Te-the-Hiker
Along the lines of ‘you never know who’s life you might be influencing,’ our friend Te comes to mind. ‘Te’ is short for Terralene and we met her years ago through our friend, the late Larry Weathers. As we did our friend Linda. They were all friends growing up in Raymond in the 60s (I think) and went on to lead separate, though intertwined, lives over the years. Te (like Linda) lives in Seattle and we go year in and year out without actually seeing her face-to-face. Even so, she is a presence in our lives, whether she knows it or not!
Take today, for instance. I, as Nyel’s Head Cheerleader, have decided that we will ramp up his walking regime. That thought immediately brought Te to mind. She is a walker. Years ago (maybe ten?) she embraced the 10,000-steps-a-day program and has followed it religiously ever since. Often, she has those 10,000 steps accomplished before the rest of the world has had breakfast but, even so, she doesn’t slow her pace (so to speak.) She is relentless. She is also attractive, trim, slim, healthy, enthusiastic, and fun – the poster girl for that 10,000 Steps a Day idea.
All The Rage
Te’s enthusiasm is catching, and she soon had all of her friends using pedometers, checking their steps, trying to keep up with her numbers. When I discovered that I average between five and six thousand steps a day just going about my usual day inside the house – not even venturing outdoors, mind you – I sort of gave up on my diligence. Lately though, I’ve read that 15,000 steps are better but whether it’s ten or fifteen thou, it’s the intensity with which you walk that makes the difference.
Well… right now, that’s neither here nor there. Nyel came into the hospital a week ago yesterday unable to walk more than five or six steps (and slowly, at that) without having to stop for a minute or so to breathe. Now he can walk the length of this hallway and back with no problem at all – taking it slow, to be sure, but much like the proverbial tortoise, on his way to winning this race.
Outside Nyel’s Door
One round trip in this hallway equals 230 feet. The little labeled hearts that are every five feet along the way tell us so. Nyel says his stride is three feet. So, for him, a round-trip along this Unit 51 hallway is about 80 steps. Reaching Te’s 10,000 step goal would take Nyel 125 round trips. It would probably take every waking minute of his hospital day excluding mealtimes, meds-time, vital signs time, to say nothing of nap-time. Maybe ten round trips today might be more realistic, stepping it up (so to speak) each day as he can. I hope Te would approve.
Hooray for you , Nyel! I should put markers on our wall. It might inspire me to get up and walk more!