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Introduction Text I had a recreational accident years ago and have not been allowed to return to my field. Of course other assorted personal problems never help. My stress eating habit that developed is causing problems with arthritis and high blood pressure. I didn't realize I was so heavy since I was only weighed at annual neurologist visits the last few years. I am 5'2.5". I have Fibromyalgia, but I am having to manage it off meds since I reacted (neurologically) to every medication they tried. My TBI has left me with a balance problem since post TBI vestibular disease and some vision problems are permanent even though there was a lot of adaptive improvement in the 1st year after the injury. I had a "feral" cat colony for many years and still have a smaller group from the colony that I take care of (pets) that provide a daily workout for me. I also have a number of potted plants and keep a number of areas planted. The cat colony was older than I am since there used to be a servicetown there that I remember when I was younger on my grandparents property that is now part of an LLC. A group through animal control took them because of the newer commercial growth in the area. They did not listen to me about the FIA (Feline Infectious Anemia) problem I had been controlling for years and they refused to listen to me it sounds like a quite a few of the cats died. They did not call me to meet them out there as requested and they took lots of live traps and other equipment that were mine. I had a fall in late March of 2017 that left me with compartment syndrome. Fortunately I recognized it early (I had seen it in animals - including my mother's Dachshund) and I started conservative therapy within hours of the fall. It never got bad enough to require emergency pressure surgery, but I spent months sitting a lot with my leg up and carrying a plastic stool around with me when I went out side to do very limited yard and garden work. We have a major weed problem after someone else did the mowing for a while. I still have a hard knot and some contact pain and faded bruising a bit more than a year later, but I am back to doing some longer walks and hikes again. One advantage to living in an area with a lot of Civil War history is that there are quite a few parks in the area with shaded trails still good for hiking in hot weather. Anyway, doing a lot of sitting around for months without doing my regular walking and other stresses packed a bunch of weight back on me, so I was heavier than ever and I had to reset my upper weight limit. I have been able to do some of the National Park Service Hikes this year that I couldn't do in 2017. I had posted them to our city group, so at least some other people got to go. I have lots of company on the Healthy History Hikes (2018) since there have been about 120 of us meeting at the designated Civil War site Parks. Most of the National Park Service events are free, so it has been a good way to get started doing some pretty easy longer (about 4 miles) hikes again. I joined the Pink Flamingo Team in 2018 to try to get some help on my weight loss after not being able to do much previous year. I fall more than most people, but I have also learned to drop into it once I know I am going down, so I rarely get hurt. It upsets other witnesses way more than it upsets me since I can usually just get up and resume what I was doing. The fall spring of 2017 has been my big exception after my major trauma in '91 and a lessor one in '93. There was just something hard in the wrong place when I fell that time. I seem to have lots of company here with something happening and having to start over. I have major sleep problems so 6 to 8 hrs is a rarity.





I am from Va about midway between Richmond and DC and near the 95 corridor. So I am in the mid Atlantic region of the Eastern Time Zone. .

I used to spend a lot a time with my feral cat colony so I at least had a regular "job" with a lot of walking every day while putting out fresh water and food and daily cleaning and attention. After the commercial development in the area took off and they took my colony, and my Compartment Syndrome fall I have had a setback and had to "restart" even though I was always checking in with Spark People when the server is working here. I still take care of about a dozen animals with some with medical problems requiring daily care.

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