The Weather

It seems like so many of my posts mention the weather. This one is no exception. It’s July and the temperature is reaching 100 degrees most days. My life with PC is absolutely affected by the weather. The pain of heat is different than regular PC pain. Regular PC pain for me is a burning sensation with sharp pains in different areas of my feet. Pain from hot temperatures is like a stifling, suffocating pain. I guess all pain is uncomfortable, but this pain is really uncomfortable. It makes my feet feel like they will combust.

It’s ok though. It is what it is. Mentally, it’s harder to gear up to walk when my feet feel this way. There are things I can do to effectively cope with the heat. For example, I try to get everything done that involves considerable walking in the morning because once the afternoon hits, it will be much harder for me to walk. I save things that involve sitting for the hot afternoons.

Another thing I do to cope with the heat is to exercise early in the morning. All summer long, I’ve been getting up with Dave four times a week and together we ride our bikes for an hour just after sunrise. The sun hasn’t yet come over the mountains, so it’s shady and cool and it’s the time my feet feel the best all day. I still have the lingering effects of summer heat though. Even though the temperatures are lower in the early morning, overall, my feet are still worse than usual. Thus, when I ride, I try to avoid stopping so I don’t have to put my feet down on the ground. I also find I move my feet around the pedals a lot, jockeying for the most comfortable place to put pressure.

Another thing I’ve done to cope with the heat of summer is to plan summer activities in the spring, or while it’s still cooler. In the past, at the beginning of every summer, I’ve always made big plans for what I’ll do with the kids to productively fill their time while they’re out of school. But every year, the heat comes and my feet hurt and many of my best laid plans go by the wayside. So this year, because I know my pattern so well, I signed us up for activities before summer began, before the heat. Now here we are, the heat is on, and as predicted, I don’t feel like doing much. But because I already signed up for things, we are doing them anyway. Just simple things like swimming, camps, day trips, classes, and other activities. And I don’t mind doing them. But it’s a good trick to ensure we don’t totally waste the summer away. Like early morning biking, it’s just another way to beat the heat as we adapt to our lives with PC.