Living Well with Parkinsons Disease
Dancing in the Rain: Lessons Learned on my Personal Journey with PD (more at www.PDPlan4Life.com) Copyright 2013-20 Sheryl Jedlinski
Back in the water again
I returned to swimming my bi-weekly laps two weeks ahead of the arbitrary Christmas deadline I had set for myself. After my four-month hiatus, I was chomping at the bit to get back in the pool and make sure I hadn’t lost the stamina and form I had worked long and hard to build up. Did I say that? What happened to the old me who refused to put on a bathing suit, let alone swim competitively, even if just to best my own records? I’ve come a long way from my college days when my husband (then boyfriend), Tony, cajoled me into taking a swimming class by promising to buy me dinner afterwards.
Careful not to push my bionic knees too far, too fast, I spent several sessions just doing stretching and strengthening exercises in the warm water therapy pool. When the time came to take my lane in the lap pool, Tony was there to cheer me on. I swam 20 lengths and felt great. Not bad for my first time back. Several kind women in the water aerobics class beside me interrupted their work-out to welcome me back and say how great my swimming looked.
On the days I don’t swim, I play Push the Limit with Olympic medalist Michael Phelps on the X-Box Kinect. The game starts with a warning that it is “physically draining,” and I can attest to this. Even though you only use your arms, you will get your heart rate up quickly, increasing your stamina while improving the rhythm and technique of your strokes. After a string of dead lasts, I finally finished first in one race. The “crowd” roared its approval, and I basked in my accomplishment.
3 comments on “Back in the water again”
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Living Well with Parkinsons Disease 
That’s my girlfriend!!!
Thanks for your encouragement, Jen.
glad you are doing so well…….Joel