One of the things I’ve always liked to do is explore and it was one of the things I remember bringing up to the lung and heart doctors at my appointments that I was afraid I would have to give up – but they actually both encouraged me to continue to do as much of it as I could tolerate. The first time we went hiking – well, our version of “hiking” was July 22nd. B took me to Hinkley Reservation just south of Cleveland. Hiking now looked a little different; now I was equipped with a ring pulse oximeter, an oxygen concentrator in a backpack, a neck fan and a portable stool in case I needed to sit to rest and there wasn’t a convenient place to sit (that’s what B is carrying in those star bags {see pic2}, cuz this girl would NOT be getting up from the ground easily!) It was just under a half mile loop but the first half was ALL UPHILL, about 70 ft in elevation, and with this horrible lung disease inclines are the worst! I had to stop twice because my heart rate was in the 140-150 range and I just felt like that was too risky because my lungs can’t keep up with the demand anymore, even with oxygen assistance.
In August, we went to McConnells Mill State Park in Portersville, PA. It was pretty hot and humid from what I can remember and once again a huge incline, this time it was on the way back to the car so B walked back by himself and brought the car down to me. They had handicapped parking down close to the mill but I don’t remember now if it was full or if we didn’t know about it until we got down to the mill. Not that it matters, what matters is we are still getting out and enjoying the things we did before, we are just learning to make adjustments. And if all goes to plan I want to walk in the PFF walk in Pittsburgh next July. I read about it on the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation website while doing research but I wasn’t in the physical shape to do it this year and I want to WALK it if possible.
