PAH Recruit Phlying Phrog Ready for .....

[Phlying Phrog]

Hello all!

My name is Sylvia - body stats..yeah...ok, guess you have to know those in order to congratulate me on the progresses, so here goes part of it:

At last weight: 224

Height 5'8.5" (yes, the inch counts!!)

I will get my measurements tonight. I would look rather silly in the store trying to measure myself when across the street/hwy is the big Border Patrol substation here in Comstock. Of course, if they knew what I was up to, I'm sure they would be right there helping out. I then would have to hide my diet Dr. P ... but at least they would commend my 6 raw almonds.

My story. In October of 2010 I was diagnosed with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. This was quite a shocker, as I was in the habit of hiking in the hill country about 20-30 miles a week, full time student, full time employee with the state parks, and into about every outdoor activity I could get my hands on. Although studying for Anthropology - I was also planning on going to Yoga school and becoming a certified instructor. The sudden down slam of my body kinda redirected a majority of my plans...for the moment.

In 2001, 2 months before my husband starting visiting the middle east more than I would have liked, we managed a vacation to visit our friends in Britain. While there we took the kids to all the haunts (they were in middle/high school - daughter was just getting ready to turn 16) and I sat passively on the sidelines watching them crawl up and around a water fall. I could hear their excited voices and right there I decided: be chicken and miss out on the rest of my kids childhood or buck up and get rid of the yellow stripe. I've been bucking up ever since and shocked more than my fair share of people with my adventures.

With Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension - instead of affection the heart's blood pressure, the pressures from within the lungs are affected. Extremely difficult to diagnose and typically by the time it's diagnosed a person is ready for a double lung transplant/heart transplant due to the stresses on these organs. The disease has no cure, only about 9 medications to alleviate symptoms, and is rare. There are several conditions that can contribute to this disease - use of phen phen, meth, HIV; connective tissue diseases and a few others. Mine is Idiopathic - meaning they don't know what caused it. Babies can be born with it, teens can develop it and of course adults. It knows no gender or race bias.

NE ways - think of me like a car with a radiator that overheats a mile down the road - except I can get short of breath walking a few yards when it's really warm or if I'm in direct sunlight (vampire jokes are always appreciated). Before I feel the stress within my body, it feels like I'm breathing through wet cement in my lungs. Lifting restrictions are major and at the moment I am still not allowed to scuba dive (prolly never will again), ride my horse, help load hay, pick up my grandchildren, extreme hike....but there are many things I CAN do. I'm here looking for those who are willing to help me meet the challenge of a embracing PHresh Adventure and helping me learn adaptive ways to regain the strength and health that my body will allow....through this challenge to myself, I am hoping to gain insight and instruction - as well as more wingmen to help my phellow ph'rs out there who need someone to help boost them along. Funny thing - most of us speak in sci fi lingo and are total Nerds. Guess that's what happens when your limited - you truly find the cool stuff OH!! The thing I really really REALLY want to try --- SUP...omg...and doing SUP Yoga looks amazing. Good ole' TS Debbie stopped my learning adventure on that one when I was in Florida - closest SUP shop to me is Austin (4 hours away) and there are no boards down here --- YET Oh, and does anyone know someone with a zebra for sale or to donate for a good cause? Seriously. A Zebra. Yeah. That horse thing with black and white stripes..Africa...some are named Marty...yeah, one of those

Syl

"Sometimes it IS a Zebra"

Ps..anyone wanting to know more about PAH www.phassociation.org