In Agony at Effie, 10-19-22

I wanted to go for a walk again after being “down” because of leg pain, but was actually in a lot of pain even as I headed out to Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve again. I chose that location because it’s close and I know all of the trails there – and where the benches are. Despite that, I barely made a single loop of the main trail, the nerve pain in my left leg was so horrific.

I had to sit wherever I could and got to the point where I was shaking and sweating, and felt like I was going to faint. I leaned over on one of the trail signs — and vomited. Then I stayed there, hanging onto the sign until I felt I could walk a little further. I made it to the picnic tables in front of the nature center, but was feeling pretty fragile. Fainting can wreak havoc on my blood sugar level, so I found one of my glucose tablets in my bag and sat at the table for about 15 minutes until I felt the fainting symptoms resolve. Then it took me several minutes more to get myself up and over to the car in the parking lot. Gad!

Despite the agony, I DID get to see several deer, including a 4-point buck. There was one group that included the 4-pointer, some younger spike bucks, a single doe, and another doe with a fawn. The big buck followed the females, sniffing the air, to see if they were in season yet. Neither one seemed interested in him and just focused on eating.

CLICK HERE for the album of photos.

Later, one of the spike bucks challenged the 4-pointer. It was a hugely unbalanced fight; the 4-pointer was physically larger than the younger bucks, and had a more deadly rack of antlers. It looked to me like the 4-pointer was playing with the smaller buck; they fake-jousted for a few minutes, then ran back and forth chasing one another. Buck zoomies!

I don’t use my left leg to drive, so I was able to get back to the house without too much difficulty. Still, I spent the rest of the day in bed. I just can’t seem to get ahead of the pain…It’s so frustrating.

As an aside:

Just FYI. Because the cancer is rearing its head again, and I have a calendar full of doctor’s appointments, chemo classes and lab work, it may be a while before I post again…and posts may be fewer and far between. I’m still around — unless you hear otherwise — just not at my laptop or in the field.