I am pushing myself, twice a day, every day, to do the
PT & OT exercises learned in the Hospital, after my fall
in Nov. 2011. Some days it's really hard, but I'm not
sorry, because it's working to keep myself moving..

When I don't feel well or am exhausted and want to
say "not today", I remind myself what it was like,
back in 2011, when I didn't have the strength or
muscle control to lift myself into my mini van, to go
to the Docs. I fell and ended up in the hospital with
an exacerbation, brought on by the fall.

Don't let yourself get weak, like I did. Take my word
for it, if you haven't learned on your own yet.......
To uSe It oR LOsE iT!!!!!

Are you all keeping it moving?

WooHoo Sally! Keep going!

Since October 2012 I have been weight training. I use a 4 station weight machine (total body workout) no less than 4 days a week. I absolutely LOVE my weight machine. I have increased my strength and I am leg pressing 220 pounds.

Glad you are still doing well Sally! I am still riding. I haven't been spinning mid-week as often, but have been making up for it by riding and working my tail off in the yard on the weekends. Rode 44 miles amid the hills and wildflowers near the home of Blue Bell Ice Cream (Brenham, Texas) last weekend, and then mowed and edged the yard and moved about 3 cubic yards of mulch to make rings around trees in the backyard.

Still getting out for walks but nothing strenuous for the last while. Looking forward to getting back to it ASAP; once the docs give the all clear.

With love, Erika

since being in Hawaii I tried doing the elliptical a couple of times...each time I got overheated and my calves tightened so much I couldn't complete my usual 30 minutes...
so I've been trying to swim as often as possible, which my neuro has suggested all along. It does seem easier, and I get my heart rate up to high enough for a good workout.

Making lemonade out of lemons

My exercise du jour right now is hiking the woods and roadways for deer antler sheds. I can be in the woods, up and down hills, stepping over logs and crossing creeks for over an hour!

Here's the only shed I've found so far, just yesterday (actually spotted from the car on a drive):

I use the elliptical about 3-4 times per week for 30 minutes. I'm adding ten knee pushups too since warmer weather is coming and my arms are like flabby chicken wings.

TXBatman, You have MS I assume? recent DX? you ride eh? cool I am a MT biker at heart and now picking up roadie style. I plan to get a new Specialized Sectuer soon.

How far into the MS are you? Is riding hard for yet?

Eric,

I had my first MS episode in 2004 (hearing loss) and got DXed in 2006. I have been lucky to have had a very benign course so far with my MS. My lesion count has increased from 2 to 17 since my first MRI, but I have never had another distinct "flare" since my first episode. I have had various fluctuations in my hearing and find that in places like restaurants with alot of background noise, I just can't pick out what people in front of me are saying from the general noise. Other than that, I have rare episodes where I run out of energy due to fatigue, but they are few and far between.

I actually started riding in 2004 and have ridden in an MS150 ride every year since 2005. In a little over two weeks, I will ride my 9th from Houston to Austin. The only way MS affects my riding is that I have found that I can't handle warm temperatures very well when I ride anymore. When the temp goes above about 80-85 F, I can feel my body getting much weaker and I get a bad case of dead legs. On those days I just have to drink alot more, douse myself with water while I ride, and just keep my heart rate lower to avoid cooking myself from the inside too much.

To account for that issue, I started riding the Houston to Austin MS150 instead of the San Antonio to Corpus Christi ride, because the Houston ride is in the spring so I can train while it is cool, and the San Antonio ride is in the fall and would require training through a Texas summer. I generally spin indoors mostly during the summer about 3 times per week, and when it cools off, I add a weekend ride outdoors. Right now, I am in a training series organized by several of the MS150 ride teams and have been riding anywhere from 35-60 miles each weekend for the last 10 weeks. I have a 74 mile ride this weekend and a 50-something next weekend left to do for my training. Then it is on to Austin!

I really encourage you to get out there and ride if you can. We have a group of cyclists with MS here in Houston called "Because We Can". My understanding is that the MS Society may try to take the group into more of a national thing over the next few years, but I like the idea of a support group focused around an activity rather than one focused around a disease.

Wow, thanks and this makes me feel a lot better . As soon as I starting reading about MS I thought "there goes my bike riding" but not true... I rode today a small bit(5 miles) and while I felt a bit dragged out and I wasn't as "power in" as usual I haven't exactly been riding in the last three months due to getting the flu and other BS problems I had that are now taken care of. The weather is finally going to warm up here tomorrow so I am going to try and get 10 miles in the morning and start my riding regime back up full force.

I would so join a team like you wrote about.... I'm doing a walk for MS come May 5th here in Watertown, but I may just ride my bike instead.

I appreciate your answer....thanks so much.