've done the last year.  Since I've developed POTS I've decided to use this time to experience new things. Despite my limited energy, I've done that.

Exercise update:

I've reached the point where I can exercise standing up. I'm so talented.

Standing can be quite exhausting for someone like me. My heart can reach speeds of 160 beats per minute just by standing still. So I have to incorporate standing exercises slowly. I've been doing standing cardio for 3 weeks now. Here's my current approach:

25 minutes recumbent bike
5 minutes elliptical.

*Initially I only spend 2 minutes on the elliptical. 

I had the gym to myself the 1st day I elliptical-ed it. Listening to peppy music I definitely threw some fist pumps in the air and sang along. It felt awesome to stand and exercise. Even if I could only do it for 2 minutes.

1 comment:

  1. I'm so proud of your journey so far! Also, I miss you. My life is getting crazier but you still fit in! Let me make you food while you relax on my couch and we chat.

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