An Update
I haven't written for this walking blog for some time. I'll explain why further down in this post.
Today I, again, walked a circuit of my 15km loop around Katikati. It is the first walk of any significant distance I've done in the past 2 months. The photos herein were mostly taken during that walk (3 were taken on other occasions on the same walk during the week after). The walk was pleasant, with surprisingly few people out there. Toward the end of the walk there is a footbridge across a swampy corner of an estuary, but on this occasion part of the bridge had collapsed and been washed to the side. Unfortunately, you walked around 1.5km from the last intersection of the route before encountering the problem and there was no prior signage, so your choices were to climb down and through the swamp, or to walk back 1.5km, then walk around another 1.5km to get to the other side of the footbridge. I did the former, but with stiff back and knees it wasn't as easy as it would have been a year ago. The two photos of the bridge were taken a week later once it was repaired (and I'd done 2 more walks around this route).
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| The damaged piece of footbridge |
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| The footbridge repair a week later |
Now for a refresh of some key moments in my life over the past few years, and an update on the past 12 months (spoiler alert: sad times ahead).
2019 April - I am diagnosed with a inguinal hernia
2019 July-Oct - I do an extended walking holiday in the U.K. (with multiple blog posts about that already here) affected only slightly by the hernia
2021 Nov/Dec - I start experiencing some lower back stiffness / tenderness
2022
Apr-Jun - I see a physio about my back, and I am given stretching
exercises and a slow-release ibuprofen prescription. My Dad begins
taking rests/naps during the day
2022
Aug - I am up to walking 3 circuits of my loop around Katikati in a day
(a total of 45km). I return to Canada for a year. I hug my Dad
goodbye (we'd never been huggers). Also I suspect that ibuprofen gives
me high blood pressure. My back pain mysteriously disappears (for
now). I begin walking to work each day in Canada, a 10km distance each
way (so 20km each day)
2022 Nov/Dec - I plan and book a 3-month U.K. walking holiday, thinking it may well be my last one
2023
Jan - I have a hernia operation at Shouldice Hospital. I also confirm
that ibuprofen gives me high blood pressure. My back pain returns. I
suspend walking to work (due to the post-operative recuperation, the
winter weather, and the increased back discomfort)
2023
March - my Dad is diagnosed with stomach cancer, but is told he could
have surgery to remove it, with a chance of success. I resume walking
to work and back each day, but my knees are also painful on occasion
2023
April - I cancel my 3-month U.K. walking holiday (and lose considerable
money doing so) and decide on 3 weeks in Shropshire in July instead
(because of the uncertainty around my Dad, and my ongoing back &
knee discomfort)
2023
May - my Dad has bariatric surgery, which appears to be successful in
removing the cancer, but he has deteriorated a lot since the diagnosis
2023 July - I spend 20 nights (19 days) in Shropshire, but only walk decent distances on 5 of those days (more to come in a future post about that holiday and walks). While on my way back to New Zealand after the holiday, my sister messages me that Dad has collapsed and is back in hospital
2023
Aug - Dad comes home, but has been told the cancer has returned in his
lymp nodes. His health and appetite decline rapidly
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