Day #65 - Some Eye-Opening Experience

The last time I remodeled a bathroom was about 8 years ago.  That would have put me somewhere around 36 years old.  I don't remember how much I weighed at the time, but it wasn't as much as a I weigh now.  These last couple of days have given me some perspective on just how badly my health has deteriorated.  As I'm sitting here my back is sore, my knees are sore, my legs are sore, my arms are sore.  Every time I sit for a 5 minute break it takes me 10 minutes after I get up to stretch all the soreness out of my muscles.  The simple truth... I feel like an old man.

Now don't get me wrong, the work I'm doing is pretty grueling.  Yesterday was demolition and then carrying everything downstairs.  Today was a trip to the dump to unload all that debris followed by buying all the shower materials and lugging them upstairs.  That would include 9 pieces of backerboard that each weigh about 40 pounds.  Lugging those bad boys upstairs had me wishing we lived in a single floor home.  There's no doubt the work I'm doing is hard on me, and I wouldn't mind some soreness, but this goes past soreness to the point of just feeling like I'm in constant pain.

Last night I had a terrible night's sleep.  Not because of my apnea, but instead because I woke up at around 2AM with knee pain.  No matter what position I was in, the pain wouldn't go away.  I'd start to doze and the pain would come back and wake me again.  Granted I'm working hard at home, but waking up due to knee pain is a fairly common occurrence for me these days.  I went to the store today and bought some Aleve; I'm hoping it will help me to sleep better tonight.

Having this opportunity to compare myself to the me of 8 years ago is a real eye-opener.  I was sore then as well, but not like this.  My joints didn't creak every time I moved.  Things got done faster and I didn't spend a bunch of time trying to figure out "easier" ways to do things to try to spare myself some of the work.

My eyes are open and as bad as I feel right now, I'm grateful for this opportunity.  For starters, I'm grateful that I still can carry drywall up a flight of stairs and that I can lift cement board into place, hold it with one hand, and screw it to the wall with the other.  I'm grateful that it's showing me that if I don't change soon, I won't be able to do those things anymore.  It might sound crazy, but I enjoy this stuff.  I love to remodel and I like to do things on my own; independence is one of my core values. 

I'll be in bed early tomorrow and hopefully get a good night's rest.  Fortunately, most of the heavy lifting is done now and the work becomes a little easier.  Day #65 is in the books, on to Day #66.

Stay Strong!