Good morning, Paris! It’s raining today. The streets are beginning to look more
normal. There are less police and the chain
link barriers on the streets are beginning to come down. We walk down closer to the Eiffel Tower as
well as the Seine River and the bridge where the ceremonies were held last
night. On previous days, we were unable
to get this close to all of these places.
There are lots of people out.
Men and women’s bicycle time trials are being held near us. We can hear the cheering and stands and are
able to watch them on a big screen along the river. The Olympic spirit continues!
We eat lunch at a busy corner restaurant near the Eiffel
Tower, stroll through a museum garden, and pop into little shops for macaroon cookies
and gourmet nuts and candies. We enjoy
drinks, more pizza and french-fries. We
marvel at the slender young women sporting four inch heals in the rain without
any difficulty!
I have a confession to make.
Several months ago, I must have overworked my 57-year-old body. Shawn had just retired and we were living in beautiful
Reno, close to Lake Tahoe. We were
walking, hiking, cycling and kayaking every day. I began to limp, but I thought it was a
soreness that would go away on its own. I didn’t limp all the time, but it was noticeable
for a few hours after walking and hiking, and especially first thing in the
morning. One morning, weeks after the limp began, I felt a little twinge in my
back, on the opposite side of my sore foot.
I finally did a little research and self-diagnosed myself with plantar fasciitis.
We went to Walgreens and purchased the recommended products to give my foot
additional support. That evening, we
went dancing in Reno. It was our last visit
to Roxy, our favorite dinner and dance venue.
We had come to know the two musicians and many of the people who also
enjoyed dancing there on Friday and Saturday evenings.
We learned that one of the musicians had a stroke and was in
a rehab facility. He is over 80 years
old. I fought back tears upon hearing
this. We planned to go see him the next
day. Shortly after the music began, we
got up to dance. We danced one song and then
into the second, a pain came upon me that was unfamiliar, beginning in my low
back and extending all the way down to my foot.
It was severe and concerning.
There was numbness in the lower leg.
We called an Uber for our ride home and on the way, I was unable to get
comfortable. Once back to our apartment,
I was sure that if I laid down, the pain would subside. It did not.
Several hours later, we found ourselves in the emergency
room. I was diagnosed with sciatica and given
a Medrol pack, (five days of a steroid), a muscle relaxer and a small supply of
Norco. I was able to relax just a bit
but the pain did not subside for a month.
I slept for just two or three hours each night for that period of
time. The combination of the lack of
sleep and the pain made it difficult to see any light at the end of the tunnel. I used heat and cold pads, saw a chiropractor
and did all the stretching exercises recommended.
Finally, at the end of six weeks, the pain in my leg began
to subside. At that time, I noticed the plantar
fasciitis again in my left foot. I
continued to stretch, focused on the clean eating that we had begun striving
for a couple of years earlier, and watched my slow progress as our trip to Europe
became closer.
Now we are here. The
pain in my foot and the heaviness in my right leg (it feels like I’ve had a
stroke!) are both present every day. I
do feel like the walking has benefited me and I’ve only had to take Tylenol
once since we’ve been here. Yesterday,
we walked over 16,000 steps, so that’s huge!
I have always been in amazing health. I’ve had to put myself in check and notice
that the body does age. I have loved to
walk, hike and cycle more than anything.
It’s been a bit of a challenge to walk and become fatigued due to the
discomfort. I now notice other people
who are limping as they walk down the street, or as they are entering the
grocery store! I’m thankful for the
patience and support of Shawn, as this has had an impact on both of us. I also hope to report that by the end of this
six-week trip that I am feeling more healed and more whole. In the meantime, I am reveling what it is to
be human, to feel all the feels, to be fortunate enough to experience and
embrace the aging process.
With that said, we wrap up our evening with some quiet time
in our hotel lounge where Shawn is able to watch some of the Olympic sports in
French and I am able to do some writing.
We have a brief encounter with our friends from the United States and head
up to our room. We’ve got a busy day
planned tomorrow. Good night, Paris!