I don’t specifically recall in my life ever trying to gain body weight.  Lose weight? Sure, may times, but not gain.  Perhaps there was a time in high school for a sports requirement for a particular weight class for fair practice and/or competition – but again, I can’t say for sure.  Just wanted to qualify my statement due to that possibility in high school many years ago.   I did however once witness what can happen when mismatched weight classes clash on the mat.  Yup, right at the mat”s edge, less than two feet away, I not only visually witnessed the twig like snapping of a forearm but heard that unforgettable, cringe-producing “SNAP” accompanied by the instantaneous reconfiguration of an adolescent human limb into something science fiction worthy regarding radiated mutants.  A smooth fleshy exaggerated bump in the wrong place (not the elbow!) and a misdirected hand.  

Actually I had experienced the same sort of injury while roller skating years before as a preteen.  It was a beautiful fall day in the Central San Joaquin Valley, a bit chilly so I had a jacket, cap and gloves on and was racing down the sidewalk in front of our house as fast as I could but this time while making a fast turn caught that clean edged sidewalk-lawn boundary, and as my feet stopped my body was launched forward.  So what’s the instinctive thing to do ….(without other training of course – some Judo lessons later saved many such accidental injuries by teaching how to “fall properly”)  …  outstretch your arms with hands prepared to absorb the shock of the fall.  Yup, a muffled snap under the jacket.   I sat on the sidewalk for a bit doing a short inventory of any damage – another hole in my jeans – no biggie, they were “play clothes” not “school clothing”.  My left arm was tingling numb and there was some pain but not enough to prevent my  getting up and resuming the sidewalk skating, but within only a minute or two the tingling and pain was more noticeable.  I stopped, started to pull off the glove but observed my hand was pointing slightly in the wrong direction!  What?  How could this be?  I  pulled the glove completely off and pushed the jacket sleeve up a little to reveal more of my arm and PRESTO!

Think I went into shock or something and starting yelling for help – and fell on my ass.  (Lucky I didn’t break my tailbone with that unnecessary move.  Lol)   Rather funny actually.  Others were attempting to calm me down until they saw the “reconfigured limb” and even their speech and activity took on a more serious nature.  Something a child will pick up on immediately. Oh yeah, here’s a little something a young kid who is already freaked out with a new crooked arm doesn’t want to overhear while adults are assessing the situation – “Is there any blood? Is the bone sticking out?  lol (Nope – not a compound fracture just a clean break.) Blah, blah, blah….. but I digress.   

So I don’t recall ever trying to lose weight, yet here I am with a surprising 30lb plus weight drop without trying.  Sure, I might have dropped a few pounds working on a physically demanding project for a couple of months but it was gradual and not alarming in anyway, but on my first 5 day camping trip on the high desert I came back an additional 10 – 12 lbs lighter!  Then on the next 10 day excursion another 10-12lbs despite taking regular breaks and consuming much water and Gatorade.  (Adding more salt next time. Completely forgot about the customary salt tablet dispensers when living overseas where dehydration was a common ailment.) I even started loading up on particular vitamins a week or so earlier in preparation for what I knew was going to be another rather strenuous and physically demanding outing.  (By the way remember my blah blah blahs about muscle cramps and how annoying they were at night after a good days work?  (My GSD Liz was at first freaked out by my late night-early morning Frankenstein hip-hop dance and cursing around the bedroom but later (after several such performances) would only raise her heard in bored acknowledgment of the performance and just go back to sleep as I hobbled downstairs to slam some orange juice.   I started taking a Potassium vitamin supplement a couple of months back – and have not had a cramp since – almost, but not a full  blown, hopping around the bedroom and cursing in the dark cramp!  lol

Apparently I’ve been dealing with some heat exhaustion (not heat stroke) and although “thought” I was taking in enough fluids to offset the perspiration loss,  was not.  Sure, I’d get a little lightheaded when physically working in approximate 100 degree heat (with an elevation increase of 3,500’ or so) so I made a point of stopping and taking breaks.  Cool off and go back to work later.  Guess there is an accumulative aspect to heat exhaustion too.  So I reluctantly acknowledged the danger in trying to push on and complete the project (often in the comfort of a reclining chair while watching television I can plan some wonderful projects without the realistic evaluation of what I could actually accomplish (especially under very different circumstances), in other words, I sometimes “bite off more than I can chew”despite the will to do so.    Raw and slightly lacerated finger tips also assisted with this decision because EVERYTHING IS MORE DIFFICULT WHEN HANDS AND FINGERS ARE CAUSING ENOUGH PAIN to make simple chores like tying bootlaces difficult. So I packed things up and headed back.  No fooling, it’s taken about two weeks to feel semi-normal again – with most of the difficulty orbiting around just having an appetite again.  Hard to explain because mixed in all of this soreness and fading pain is an excitement and interest I have not experienced in years. 

Well, at least that’s what I believe and hope is going on…..sure it could be something else (can be rather disturbing when you research things sudden weight loss might signify or be linked too) but I am well acquainted with my body due to several decades of semi-unrestrained interest and enthusiasm for physically demanding activities and how they can negatively affect my health if not monitored carefully and moderated.  The age variable is something I must pay more attention to obviously.  (True with all of us yeah?  I can’t imagine all the classic injuries parents and grandparents likely suffer when over-doing it when interacting with the young ones…. play now-pay later yeah?)

Sure, anything is possible (never say never) and there’s always the possibility an individual could inadvertently slip into one of life’s “slow checkout lines” and be just too darn distracted and captivated with other activities at the moment to appreciate the seriousness and direction actually headed, (again, I certainly do not believe this the case) but even if so, I’m still going back for more because unquestionably, there is a “Desert Tug” in more ways than one. 

My best to you and yours, Lew