Date: 2014-09-14
To: Life After the Appalachian Trail
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOM WHO IS 87 YEARS YOUNG TODAY. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM."The water shortage from New York to Port Clinton took it's toll on me. It was almost the perfect hike."After our little celebration in Hamburg and many pictures later we all left for our homes. Nancy drove me home as one scene after another of the AT flashed into my mind. I suppose for many years to come I will be getting these flashbacks from this tremendous adventure that has become so dear to me.Once home I took all my gear to the basement, to be evaluated later, and I headed for the shower. It felt so good to get cleaned up in my own shower. I weighed myself and I weighed 157 pounds and this was after a very large lunch. A thirty pound weight lost. As of this writing I have gained ten pounds back and I am a strapping 167 pounds. For the rest of the evening I relaxed with my wife.The next day 09-03 I was up at 3 am working on my computer. It was Wednesday so I went to the Wednesday Milers Trail head to say hi to the folks who I trained with for the AT. I told them I would see them next Wednesday to hike with them, but as it turned out I would be in no condition to hike. I traveled to all my medical doctors and made appointments to get physicals. I made dental, eye, and primary care physician medical appointments. Dental was first and I had two cavities. I was not surprised. My eye glasses appointment will be next January. I found an old pair of prescription glasses to replace the ones I lost in the river fording at Baxter State Park, Me. I visited my hair stylist and he wanted to know what happened to my hair? This is an Appalachian Trail haircut I told him. We are not too fussy about our hair on the AT. Thursday morning 09-04 I recognized the symptoms. I was cold and all my joints were hurting because once again I managed to become dehydrated. All I could think about was how I had restricted my water intake from New York to PA and how it had finally caught up to me. I muddled through that day knowing I had a medical appointment the next day. That evening there was another big celebration at my daughter and son in laws house. I was enjoying myself as I was explaining the slide show that was being presented of my AT hike on the TV . Suddenly I became very hot and my lower back and kidney area started hurting and I couldn't get comfortable so I had to excuse myself from my own party and ask my wife to take me home. I needed to lie down and get off my feet. I was sure I was dehydrated with a kidney infection, even though I had been drinking a lot of water in the last 24 hours. I was at the doctor's office at 9 am with my wife. Consultation and blood tests confirmed that I was dehydrated with a UTI. I am on antibiotics for the UTI and I have been drinking so much Gatorade and water that I don't know where my body is putting it all. As of this writing I have successfully hydrated myself and I am on the road to recovery. I even worked out lightly yesterday with weights and stretching. As far as my knee is concerned the x-rays show a lot of arthritis. I was given a choice of a steroid needle into the knee or self imposed physical therapy. I want to try and repair it the best I can first. I noticed after yesterday's workout it felt better. I don't mind living with manageable pain so if working out and stretching will keep it manageable, that's the route for me. I do not have Lyme's Disease and my blood pressure is back to normal. While I was in the early stages of dehydration the blood pressure was about 158/72. I have an appointment in October with a Urologist to check into the UTI.You might ask, was hiking the trail worth all this? Yes it was. I almost hiked the perfect hike. What I experienced far outweighs the physical problems I am dealing with at the moment. I asked the Lord to keep me safe and to keep my mind stayed on Him, and He did just that. Considering all the rocks, high peaks, cliffs, ridges, and straight down rock slabs that I traveled over, I think the Lord kept up his side of the bargain. He kept me safe. I will post two more journals. The next journal will describe my gear and how it held up, what gear I ended up with, what I purchased along the way, and the food I ate. Thank you so much for being there. I have appreciated it.