Pain Builds Character, someone said; I got more character with today's swim.

It's almost embarrassing to say it, but I have not been in the ocean since my last pier swim on February 6th.  Now I have excuses: old age, bad back, and pinched neck nerves where my neck is fused. But as they say, "Excuses are like asshol**; everybody's got one."
Air temp was 62 degrees and the water was 54 degrees, but possibly a skosh colder. My face hurt, my head hurt, as they froze when I was in during my first ten minutes.  I just use a swim suit and a swimmer's cap/goggles, so I relish in the full chilly experience. The swim was 34 minutes around the pier.  The water was nice, small waves, visibility about 4 feet. Sunny skies with scattered clouds overhead.  No sea life encountered.
I am glad that I got my nerve back to do the swim; it's important for me to continue to fight the good fight against age and injury.  Just participating is a victory for me.
A good swim and I feel some increased determination to get in again soon.


"The first time you quit is the last time you try."

Feb 20, Wed. Dirty, ROUGH Ocean. No Swim

I drove to the Pier to try a swim but had forgotten that we had that big rain in the middle of the night. The Wednesday weather outside was beautiful, sunny and 58 degrees.
Well, the ocean was wild.  It was extremely nasty and rough. No way that I could swim the pier in that water.  The runoff from the streets had made the water very dirty; it would have made you sick.  Only one surfer in the pier area.  It will take a few days to clean out.


"The first time you quit is the last time you try."

My Back After Pain Injections

It has been five months since I last had epidural nerve blocks in my back.  It takes forever to get approved and scheduled.  As of this morning the shots in the top right band-aid injection spot didn't do jack for killing pain.  The other 3 spots seem ok.
I haven't seen my back but I don't like the looks of what I see.  Love handles, flabby fat storage, overall unpleasant.  And this is at 230 pounds, lighter than I've been at my peak. I'm 5'10".
I can work on this weight thing, I suppose, but truth tell I really don't give a rat's a**.
So the anesthesiologist starts the needle away from the spine and moves toward the spine; that's why the band-aids seem so far away from the spine.
They do this under a fluoroscope (fancy live x-ray machine) to watch the location of the needles.  Then they shoot some stuff in.  I don't even ask what they shoot in; they could shoot cement in and I'd go with it.
The procedure is to numb the branch nerves in multiple areas. In 1 month I return and they stick a needle in and heat up some tiny nerves to kill them for a while.  They grow back, I hear.
Crap! Crap! Crap!
I may get in the water soon--or not.  The self-pity party is raging within my soul.
I wear jockey shorts, as you see; I endorse them for their snug fit, overall comfort, and durability.  You can purchase them on-line now also.
These band-aids are supposed to be at L 3-4 and L 4-5.  Does anyone have any experience with this? Feedback appreciated.


"The first time you quit is the last time you try."

On the 20th day, there again was the ocean...

Nineteen days without my dip in the beach was a protracted stretch of misery.  I missed my salt water therapy.  
I'm writing this Thursday, but this blog is about yesterday's swim on the 6th.  I wasn't physically up to the swim but I had gotten to feeling so crummy that I forced myself.  The buoyancy is an immense help, anyway. I drove down and put on my suit.  The beach was at a very low tide with choppy 2-3 foot waves.  About a dozen surfers.  That water was COLD to me yesterday!  Part of it was the time interval since having swum, but part was that it was plain cold: 54-55 degrees.
I couldn't kick very much and it took me 31 minutes to get around the pier.  My goggles stayed fogged over with the cold.  No current either way.  The small waves were pounding though, one after another with hardly any interval.  I froze until 14 minutes into the swim, when I got used to it, sorta'.  Good swim.


"The first time you quit is the last time you try."

No swimming for me at this time

I'm at 17 days since I was in the water.  Not good.  The Ortho Surgeon told me he can't fix me with surgery at this time; apparently, what I have is treated by epidural nerve blocks so I am waiting for scheduling.  I was very disturbed by the news that they couldn't just 'fix' this stuff with some nuts and bolts, like they did in my neck.  I shall return to the water, and I hope it's soon.


"The first time you quit is the last time you try."