The high number of new Covid-19 infections in Israel in the second wave (over 1000 a day, which is more than the peak during the first wave) has lead to certain restrictions being put back in place. Most of them have no effect whatsoever on me, but the one specific restriction which will affect me is the forced closing of the kibbutz swimming pool (surely the chlorine in the water will kill the virus?).
Due to the virus, the OP hasn't been at work for the last four months, and so instead of spending up to two hours with her on a Friday morning, we have a short chat and then I head to the swimming pool for a brief swim - this is in addition to Saturday mornings. So even I though I am deliberately swimming less in each session as compared to last year, I am actually swimming more. I even purchased a new waterproof mp3 player which seemed to be better than my original machine, but since copying files to it, my computer can't identify the player when it is connected.
Last week I had my blood pressure measured a few hours after swimming: 120/77, which is very good. On Monday I underwent an ergometric stress test, which means walking on a treadmill while being attached to an ECG machine. At first, the treadmill moved slowly and was flat; every few minutes the speed would increase automatically as well as the angle. After several minutes, the treadmill finally got to a speed at which I felt comfortable, walking very fast - I could have carried on at this rate for quite some time. But then the speed changed once again and simply became too fast for me to walk so I asked to stop. After all, the name of the game is not to show how much stamina I have but rather how the heart performs when under stress.
Why did I do this? During the lockdown, I noticed that my feet - especially the right foot - were swelling up, and it was painful to move them. Although that extreme swelling has not returned, I still see every evening that my right foot is somewhat inflexible. The swelling is due to liquid leaking from somewhere in the body, and so my doctor ordered a few tests. The first was ultrasound of the veins in the thighs - nothing wrong there. The stress test was next, and I have an echocardiogram examination in another two weeks. I had one of these four years ago which didn't show anything noticeable.
And it turns out that because of these tests, I was once again denied the chance to give blood. I had hoped that there would be no more problems, especially considering my last haemoglobin test which was relatively high for me. But no.
Why did I do this? During the lockdown, I noticed that my feet - especially the right foot - were swelling up, and it was painful to move them. Although that extreme swelling has not returned, I still see every evening that my right foot is somewhat inflexible. The swelling is due to liquid leaking from somewhere in the body, and so my doctor ordered a few tests. The first was ultrasound of the veins in the thighs - nothing wrong there. The stress test was next, and I have an echocardiogram examination in another two weeks. I had one of these four years ago which didn't show anything noticeable.
And it turns out that because of these tests, I was once again denied the chance to give blood. I had hoped that there would be no more problems, especially considering my last haemoglobin test which was relatively high for me. But no.
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