Funky Things in Funky Times

Blogger, the platform I use to post my entries has been acting a bit funky lately. Maybe it's time to move on? I do spend an inordinate amount of time and energy on this site, for no apparent reason, and with uncertain viewership. Like my gym habits, this site has also become an addiction, but not necessarily a bad one. I think modifications are in order. I just haven't decided what.


I'm an anxious person and knowing that I have a nail biopsy scheduled for next month is only adding to my stress. If I was doing this with just local anesthesia, I wouldn't have to get blood work and another chest X-ray done. I already did that for my glaucoma/cataract surgery last year! Reading all the pre-op materials has me arguing with the paperwork. I realize that the prep info is generalized, but I find myself repeatedly saying "No. Nope. Not doing that." As in (for example), using Dial soap to bathe with prior to the biopsy. We don't own Dial soap. It's my toe. I can wash my foot with Dove soap or glycerin soap and water, but then it's going into a sock into a shoe before I arrive. Besides, isn't the nurse going to sanitize the area anyway beforehand? Don't they swab you with betadine (iodine and glycerin) anymore?

My girlfriend thinks I should get a second opinion. I find the suggestion bewildering because no one can tell you anything unless they've taken a sample for testing. Get a second opinion for what? For whether I need a nail biopsy? Because a second doctor is going to be able to definitively tell me that that pigmented streak is definitely not melanoma? Or is definitely benign? Nope.

There is a test for subungual hematomas called the Haneke Procedure, but not only does this sound amazingly painful (no local anesthesia is used), but I'm not looking at a splinter hemorrhage, which is what I imagine having a blood-positive test would indicate. It cannot distinguish between the benign melanonychia striata and subungual melanoma. Only a biopsy can. Of course, this is the same well-meaning friend who believes that I should take a pill in order to eat apples with their skins on (for the nutritional vitamins) even though I can't digest apple skins. She's a nice person but has some archaic views that I'd rather not get into.

Today is Cardio Friday and the first day of November. Thank goodness Daylight Savings Time ends this weekend so that we can drive to the school bus stop during daylight. At least for a few more weeks. Again, I barely got 5 hours of sleep and I'd really like to nap in my car. But I trudge off to the gym instead. Not only do I get all my cardio done, I'm also able to keep my pull-ups. Now, granted, I'm not dropping into full extensions because my elbows and forearms would never recover from the strain. I've had tendonitis too many times. And if you think it's cheating to do partial pull-ups because I keep my elbows bent, well, then it's cheating, but I'm still clearing the bar and I'm not using bands or momentum (kipping) either.

My lower back still hasn't quite recovered from Wednesday's mishap at the Smith during RDLs. I'm not in any pain, but my left hip is unusually stiff. Once I've gotten some cardio under my belt, all stiffness melts away. As I cool down, it returns. I'm assuming the stiffness is actually my body's response to injury via inflammation and swelling (somewhere but I can't pinpoint it). It'll get better as long as I'm mindful of my movements. I keep the 2:1 Seated Leg Curls on the low end because my glutes and hamstrings seem a little tender.

I skip part of the Mat Stretch as well. Brush up against the wrong wall and walk away with plaster dust all over your clothes. The gym is being repainted, one section at a time. There's scaffolding and two big ladders perched against the CF area walls and large swathes of gray paint. Wow, battleship gray? That's pretty ugly. Oh well...

Nov 1 Cardio Friday

30 min elliptical + 5cd
Program 2
Miles 2.93
Calories 329
HR 149-198 (79, 97, 94)

Cage Stretch
HGPU 24

Elbow Plank 60s
Crunches 60/60
Leg horizontal scissors 60
Bicycles 60
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

20 Step Mill
Level 4
Calories 129
Total steps 848
Floors 53
HR 124

HGPU 24

15 Elliptical + 5cd
Program 2
Calories 231
Miles 2.07
HR 142-191 (87)

2:1 Seated Leg Curls
15lbs x 15
30 x 12
35 x 12, 12, 12

HGPU 24

Mat Stretch