“STOP” – Doctor’s Orders

So I was camping on the weekend with a gentleman friend and one night our mattress deflated so needless to say I didn’t get a good night’s sleep that night. As a result pain levels are up. But pain levels were also up a week prior and the week prior to that.

As many of you know I am a cub scout leader. Between my two groups I have six senior Cubs, called Howlers, who are going up to Scouts in September. Five of these boys are getting the Cub top section award..

2 months ago, when we finally got permission to Camp hello I suggested to Raksha that would take all the senior Cubs and take them on a camp, teaching them how to do a scout camp. Well Raksha is also currently a scout leader, but she has not done a scout section camp because of restrictions due to covid. But I have several years of troop level camping under my belt so I know what they should and should not be doing…

^{On of my Howler at day camp a few weeks back.}

About a month ago, the Scouts and venturers expressed an interest in camping so I’m not sure how it happened but suddenly my howler Camp became a Howler / Scout / Vent camp. While I was annoyed about it kind of getting taken over from the original intent I figured that the existing older Scouts can teach the Howlers how to Camp as Scouts..

i was actually looking forward to camping with the kids.

What does one have to do with my doctor? Everything.

When my pain was creeping up, I wasn’t doing anything to rest. After spiking again last weekend, I had an appointment with my pain physician, a regularly scheduled appointment. She reviewed my comments & my paperwork and we had a discussion She said that I was overdoing it & if I kept pushing I was going to significantly hurt myself, possibly slamming right out of my semi-remission. So, she said “No, you are not to go camping”.

Well, she was right.. I kept my activity level up to help finish prepping for camp.. & today, I’m done.

I could not even help shift a canoe last night. Not lift, just shift. & Today I woke in active fibromyalgia pain. My leggs were killing me.

^{No! Stop!! Do not Camp. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200}

So my Doctor said no, & I’m glad she did!

What Does a Disability Look Like?

According to the World Health Organization, disability has three components:

1. Impairment in a person’s body structure or function, either physical or mental. Examples include loss of a limb, loss of vision or memory loss.
2. Activity limitation, such as difficulty seeing, hearing, walking, or problem solving.
3. Participation restrictions to normal daily activities. Examples include working, and engaging in social & recreational activities,

So as you can see, not all persons with disability have necessarily have a physical component. Additionally, there are medical conditions and disabilities that are not visible including diabetes, lupus & fibromyalgia.

I’m a good example of that in that I have fibromyalgia and other issues but I don’t use a cane at the moment. As a result, I don’t look like I have an impairment . Pain is invisible so they don’t know and cannot tell that my pain level is a 1/10 (I know, very funny) or 8/10 today.

Returning to the Gym

Here in on the east side of the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario Canada, we are moving into stage 3 of reopening tomorrow. What this means “Facilities for sports and recreational fitness activities (e.g., gyms, fitness studios)” are allowed to open. This includes my local gym, the Durham YMCA.

The following stipulations are in place by the provincial government:

• Physical distancing must be maintained, except if playing a team sport or as needed for personal training.
• The total number of people permitted in areas containing weights or exercise machines is limited to the number of people that can maintain physical distancing of at least two metres, which cannot exceed the indoor gathering limit of 50 people.
• The total number people permitted in classes or organized activities at any one time is limited to the number of people that can maintain physical distancing of at least two metres, and cannot exceed the indoor gathering limit of 50 people or the outdoor limit of 100.
• Assigned spaces are strongly recommended for organized fitness classes (e.g., by marking circles on the floor to designate where each person should exercise).
• Gathering limits do not apply in all other areas (e.g., pools, tennis courts and rinks).
• Equipment must be cleaned and disinfected between user sets or at the end of a game.
• Any washrooms, locker rooms, change rooms, showers or similar amenities made available to the public must be cleaned and disinfected frequently.
• Steam rooms and saunas are not yet permitted to open.

I have some concerns about this. Our “Plus” change room is fairly small to accommodate the extra features we pay for. There is going to be very little room to social distance.

Our additional features include the steam room and the hot tub. I’m figuring since the steam room is unavailable then so is the hot tub. But what about the pool? I guess since there are no aqua-fit classes they just allow free swim? How is that safe? Since I walk my laps in the pool instead of swimming, should I be wearing a mask?

How are they planning on running an Arriba class? The Wednesday & Thursday classes where in a half gym & there was usually 50 people in that space. Triple that in the full gym on Saturday mornings. There is no way to social distance that many people. And given the distance we move during class, we’d likely only have room for maybe 25 people so as to stay out of everyone else’s breathing space. I don’t want to be dancing in the residual saliva in the air from when the person beside me is breathing hard from exercise.

I also noticed no yoga classes. I understand not being able to run a yoga class using one of the studios due to size, but why not a class in the gymnasium. Yes, a little louder & a little brighter, but an evening class would help that.

Social distancing in the showers? There only 5-6 showers total in the Plus section.

Now, almost all the features of a plus membership restricted which includes Steam Room, Hot Tub, Private Showers, Peace and Quiet-no kids, Lounging Area, Personal Hygiene Products & Towel Service. Without most of this, do you think we’d get a price break until it opens back up? Good God no. In fact, they cancelled the pilot program I was in so my membership is going to go up by about $20

Honestly, I’m not entirely sure I am comfortable going back to the gym quite yet. Being at higher risk makes me hesitate, especially when new cases reported are climbing back up towards 200.

What are your thoughts on going back to the gym?