Saturday, March 22, 2025 - Day 221

Saturday, March 22, 2025

Good morning, and welcome to the weekend!

Friday Recap: A Busy Day That Wore Me Out

Physical Therapy (PT) I have a new PT—Diane. Maggie, who is eight months pregnant, had to pass me over to another therapist just in case she delivers early. Maggie is all smiles, all positivity, and wants her clients to enjoy therapy. Makes sense—you want people to actually follow instructions between sessions.

Diane, on the other hand, is direct and to the point.

Her first question: “Have you been doing the prescribed stretching?”
 My answer: “No.” Followed by way too many excuses.

Her response? Something close to: “No stretchy, no walkie!!” (She was very direct used a couple choice words) That one hit home and she was right to give it to me, directly. I respect that.

She stretched out my legs and hips—I know these routine stretches. I’ve done these for decades, also not consistently. There’s no excuse for me not to stay on top of it. As backup, Diane deputized Cindy as the new sheriff in town and showed her how to stretch me. No escape now. Honestly? Best PT session I’ve had so far.

Occupational Therapy (OT) Amanda is my OT therapist. I started OT late—entirely my fault. I didn’t fully grasp how therapy could help my upper half. The main focus has been on my hands. My thumbs are practically useless, which becomes painfully obvious when I’m handling multi-page broker statements. It’s all I can do to keep from dropping pages everywhere. If that happens? Well, I’d have to ask my 90+ year-old clients to pick them up, and that scenario is best avoided.

Thankfully, I’ve been more compliant with my OT exercises—mostly because typing each morning forces me to stretch my fingers. So this session ended well.

Electric Bike Shopping Since Bear was at doggie daycare, we had some extra time to run errands. First stop: Glenview Cycle, just two miles from the hospital, to look for electric bikes.

I’ve been talked into a trike by many who are (rightfully) concerned about me falling on a two-wheeler. Not my preference, but good advice. We found one bike that could work. Actually, it was the only choice available…at this bike shop. It’s the Rad Power e-bike, and it’s close to what I want—14 mph speed, 56-mile range. I still need to dig into available options.

Meanwhile, Cindy and the salesman explored two-wheelers. My only input? “Her bike can’t go faster than 14 mph!!” Cindy rolled her eyes, muttered a few choice words, and they carried on.

We left with some solid options—one for me, a couple for Cindy. Still, we want to check out some bike shops closer to Crystal Lake (Iowa). If we need any service, trying to get a 86lb bike in the Yukon will require muscle…something I’m short on.

Costco: A Mistake in Motion Since Costco was just two miles away, we made a stop. It’s been months since I’ve been inside a Costco—maybe before Christmas. Normally, it’s the only kind of shopping I enjoy, but I wasn’t sure my legs would appreciate walking through a warehouse-sized store. As soon as we walked in, we both spied the motorized carts. Cindy suggested I use one. Of course my response was “No way!” More, well deserved eye rolling.

Big mistake. I grabbed a push cart for balance, but my snail pace put me right in the path of fast-moving shoppers with zero regard for anything in their way. Every aisle felt like my last. My legs were screaming. Eventually, I just stopped trying to keep up with Cindy and parked myself at various end caps while she shopped. The fun was gone.

By checkout, the line was long enough to give me time for a bathroom break. I slow-walked there, cane in hand—another long walk. My bladder doesn’t give me much of a grace period once the signal goes off, so I was cutting it close.

Unexpected hazards: A 10-year-old boy with developmental challenges, pants at his ankles, facing sideways at the urinal…which happened to be toward me. Yikes. His father rushed in and helped him reposition before things got really awkward. Golden shower crisis averted.

Now, for the slow walk back to checkout. As I reached the end of the bathroom aisle, I encountered a disabled Costco employee using a walker. No clue why she was parked in the middle of the aisle, but I veered right to pass her.

Bad move. Just as I got even with her, she abruptly turned her walker, clipped my cane, and nearly took me down. Another employee saw the near-catastrophe and hollered at her to be careful. She was completely unaware I was even there. I got my cane reset and waited for her to move along before I dared take another step.

If I had gone down, it would’ve been Fall #6—and this time, I wouldn’t be walking away from it. Instead, I’d be dealing with management, paramedics, and a fire engine (probably a ladder truck, just for good measure). Then back to Glenview Hospital for tests to make sure I was still in one piece. Yeah… I don’t think I’ll be rushing back to Costco anytime soon.

Lesson learned…no passing on the right.

We stopped for a hot dog on the way out. I told Cindy about the encounter with the disabled employee and described the walker…it had wheels so it looked like an option for me as the legs get weaker. Cindy went to go find the employee so she could learn more about the walker. After 10 minutes of searching she came back empty handed. Maybe the employee saw me talking to Cindy and when she got up to find her…she played possum in some corner of the store.

We left the store, Cindy loaded the car, and headed toward home. We had a couple more stops to make. I stayed in the car…a good move on my part. Yes, I can be trained.

We were home by 2:00 after having left at 8:00. I went straight to the couch and did my normal plop and kicked my legs up on the coffee table. It didn’t take long before I was asleep and Cindy took care of putting things away.

It was a good day, but next time I’m in Costco…I’ll be using a motorized cart. Maybe the joy of shopping at Costco will return.

Have a great Saturday.

Love you guys!❤️