Friday, June 4, 2010

The Pine cone man

During myeloma relapse 1 recovery (2007) from myeloma treatment I had to devise ways to regain my fitness and strength.
About 3 blocks from home is a very large park with walkways, trees and seats. My initial goal was to walk to the park and return.
That was accomplished fairly quickly. Soon I was adding walking in the park extending the walk as fatigue reduced and I became fitter.
In the park are a large number of pine trees which shed pine cones good for home fire burning.
Ah ha I thought, there is another fitness idea.
My left humerus had just been rodded due to a plasmacytoma destroying the bone at mid shaft. The arm and shoulder needed strengthening. On my park walks I would now take an eco bag to fill with pine cones. I used the left arm to carry the bag flexing the arm along with other exercises as I walked along. Over time it all became stronger.
Then Myra dropped a bomb shell. She said, “We use electricity for heating. The pine cones will have to go.” After negotiations with her (I won) it was decided after drying out I would store the pine cones in rubbish sacks and place outside and cover with a rain proof cover ready to give to those who needed them over winter.
A bag full of dry pine cones on a cold, wet winter’s night is a welcome surprise.
I still continue collecting pine cones on my walks and have found some more parks with pine trees that I drive to. My two grandchildren have become expert pine tree finders.
Best time for collecting pine cones is after strong winds or a storm.

2 comments:

Pat and Pattie Killingsworth said...

Hi Sid-
I just commented on your reaction to my column this week in the Myeloma Beacon. Amazing you can live 9 years without ever using Revlimid! Glad it's working. When it stops you need to get on Rev/Val/Dex. You can get patient support. It will take a lot of work but if anyone can do it, you can! Start working on that now, OK? Or get to Mayo for pomalidomide study. Maybe carfilzomib in a few years. You can make it that long! Yes you can! Pat

Sid said...

Thanks Pat and Pattie for that advice and encouragement. You have made me realise that planning for what happens after Revlimid needs to start now.
Sid