I’ve been thinking about how learning to skate is both a physical and a mental skill. Of course you need to be able to physically move your body in certain ways, and involves a certain amount of strength in your legs, butt and core. But perhaps the harder aspect of skating is building up the…
Category: Health
Six Months of PT in the Bag!
Today I’m celebrating six months of physical therapy! On the plus side, doing daily PT I believe has helped to mitigate knee pain and be able to walk for longer periods of time. And the exercises are not too onerous — basically they are part of my daily morning prep and evening wind down, which…
New PT Exercises for Knee Pain: Leveling Up
Earlier this month I went back to my physical therapist Mitchell to see if my PT exercises are making a difference with my knee pain. I’ve been doing PT since late February, which has been helping, I think? Mitchell watched me do my exercises and decided to switch them up because some of them were…
One Week into Physical Therapy for Jumper’s Knee
Last Saturday, I started a new physical therapy regime, making me officially old, I guess. It was prescribed by a therapist at Kaiser to manage, and hopefully reduce, the knee pain that I have been experiencing from “Jumper’s Knee” or Patellar Tendinitis. For the most part, it’s been going well. The exercises and stretches don’t…
I Have Jumpers Knee (Patellar Tendinitis)
On Friday I went to my first physical therapist session ever, at the advice of my doctor. My goal is to work on lessening knee pain I’ve been experiencing more and more over the past year. The good news is I don’t have arthritis, according to the very nice physical therapist I met with Mitchell….
2024 Intentions: More Stamina, Skate Travel and Video Essays
I don’t tend to set “resolutions” for the New Year, which feels a bit too confining and unrealistic. Instead I do like to set “intentions” to give me direction and motivation. These are more like things I am very interested in and want to explore, but without set quantitative goals or deadlines. So not “I…
That time I got my ass kicked in the basement of the UN
I randomly remembered a weird incident that happened to me 30 years ago: getting my ass kicked in a martial arts class in the basement of the UN. In the mid 90s, I was working at an accredited NGO at the United Nations. As such I had a few privileges like being able to attend…
Cat Food and Admitting Defeat
For 17 years I’ve been blessed with a very easy-going cat who basically would eat anything I put in front of him. So I guess I am past due to get a finicky eater in his senior years. Over the past 16 months, I’ve been struggling with Mole Negro’s diet, trying to find the right…
The Way to Prevent Alzheimer’s Is Right in Front of Us
My mom had a rich and successful life. A high achieving student in Manila, she graduated from medical school with high marks. She moved to America in her 20s, worked as a doctor in several states, then settled down in the SF Bay Area. She traveled all over the world, from Hong Kong to Paris…
2022 in Review: Cake Bakes, Feeding the ‘Gram, Flexing My Diet, Disney with a Kid!
The year 2022 was a return to “normal” post-Pandemic life, which was wonderful. There were no major life changes, but there were a lot of wonderful moments to remember. Health I feel blessed to be in my 50s and able to do all that I do, from skating to dancing to biking everywhere. The biggest…