Yup, I'm definitely home

Phew!

That was a very long flare-up.

But it's over now.

Thank whomever.

I'm back to doing my biking -- 15 minutes on Thursday; 15 minutes again yesterday; and 20 minutes this morning!

Once the benefit kicks in from the biking, I should be able to keep flare-ups to a minimum again.  At least that's the pay-off I seemed to notice before my surgery.  At that time, I was doing 60 minutes a day and it really did seem to keep me on an even keel.

I still needed my weekly physio sessions.

And I definitely still needed those weekly massage therapies.

It's obvious that my daily stretch/exercise regime (which includes biking), and the weekly physio / massage sessions are crucial to my well being.

This past week I didn't have the physio treatment because I was in no condition to make the round trip to the city.  That's one of the drawbacks to being in a flare-up.

I push myself too hard and a flare-up happens.

Then I don't have the energy to partake of the therapies I need.  Hell, at the height of a flare-up, it's all I can to put one foot in front of the other.  When that happens, the only thing I can do is rest and wait for the inflammation to settle down.  Pushing myself only makes things worse.

But the lack of activity ALSO makes things worse.  And slows the healing.

It's a truly vicious cycle.

While we were away, I made a point of using the hot tub in lieu of massage therapy but I didn't have my physio therapy.  I also ensured that I did my stretches and exercises every day.  I used the bicycles at the hotels but couldn't set the resistance low enough for my needs so I only managed 10 minutes.  Towards the end of the trip, I couldn't manage any minutes!  The flare-up had started by about day eight of our trip and I pushed myself to complete the rest of our itinerary.

Hence, the 12-day pay-back that I suffered on our return.

It's important now that I work hard to maintain a steady rhythm and try not to induce another flare-up.

Pace myself, yeh, that's it.  That's what I'll do!