Adventures with Gastroparesis

Okay, for these who have been following my Adventures with Gastroparesis will not be surprised when I say that I’m not shy about trying know things.  I learned years ago (prior to Gastroparesis) to view everything in life as a life experience which will at minimum make you a more rounded individual.  It will also give you more topics to discuss and provide you the ability to strike up a conversation with people from all different walks of life.

The pursuit of life experiences has had me intrigued by aqua aerobics for awhile now.  Due to all of my running, my joints get sore easily and I have a knack for overdoing it.  Then my mom started taking aqua aerobics for her physical therapy for a hip replacement (hi mom!)  She was telling me about the classes which made me even more interested.  They classes seemed to be really helping her and let’s be honest, they just sounded like fun.  I don’t know how to swim, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me!

As it turned out, my gym offers aqua aerobics at one of their other locations nearby.  It was time to see how Gastroparesis did with this adventure.  I was optimistic because it was much less impact on the body but still got your juices flowing.  As it turns out, one of my good friends has also been intrigued by aqua aerobics for a long time.  This meant that I had a partner in crime and would help keep me accountable for going to class.

Today was our first class and it was a blast!  We were at least 30 years younger than the majority of the class but all of the ladies were so nice.  They also can run pretty fast through a pool!  The class was just as I had hoped.  My muscles feel like they have been used, the blood is flowing, and it gave me an energy boost.  All of this came without the joint pain that usually accompanies such workouts and it was just plain FUN!  When we were holding on to the side of the pool kicking our feet, I felt like I was a little kid until I realized we were going to be doing it for awhile.

If anyone has access to a pool, I would definitely recommend going and at least walking back and forth in it.  It loosens up your muscles and makes you say:  Take that GP!

Now if those pesky GP Elves wouldn’t have stolen my underwear out of my duffle bag for my return trip home!

~Millie

PS…My swimsuit & belly cooperated for the majority of class!  YEAH!