Sep 27 A Typical School Day

For the sake of documenting…

6:25: Drag myself out of bed, shower, coffee, get ready.  Bad day-Blow dry hair only.  Good day-Blow dry and curl hair.

7:30: (On a good day) Hurry out the door.

7:50: Get to school and prepare the classroom.

8:20: Kids start to arrive.

8:20-Noon: Teach with as much energy as I can find; even if I have to dig deep and find it in my pinky toe.

12:30: On a good day, (not a naughty day) I leave school.  I have a lot of people booting me out of the door, which is a good thing.

1:00-6:00: 3 R’s: Rest, Recovery, Rehab

• Go home, to appointments, or to PT.
• Eat Lunch, do school work, do my rehab, take my survival nap.

6:00: Dinner

7:00: Begin the relaxation/unwind process.  Research, Skype, blog, catch up on other people’s blogs, read, email, Facebook, phone calls, TV, etc.

10:00: Bed

 

My Home Rehab Regimen Looks Like This These Days:

1. I start with cardio.

• Dr. Grubb told me it is important for the management of my POTS that I work up to 3 days of 30 minutes of cardio each week.  I am happy to say, I am finally there.  I either do the elliptical machine, the recumbent bike, or I walk on the treadmill (right now, 3.5 mph at a 5.0 incline).  BTW~This is after I take a Midodrine.
•  Sidenote~There may be people with POTS reading this thinking that there is no way in hell that they will ever be able to do 30 consecutive minutes of cardio. I get it.  I used to read things like this and think the same thing.  Last September at the cardiologist’s office, I was able to walk on the treadmill at 2.0 mph for 1 minute before having to be carried off by the nurse, because I started to fall forward and pass out on the treadmill.  All I can say is that it has taken time, persistence, patience, and a whole lot of Faith.

2.  Then I do my leg strengthening exercises:  I do 3 rotations of…

• toe rises-15
• squats-10
• lunges-10
• wall tilts (to retrain the vascular system)

3.  Then I work on arms with 3 rotations of…

• Bicep curls with 3 pound weights-10
• Bridges on exercise ball with arm presses with 3 pound weights-10
• Rows sitting on exercise ball with resistance band (placed in bathroom door with bathroom door shut)-10

4.  Then I work on scapula muscles alternating (3 times)

• flies laying on my stomach on the floor-arms to the side-10
• flies laying on my stomach on the floor raising my arms behind me-10

5.  Before I do more floor work, I do balance work on my half foam roller.

• 2 sets of 1 minute standing on each leg on the roller.

6.  Then I end with floor work:

• Glute Firing on stomach-20 each leg.
• Leg raises on my side for glutes (each side-25 x 2 sets).
• Foam roller marches (lay on half foam roller and alternate raising legs, like I am marching)-20

This takes me about an hour and 15 minutes, give or take a few minutes, depending on the amount of rest breaks I need to take.

My goal moving forward is to hopefully be able to increase my cardio time and to incorporate more core exercises into my routine to focus more on my abs.