Wii are lovin’ it!
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It was Christmas morning yesterday at the Page house…after much discussion, we purchased a Wii today along with Wii Fit and Rock band. These items are mine and Ed’s Christmas gifts to each other. We bought them now because a) Target had them on sale b) they were actually in stock and c) they are going to be harder to find the closer we get to Christmas.
Let me tell you a little bit about why we choose this gaming system and the two “games” and what we think of them so far.
THE Wii GAMING SYSTEM
I have wanted a Wii pretty much since they came out. Lindsay and I tried one out for a few minutes at Wal-Mart one day and although I had no idea what I was doing (it was a surfing game and it was HARD), I loved the concept and thought it would be a lot of fun.
I have never been very good at video games. Tetris is about the only game I can do well. I don’t like video games where you are basically just moving your thumbs really, really fast. From everything I read about the Wii, it sounded so much better and more fun because you were using your body, not just your fingers.
We went to a party on Friday night and our friend Jonathan watched the girls. He brought his Wii and the Wii Sport disc with him so that I could try it out. I was hooked in a manner of minutes. Lets just say I am now sore because I have bowled so much the past three days. I like tennis and boxing as well, but bowling is by far the game I am the best at so of course it was the one I wanted to play the most ( I am thisclose to breaking 200).
Do we like it?
As Hailey would say, “we don’t like it, we LOVE it!” I love that the console is very small and can easily travel to the grandparents houses so that we can play with them as well. With minimum instruction from Jonathan, we were able to start playing right away without having to read any manuals. If he had not of been here, I think we could have figured it out on our own without reading anything.
I love the customized “Miis”. You make your own character by personalizing face shape, skin and hair color, hairstyle, eye color and shape, and more…you can even change your height, weight, and shirt color. When you play a game, you are likely to see your family members’ Miis show up as well. At one point Hailey was my soccer coach and she thought that was too cool.
The best thing to me about the Wii is that you can be very active. Ed and I boxed against each other tonight and I was about to collapse by the time we were done. When my Mii got up after being knocked down, I begged her to stay down…silly girl got back up to fight another round. Hailey is all over the place when she is boxing – she is really a site to behold.
Wii Fit
Although I have wanted a Wii for some time, the launch of Wii Fit made me even more excited to own one. There are so many cool things about Wii Fit.
To start out, you provide your birth date and height. You then step on the board and perform some simple tests. The program calculates your weight, your BMI, and your Wii Fit Age. You can then set a weight loss goal for yourself.
There are four categories of activities to choose from: strength training, aerobics, yoga, and balance activities. A very neat catch is that not all activities are available to you when you first start the program. As you exercise, you earn Wii fit points – these points “unlock” new activities in each category. I unlocked two new activities my first time exercising.
The only areas I have tried so far are balance games and aerobics. My favorite aerobic activities are hula hoop and running. In hula hoop, you are literally moving your body as if you were hula hooping. Then, they throw more hoops at you and you have to lean your head to catch them. Yeah, can’t do that yet! I have terrible balance! In the Basic Run, you are running around a little Wii town and there is a runner in front of you that you are to keep pace with. It helps you to keep a steady pace and not run too slow or too fast. I loved it!
Like I said, I have terrible balance. I am always running into door frames and I don’t stand or sit still very well. The Wii Fit made it very clear that this is an area I need to work on. There is a game where soccer balls are being kicked at you and you have to lean left or right to hit them with your head. There are other objects being thrown at you and you are suppossed to lean to avoid them. Somehow I do a better job of getting smacked in the face with the flying cleats than I do of hitting the balls with my head.
In “Table Tilt”, you are the table and you start off with one ball and one hole in the table. As you lean, the table leans. You have to move your body to make the ball fall down the hole. As you progress, you get more balls and more holes. Fun AND frustrating.
There are two ski games in this category as well: ski slalom and ski jump. Hailey and I both love the ski jump the best. You have to bend your knees as you are going down the slope and then you quickly stand up and hold your balance to complete the jump.
One of the new activities I unlocked is the tightrope. You walk in place to walk the rope…but you have to keep your center of gravity in place or you will fall off. To make it even harder, there are times that you have to “jump” over objects by bending your knees and then standing up quickly. I haven’t been able to do that yet and Hailey thinks it is funny that her dad was able to do it before me.
Your Wii Fit Bank keeps up with the time you spend on each exercise. You also get to put a stamp on your virtual calendar to indicate that you worked out that day. You can view charts that track your progress towards your goal. You can also password protect this information so that other users cannot see your weight, age, and BMI.
If you have fibromyalgia, this is a great exercise option for you. You can choose low-impact options, you can pace yourself, you can track your time and your progress, and you can switch activities frequently so that you are not overtaxing any one muscle group. Balance is an issue for a lot of people with FMS and these activities can help you become aware of your center of gravity and improve your balance in a fun and engaging way. Yoga is wonderful for FMS and is a great activity to begin and end your exercise routines so that you are working on lengthening and strengthening your muscles. I AM sore, but if you have FMS, you know that there is “good” pain and “bad” pain. This is a “good” pain because it means that I have done something GOOD for myself. I exercised and had fun without overdoing it and making it so that I couldn’t get out of bed in the morning.
I am very excited about this program and hope that I continue to look forward to exercising.
(As a side note to those of you who read my blog regularly, I still love the Ab Lounge and try to use it twice a day. I think it is a great complement to this program).
Rock Band for Wii
We have Jennifer and Billy to blame thank for our new obsession. After playing Rock Band at their house, we couldn’t stop thinking about it. It is a lot of fun and very addictive. The Rock Band set comes with the game, a guitar, a drum set, and a microphone. There are color-coded “frets” on the guitar and the drum rims are also color-coded. Colored rectangles move down the screen to tell you what “notes” to play. There are various play modes and skill levels.
Although I failed at my first attempt to play the drums at Jennifer and Billy’s house, I have gotten up to 97% correct on my favorite song with 144 correct notes in a row. There is just one spot that I can’t quite master yet. I took the tutorials for the guitar but it doesn’t really interest me. There isn’t a tutorial in the world that could make me a better singer. By default, I get to be the drummer of the house. That works out great since Ed loves the guitar and doesn’t care for the drums.
The girls love to “play” the guitar. Leah looks adorable with the guitar strapped around her neck! Hailey is doing so great with her reading that she can actually handle the singing pretty well on her own. If you know Hailey, you know that she is loving having a microphone!
We LOVE the Wii, Wii Fit, and Rock Band. We had a great time playing it as a family. I know we will get many hours of family bonding, friendly competition, exercise, fun and laughter out of these purchases. If you have been considering buying a Wii but have been on the fence, I say go for it! I don’t think you’ll regret it! There were 6 left at Target at North Hills when we were there yesterday.
The Lost Day
First of all, our Depot Park event was a success. There was a great turnout and I think the kids really enjoyed the activities we had planned for them. By selling raffle tickets, t-shirts, and Fourth of July trinkets, we made a little over $300. Being able to publicize our center and our upcoming fundraising carnival was awesome.
When I got to Depot Park, I carried two tables and several heavy boxes to our area. At the time, this was no big deal. I knew that the sustained muscle contraction from carrying these items was not good for me and might make me sore the next day but I had no idea what was truly in store for me.
Our area was shut down and packed up by about 5:45 but I wanted to stay and watch Ed in the pie eating contest (you can see the video on Billy’s blog and some photos on Jon’s blog. I will post my photos when I get them downloaded. Bob Heuts got 1st, Jon 2nd, and Ed 3rd). By the time we got home, I was dehydrated, shaky, and ready for bed so I ate a light dinner and went to sleep.
I woke up a few hours later in pure agony. Now, I had two children without epidurals…I don’t use the word “agony” lightly. My arms from the elbow down were…I really can’t even find the words to describe the pain. It was not a normal muscle pain. It was like carpal tunnel magnified by 100 and it was all up and down my arms. I applied ice, I applied heat, we used my TENS unit…nothing seemed to work. Thankfully, I had some Tylenol 3 left over from when I was having jaw problems and I was able to take that. It did not take away the pain, but it did take the edge off and let me sleep.
The pain continued throughout the day yesterday. I HATE applying ice but I had ice on my arms almost all day – even when I was asleep. It did not take away the pain, but it would numb my arms enough that I could not feel the pain. Thankfully the drugs let me sleep most of the day. I really only woke up enough to take drugs and eat enough food that the drugs would not hurt my stomach.
I think the worst part is that I know better. I shouldn’t carry heavy things. I shouldn’t carry even light things for long because it is still a sustained muscle contraction. But I hate standing back and watching people do things for me that I should be able to do myself. Why is it so hard for me to swallow my pride and ask for help? Hopefully this experience will stay with me for awhile and I will ask people to do things for me without worrying about what they think of me when I do it.
The Spoon Theory
I get a lot of hits on this site from people searching for information on fibromyalgia. I don’t want this site to be all about fibromyalgia…just because I have to live with it doesn’t mean it has to BE my life, but I do want to occasionally post things that will help people with FMS or people who love someone with FMS to better understand and cope with this frustrating syndrome.
I found the website www.butyoudontlooksick.com tonight and read this story. Although the writer, Christine Miserandino, is a woman with lupus, her spoon theory is a very accurate description of what it feels like to live with fibromyalgia.
PLEASE, if you are my friend or family member, I would really appreciate you reading this spoon theory. I really think it will help you to understand me and the choices I have to make. There are times that I do things because I feel embarrassed to not do them or to ask for help. I don’t want to seem weak or to risk having people think I am a hypochondriac. I always pay the price for pushing myself too hard…and then I have to answer to Ed who knows that I know better.
If you don’t know me personally but you know someone who lives with a chronic illness or if you yourself have a chronic illness, I encourage you to read this article.
Thanks for taking the time to read the spoon theory.
Living with Fibromyalgia
Although this is the longest I have gone without a blog entry, I did not drop off the face of the earth. For reasons unknown to me, my fibromyalgia (FMS) has flared over the past week and so I spent most of the weekend in bed or on the couch. I had no desire to be sitting up typing on a computer.
I was diagnosed with FMS when I was sixteen. After being in a minor car accident, I began having problems with relentless muscle pain and I could not get enough sleep. I have no idea how I managed to keep my grades up because I remember crashing on the couch every day after school. I would wake up in time for dinner and then do my homework and go to bed. My poor boyfriend would come over and end up playing Nintendo with my dad while I slept on the couch (thanks for putting up with me, David!).
My mom stood by me and listened to me. She did not brush off my problems. She took me to the doctor and we were very fortunate that he had a personal history with FMS. It is believed that it takes most people an average of 5 years before they finally get a diagnoses of FMS. The doctor gave us a couple of articles to read and it was a huge relief to know I was not crazy.
I have been examined by many different doctors since then…unfortunately, they ALL wanted to see for themselves that I had FMS and would use trigger points as an indication. To meet the diagnostic criteria for FMS, you have to have widespread pain in all four quadrants of the body and 11 of the 18 trigger points have to test positive (I have 16). To test positive, the patient feels pain with a minor touch (just enough to change the color of the skin). We aren’t talking minor pain. We are talking get-the-blank-off-me P.A.I.N. If one of my trigger points is touched (even just slightly brushed), I will feel the pain at that spot for up to five minutes.
Sustained muscle contractions or repetitive movements today can keep me in bed tomorrow. Simple things like peeling potatoes, sweeping, or carrying a bag a long distance can cause inflammation in my neck and shoulders which will cause the pain to spread throughout my body. Holding my head up is a huge chore. You will notice that I frequently prop my head up with my hand. At home, I usually sit so that my head is propped up on the couch or chair.
I have had EEGs, EKGs, MRIs, X-rays, and countless blood tests. At 18, I was told by a PA that he thought I had a brain tumor (because of recurrent migraines and dizzy spells which are both symptoms of FMS). During my pre-employment physical for Glaxo, the Dr. told me I should be on disability, not working full time. I was 22. My pregnancies were so problematic and taxing on my body that our midwife told us point blank that we should take measures to ensure that I never get pregnant again. (because I know you’ll read this, thank you Kim for being such an understanding boss when I was pregnant with Hailey!)
I write all of this not to gain your sympathy, but to gain your understanding…not just for me, but for everyone who struggles with a chronic illness. I have had to endure too many co-workers who believed I was lying when I said I was sick or unable to come to work because it hurt to move – especially since to them, I would have seemed just fine the day before. Thankfully this has not happened as much since we purchased a Sleep Number Bed (my what a difference a bed can make!). Encounters with some past co-workers have made me apprehensive about getting too close to people or opening up to people about FMS and how it affects me. I don’t want to feel the deep hurt of having my pain and fatigue being discounted by someone I trust and feel close to.
I put on a good “face”. I have gotten so good at putting on a show and smiling through the pain that I have very few people that truly understand me and what it takes for me to get through each day. The aches and pains? Think about how your muscles feel when you have the flu or when you exercise your whole body after months of not working out. The fatigue? Imagine going to bed night after night and falling asleep, but waking up feeling like you just closed your eyes. The mornings? Imagine having to be helped out of bed in the morning because you hurt so much it is difficult to even lift your head.
God truly blessed me with a husband whose mother also has FMS so he understands me like almost no one else can. God also blessed me with a mother-in-law who not only has done a ton of research on FMS, but who is also a physical therapist and can provide me with therapy when I most need it. Ed has learned some of her tricks and is able to help as well.
I have taken so, so many drugs and I worry about the long-term effects. I think I have taken every sleep drug on the market. My current drug cocktail was working until this last flare up and I hope I don’t have to adjust it. However, I did just see that a new drug (Lyrica) has been approved by the FDA for treating fibromyalgia. I can’t wait to talk to my doctor about it and see what she thinks. Many thanks for those of you that read this entire post. Thank you for stepping into my world for a few minutes.
The following is from the Lyrica website. to learn even more, visit one of the FMS sites listed on the right.
What Causes Fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia affects 2 to 4 percent of the population, according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). Scientists believe that the condition may be due to injury, emotional distress, or viruses that change the way the brain perceives pain, but the exact cause is unclear. People with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and spinal arthritis may be more likely to have the illness.
According to ACR, people with fibromyalgia can have abnormal levels of Substance P in their spinal fluid. This chemical helps transmit and amplify pain signals to and from the brain.
Researchers are looking at the role of Substance P and other neurotransmitters, and studying why people with fibromyalgia have increased sensitivity to pain and whether there is a gene or genes that make a person more likely to have it.
A Million Thanks to my family and friends who provide me with much needed support and encouragement every day! Thank you Trina for caring enough to ask about FMS last week and (without realizing it) helping me to decide to write this very personal post.
