Tuesday, December 5, 2017

The Great Wall of China
28. Doctor's Orders

Both of the main doctors in both parts of China agreed on the long list of things I was supposed to do and not supposed to do.

Get plenty of sleep at night and rest during the day when tired. Naps are highly encouraged.

This is pretty easy to follow. Everyone assumed there would be some sleep disturbance and irregular patterns, and I would probably need some kind of sleeping pills at night, but falling asleep was never really a problem. I had some funky dreams, but dreams mean you are sleeping. Lack of sleep is the enemy. Naps were never really my thing, but the more I pushed myself physically, the more I started to appreciate a quick siesta in the afternoon. I have become a fan of flooding my room with music, getting lost in rock and roll and drifting away.

Short walks around the block are good. Increase distance and duration as tolerated.

Other than having my head cut open, lying in bed all day was the worst part of the hospital experience for me. I like to get up and move around. I want to go for a run every day. I need to exercise. I am at the height of my professional powers. Stopping now is career suicide. In the hospital, dancing was out of the question. They let me take short walks as soon as I knew where I was and what was going on. At home, I took longer walks, but energy was never on my side. Lately, Lily and I have been partial to walks around the Kowloon MTR station or King's Park if I'm feeling adventurous.

Walking is such a simple thing that most of us take for granted, but when I got back from Beijing, it was a lot harder than I wanted it to be. There was nothing wrong with my legs. I simply got far too tired far too quickly. Lily was a blessing every step of the way. She was my personal trainer, nurse and cheerleader. I could have walked alone, but there were too many risks in the beginning. I never had any seizures, but she protected me from the dangers of a big city and my own inability to concentrate. She also encouraged me to rest often. I probably would have pushed myself too hard. When you want to get back to normal immediately, it helps to have someone around to keep you from hurting yourself.

No alcohol or spicy food until approved.

This was always going to be easy to follow. I have never been a big drinker. I might have a drink or two at parties or a glass of wine on the rare occasion I'm at a fancy restaurant, but I never keep any alcohol in the house.

I love spicy food, and I live in a place where it is easy to find, but without a sense of smell, nothing tastes like anything anymore. My appetite is gone, but I can't tell if that is because nothing has flavor or because I am not exercising as much. I used to eat like a horse because I was physically active. Now, I'm slow and plodding. I force myself to eat, not out of hunger, but because it is time to eat.

No sexual activity for at least six weeks.

This is funny and/or ironic given that one of the risk factors is hypersexuality. It goes in the same category as being given a million drugs and being warned not to become an addict.

This one was also easy to follow since I no longer have a boyfriend. No one had to wait around for me because there was no one to wait around. When you get exhausted just walking around the block, feel like you might vomit when you lie down flat, and your boot camp haircut shows off a horror movie scar, feeling sexy is not a priority.

No driving or flying for four weeks.

I don't own a car. Hong Kong is not a good place to drive anyway. I like to drive, but I usually only get to when I'm out of town. I did, however, fly a week after surgery. That was mostly unavoidable. I suppose I could have stayed in Beijing for a month or taken a combination of trains and buses to Hong Kong, but that was never going to happen.

No strenuous activities – jogging, bicycling, aerobic exercise – for four months.

This is one of the hardest of the doctor's orders to follow. I like strenuous activity. Sitting on the sofa and watching TV all day is to me what jogging is to Chris Christie. Ever since I was knee high to kneehighs, I have needed to move. The best news I ever got was when the doctors said I should walk around a little rather than stay in bed all day. If the opposite were true, I would have gone insane.

We have a small gym in our building. I have used it off and on in the few years we have lived here. Given a choice, I would much rather go outdoors to run, bike or swim. Per doctor's orders and my own lack of stamina, walking was really the only thing I could do outdoors. The gym finally made itself useful. Lily made sure all the machines were at lower settings and kept an eye on the clock. In my opinion, anything less than two hours is pointless. She preferred the other side of 30 minutes. She had to kick me out every day, and we always argued about it, but the most important thing is that she went with me every day. I could never find a better trainer.


The Great Wall of China part 1

2 comments:

  1. You walk around a train station? There must be better places to walk in Hong Kong?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kowloon Station is pretty big, and connected to a large shopping mall. It's close to a good promenade/park. There are a million places to walk in Hong Kong, but I can easily get to Kowloon Station from my apartment.

    ReplyDelete

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