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Steps and More Steps, Do You Track Yours?
On my recent trip to Washington, DC, to represent the nonprofit, The Lambert-Eaton LEMS Family Association, I suffered from extreme fatigue and LEMS hip weakness. It’s expected that on trips such as this, one’s activity level would be higher than normal. One way to measure this is with steps taken in a day. In 2016, while in Manhattan doing photography, I put in 17,000 steps in one day. As I recall, other than some normal fatigue, I slept well that night and recovered nicely. This was not the case on my DC trip.
The most recognized goal for fitness is 10,000 steps a day. As my LEMS got worse and I got the diagnosis, those 10,00 steps have rarely been a realistic goal for me. This summer it was too hot and the heat had a significant impact on my LEMS and I did much less walking.
In the last two months, I’ve had a knee injury, again limiting my longer walks. My recent daily step count ranges from 4,000-6,000 a day. That’s pretty typical for me. The trip to Washington for the NORD Summit was atypical. Did it affect my LEMS? Yes.
On my arrival day you can see in the graph I walked 10,764 steps, well above my average. Add in the stress of travel and standing much more than normal, and the elevated LEMS weakness is understandable.
On the second and last day of the event I walked 13,084 steps, the highest of the trip and well above my usual.
When you’re on a special trip, special opportunities often present themselves. This day a LEMS friend who had never seen Washington, DC, before joined me for a nighttime bus tour of the Mall and monuments. It was a fantastic opportunity, but also came with lots of walking. The good news for me, it was very chilly that evening, and my hips felt the best they had all trip. Had it been a hot summer day, I doubt the result would have been the same.
Do you track your steps? Do you make correlations between your steps and activity and how it affects your Lambert-Eaton symptoms?
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