Pat's Adventures in Dialysis: The "Learn to Swim", edition.

Good Sunday morning. It's been a busy week. And next week doesn't seem to be any better. I got the pedicure and manicure though. The pedicure is mandatory out here. Open toe shoes all the time. And I found that the manicure protects my fingernails because I swim. I also got a haircut. I don't like when my hair grows long enough that it curls. Because I have to work with my hair. Well. I have to wet it then comb it out, but still that's way too much effort. Lol. After 15 years or so of short hair, I'm not interested in fussing with my hair. Also when my hair grows out I have at least 3 or more distinct textures. Ugh. And finally since I swim at least 3 days a week, the shorter the hair the better.

Which leads me to swimming. I talk about many things, but the topics I talk about the most...or my peronal causes, are kidney health information and getting your kidneys checked....and learn to swim. My mom took me to the local YWCA. Yes yWca. Long time ago. Lol. She took me when I was about 7. I continued taking lessons and they continued when I went to summer camp. I also swam at a lake near near our summer cottage. By the time I was a teenager my friends and I were waterskiing, riding on ski boards and riding on jet skis. We'd also swim across the lake for the fun of it. (Yes we had personal floatation devices). Some of us went on to be Red Cross certified lifeguards. In college I became certified by the American Red Cross to teach Adaptive Aquatices. This is teaching swimming to people with disabilities. Paid good! Lol. Some of my swimmer friends got college scholarships for swimming or diving. Some learned how to scuba dive and got jobs doing that.

Brian learned to swim in college. He took it all the way through. He went from not knowing how to swim to being an American Red Cross certified lifeguard and worked at one of the largest pools in Detroit. It is an Olympic sized pool with 5 meter dive platforms. I am damned impressed with him. This pool required the best of the best lifeguards. Needless to say I started swimming lessons for my child when she was 2 years old. It wasn't on my radar when she was that young. However, Brian, Shawn and I went to a pool party at a friends house and Shawn just jumped in the pool. Diaper and all! With a huge grin. Yikes! We got her out and explained as best we could to a toddler that she shouldn't do that. And then she did it again. O. K. That week I found a class at the YMCA and she and I were off to start those Mommy and me swimming lessons.

Then when she attended Howard University, taking a swimming class was a graduation requirement. I actually think it's a good idea. She took the class and informed us that in order to pass, the students had to sing the Howard University song while treading water. Lol. Ok. But the school song was slow and sounded like a funeral dirge. Lol lol. I estimate they had to tread for 2-3 minutes. And of course she passed. And when we took her and some friends to Disney World (Shawn's college graduation gift). And her friends are Howard graduates. And we went to the water park. And they swam with the sharks!

Swimming and water safety is very important to me. If you live near a body of water you need to know how to swim. If you go on boats, you need to know how to swim...or if you don't know how to swim wear a personal floatation device...life jacket. I'm a strong swimmer, but I make sure I have a life jacket when I'm on a boat. Most of you know that Brian and I do deep water fitness. Did you know we wear floatation belts during the workout? I probably could do the hour long work out without the belt, but why would I? The area of the pool we are in is 13 feet. Oh yeah. One of the tests for lifeguard was to dive into the deepest part of the pool 10-13 feet, to recover a rubber brick. Good times. Lol. The tester would toss the brick in the water after you dove in so you couldn't see where it landed. And. We couldn't surface until we retrieved the brick. We had strong lungs back then! I've digressed.

So what are the benefits of swimming? Swimming is beneficial because it can provide an aerobic workout, but also because the resistance provided by the water builds muscle, which helps with blood sugar control. Some other research has shown that swimming and water exercise programs can help people lower blood pressure. Swimming also manages weight, reduces stress, and helps you sleep. It's low impact and a great cardio exercise. And in the case of our deep water fitness, we get plenty of cardio, we work on core (try doing sit-ups in the water) , strengthen our arms and legs and work on range of motion and work on balance. And the stretching feels good.

So what's the dialysis angle? They type of dialysis I chose was solely dependent on if I would be able to swim. Peritoneal dialysis would not allow me to swim. So I chose hemodialysis. That's why I insert needles into my arm. I can swim anywhere except in a lake or pond. To much bacteria. What about the ocean? The sea water kills bacteria! But I'll just stick to chlorinated pools, thank you very much! It's important to stay active while on dialysis. It's very easy to give in to End Stage Renal Disease and the whole dialysis thing. But a lot of us refuse to do so. So I swim. I swim 3 days a week. And I love it.

So I hope I've convinced you to consider swim lessons if you don't know how. The Y has lessons for beginners..yes for adults. They don't toss you into the deep iend. They teach you breathing and strokes and basic self lifesaving. It's worth it. And I hope that you make sure your children and grandchildren and nieces and nephews and godchildren are taking swimming lessons. Those basic self lifesaving skills can prevent a tragedy. But beyond that swimming is fun. And knowing how to swim makes a visit to the pool or water park and even more enjoyable experience!!

That's it for today. LEARN TO SWIM!!

Treading water in the deep end.