by JudyJB » Tue Oct 13, 2020 6:09 pm
I really overdid it today. Have been here at Zion for the past 8 days, but have spent most of my time indoors cleaning, reorganizing, and tossing stuff I no longer need. Also been grading oral presentations for my large class of 51 students. And one day, I drove to try to get someone to put air in my tires because I have one that is low. Also had to get something notarized that day, so that trip took almost a whole day because I had to drive 38 miles to do that, each way. I still have two underneath storage areas I need to pull everything out of, but that will wait until tomorrow.
So, today I decided to take a break from work and take the shuttle to the far end of Zion Canyon and walk down the river walk. It was only 85 today, but I have been really getting tired easily over the past few months. I think it is partly the altitude and partly heat, plus I got into smoke about 5 weeks ago, and that has affected my allergies and asthma. At least it seems like asthma--had two doctors disagree if I really had asthma, but for 25 years had been using inhalers until I went through CLL treatment last year. That seemed to cure my coughing and throat clearing and the constant sinus drainage down my throat, but since the smoke, it is all back. Called doctor a couple weeks ago, and she refilled my inhaler prescriptions because they were all expired in 2017. Had blood work and another cat scan in early August, and all is well.
I had walked the river walk to The Narrows a couple of times in the past, but either I am getting older or the path is getting longer because I had to rest every 100-200 feet to catch my breath. Lots of huffing and puffing, and the trail is slightly uphill. At a couple of spots, I thought I would never make it. Anyway, just discovered it was 2.2 miles round trip. Brochures list it as easy for families and kids! Ha! Did not say anything about easy for 77-year-olds! Anyway, unless I can figure out how to get more stamina, this may have been my last walk there. Am back home and resting. Drank a lot of water on the trail and back here, and now just had some dinner and a Coke for the caffeine for my headache. Might be the altitude of 4,300 feet also.
I used to worry about having a heart attack, but two and three years ago when I had cat scans, I was told that my arteries and veins were "Squeaky clean" and that my chances of a heart attack and stroke were less than 5% over the next five years. (I take So, i guess i have a few years left. No chest pain--just really out of breath. Maybe I need to get out and walk more?? (Heart has always been good, and I take Zocor and a Beta Blocker to prevent problems.)