Category Archives: health

health, marriage

Wear Sunscreen

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POST CONTAINS A GRAPHIC IMAGE.

In December last year I (Anna) went to my annual skin check with my dermatologist. I have very fair skin and I do not tan (at all), I turn lobster red and I cannot count the times I have had nasty sunburns. A few times I have even had sunburns that would count as second degree burns. As a late teenager, I had several moles removed in Sweden and a few had precancerous changes. In the last few years I keep getting little spots of actinic keratosis especially on my face and hands and they always seem to want to biopsy one or another of my numerous moles. My appointment in December was no different. The dermatologist froze a few ak spots on my face and biopsied a mole on my left cheek. She said, she just didn’t like how it was just a little bit uneven and two different colors. Well, it turned out to be malignant melanoma. And like Rob said when I told him:”That’s not ideal”. Nope, not ideal. And I had not even noticed it myself. Oof!

Rob and I in January

Fast forward a few months, and after a consult with a Moh’s clinic, I had a Slow Moh’s procedure last week removing the melanoma. The margins were clear, thankfully, but the defect on my face measured 3.5 by 2.4 cm. I had been told there would be a sizeable scar that would fade over time. In order to cover the defect (excised hole) they had to make additional cuts and move skin up from next to and below my ear. I have an L shaped wound across my cheekbone and down by my ear. Ouch.

In the past, when I made appointments for skin checks, dermatologists always made me feel silly for going, one even said:”your odds of getting skin cancer are very low”. Well, the truth is that 1 in 5 Americans will have had skin cancer by the age of 70. And if you’re fair skinned, you are 30 times more likely to be in that group. So, get your awkward skin checks, check your skin and ask your partner or friend to check those areas you cannot check yourself. Caught early, you may have an ugly scar, but caught late, it can be fatal. Judging by the “civil war- esque” bandages in the waiting room at the clinic I would say cheek, nose, and ears would be the first places to look.

The photo below is pretty graphic, Rob took it last week when I took my bandage off for the first time. It is less swollen and raised now, and tomorrow I will get my 20 something stitches out.

Anna 2/21/25

There is a graduation speech called “Wear Sunscreen” that I have always loved, and I will include a link to it below. If there is something to be learned here, it is definitely that. WEAR SUNSCREEN!! And cover up and avoid the sun at peak hours.

goats, health

Sparrow Soaps

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We have goats so surely we make goat milk soap, right? While Anna, Quinn, and Amanda have made soap a few times, making soap and selling it at a farmer’s market or online isn’t our passion. Especially when there are so many others out there that do it in higher volume and quality. One of those soap producers is Sparrow Soaps.

Michelle Lyon and Danielle Payne own Sparrow Soaps and have used Michelle’s herd of Nigerian Dwarf goats to supply the milk used in their soap. Unfortunately, Michelle has been facing some substantial health issues over the past year and caring for the goats has become too much for her current situation. Anna and I have been following Michelle’s posts about her health and knew things weren’t going well. When we heard she was looking for places for her goats to live, we reached out to Michelle and Danielle with an idea that turned out to solve their problem.

We decided to establish a goat milk herd share at Sawyer Family Farm and through that relationship, Sparrow Soaps will be able to keep making their products! This new relationship allowed Michelle to sell her remaining goats but continue to have the business she loves and is passionate about. We are excited to be able to help them continue their journey! Check out their website to get some great personal care products.

fitness, health, hiking, hiking, marriage, random observation

Hiking at Old Furnace State Park

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Yesterday Rob and I went hiking at Old Furnace State Park in Danielson CT. I have been making an effort to go hiking more to build some fitness and get off Facebook. Winter is typically the slow season around here, but with the mild weather in the past week, I have been getting some hikes in.

We had plans to go up to Running’s in Killingly, so Old Furnace State Park was an easy detour, being located right off 395. I’ve been there before and the park features a reasonably short hour-ish hike around the pond. Neighboring Ross Pond State Park features some more trails if more mileage is wanted.

Rusty came with us of course, and took advantage of the many water options and got really wet and muddy. Good thing we have a crate in the car for him.

Rob got me a new fitness watch for Christmas, a Garmin Fenix 7S and I used it to navigate around the pond, although the markings are pretty decent. We only took one wrong turn.

The hike was 2.6 miles and took us about an hour. There is a little bit of elevation going up the trail to above the cliffs overlooking the pond. The cliffs are a popular spot for local rock climbing.

So where to go next? Thinking about a longer hike at the Sprague Land Preserve this coming weekend. With Rob also currently running the border patrol challenge courses, Rusty is in exercise heaven. Do you have New Year’s Resolutions that involve more physical activity? Go check out a State Park or nature preserve close to you!

dog, health

The Border Patrol Challenge 2024

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Friday, I skipped out of work a little early to run 13 miles on the Arcadia Trail with Rusty and my friend Ian. It was 25F and icy. The trail took us 3.5 hours to complete and we finished about 45 min after sunset. While it sounds a bit stupid, we didn’t have a choice; we are in the Border Patrol Challenge and had to get it done.

The Border Patrol Challenge is an annual running challenge that highlights various trails along the CT/RI state line. The BPC began on the Winter Solstice (Thursday, December 21 2023 at 10:27 PM EST) and ends on the Spring Equinox (Tuesday, March 19 at 11:06 PM EST). There are 20 total trails range from 1.9 miles to 26.5 miles. The total of all 20 trails is about 164 miles and 99 people signed up this year.

The way it works is, you download the gpx file for the route and go run the designated courses whenever you want within the 3 month Winter season. Once complete, you upload a link to your own file (Garmin, Strava, etc.) and your time gets ranked amongst those who have completed the course. Each course has a technical difficulty rating that combines with the distance to create an overall multiple. Using some hidden math formulas, points accumulate for each runner as they complete my courses. But the rankings are constantly changing as more people complete the courses.

I participated last year, however, I got sick multiple times and wasn’t able to make as much progress as I hoped. I love this challenge because it pushes me to try a different local trails I probably wouldn’t otherwise experience. It also creates motivation to push myself through the winter season.

My goal for this year is to complete all 20 courses; so far I have made it through 10 of them in the first month, so I’m definitely on track. The fact that days are getting longer helps. The warmer temperatures that are coming again this week are also beneficial. Considering that I was coming off no running as my ribs healed, I have been very pleased with my progress so far and I have laid out some running goals for 2024:

  1. Complete all 20 Border Patrol Challenge Trails
  2. Complete the Traprock 50k trail race in April
  3. Run at least 1000 miles in 2024
  4. Run the Twisted Branch 100k in August

Rusty loves to run with me and has completed all 10 of the trails so far. The 3.5 hours on snow and ice did a number of his paws, so he is going to be limited to shorter runs whenever we have the ground covered. If everything thaws, he can probably do all but the 26 miler. Here is a photo from another trail we recently completed that passes by this marker at the corner of MA, RI, and CT.

fitness, health, hiking, random observation, Uncategorized

Hike #1 at Hopeville Pond State Park

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One of my goals for this year is to complete 52 hikes for the year. The idea is to go for a hike somewhere new each week. Well, last week on Sunday I was going to go hiking, but then we got 4-5 inches of snow and my knee was hurting, so Rob told me there was no way I was going out. Probably a good choice.

Since I just had a total hip replacement, I can’t go that far yet, or hike major hills, so I decided our local State Park was a good choice for this afternoon’s hike. Hopeville Pond State Park is located 2.5 miles from our house at 929 Hopeville Road in Griswold(map here). There are wooded trails and flat asphalt roads, so a good choice for a gimpy middle aged woman. It is a very popular spot for dog walking, and to let little kids ride their bikes and roller skate etc. There is an 80 site campground (no hook ups), and two beaches to swim at during the summer. I decided not to swim. I drove to the parking lot at the entrance (gates are closed to traffic Dec-Mar) and walked down to the boat ramp in the campground, and then cut across on some trails back up to the main road. I was aiming for about a mile, turned out to be more like 1.3 miles, the longest I’ve walked since my hip replacement.

Planning to go on another short hike on Sunday, and maybe work with my horse (on ground work). Tomorrow we are getting more rain, so not a good day for outside activities.

It felt so good to get outside and move, now to decide where to go for my next hike. Maybe I’ll drive over to Arcadia Management Area in RI and walk around Breakheart Pond, or Green Falls, which is part of Pachaug State Forest…I feel like Green Falls may require walking poles, as it is a more technical trail with boulders, so that one may have to wait. Onwards and upwards.

fitness, health, horse, Uncategorized

Thoughts Three Weeks Past TRHR

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22 days ago I had my right hip replaced. It was outpatient. Arrived at the hospital at 5.45 am, out at 4.15 pm. I’ve suffered with reduced range of motion and pain in my hips since I was in my early 30s. Bad conformation, especially if you want to ride horses, with deep sockets and constantly hitting the side of my femur, caused severe osteoarthritis. Riding, biking, running, hiking and even sleeping was becoming increasingly more painful. This was my first one, hoping to get the other hip done next year.

I am doing ok. First few days were rough, I am not going to lie. Muscle spasms, swelling, sciatica, pain at night, not being able to lift my leg very well, being dependent on others. Not my forte. And the pain meds made me sick, and gave me a migraine.

Ten things that made my life easier for the first few days and weeks:

  1. Rob, getting up three times a night the first few days and getting me those ice packs, pain killers and making sure I didn’t kill myself getting in and out of bed (I decided I wanted to sleep in our bed, on the top floor, 13 steep steps, step stool to get in our tall king size bed). And allowing me to shower…it’s the little things.
  2. A raised toilet seat, seriously, just get one. If you’re plus size, maybe not one with side bars, my thighs barely fit and I am normally a women’s medium.
  3. Grabber pick up stick. It’s hard to reach down and it allowed me to get dressed on my own.
  4. Long shoe horn, for taking off socks and putting on/off shoes. One downstairs by the door too. Because you won’t be able to reach your feet.
  5. XL Women’s Hanes Boxer briefs. I’m a Hi cut girl normally, but ouch, they sit in the wrong spot, right over my incision! All the forums said to get men’s boxers, but these work great and don’t have a hole in the front. I had anterior approach, and these do not bother my incision. Two sizes up.
  6. Ice packs, big one for the hip and another one for my knee. Doubles are helpful.
  7. Large lounge pants, I’m normally a M, I got XL. You won’t want anything tight on your leg.
  8. A walker, for the first 4-5 days, for me, and crutches for stairs, at first. I was done with these after a week.
  9. A cane, for a walking aid after I was done with the walker. My surgeon is not a fan of using crutches instead, because crutches are to keep weight off your entire foot/leg and make you dependent on your upper body for support and the new joint needs weight bearing to heal.
  10. A sock aid, best thing ever, when you can’t reach your feet.
Treadmill screen

So, what is recovery from a total hip replacement like? I was up and walking at the hospital a few hours after my surgery, using a walker. Physical therapy was started a week after surgery and I’ve been to my first post op appt. My surface stitches were taken out and I was cleared to drive short distances. The new hip was x-rayed and looks good so far. As far as muscles go, my hip flexors and adductors are super tight, still, from so many years of restricted use and may need additional intervention and it is so hard to be patient. My abductors are all weak. I am not supposed to cross my legs yet and have some stretching/twisting/lifting limitations, so I don’t dislocate the joint. Inside the house I am walking without an aid, unless I have pain and I walk with a cane outside for stability, although I am not always using it now. As far as exercise goes, I’m biking on my new recumbent bike twice a day for 15 minutes and I’ve been walking on the treadmill for about 20 minutes as well as walking some outside and going on short shopping trips. I have PT exercises I am working on after my biking and walking 2-3 times a day. Tylenol and Motrin are the only pain medications I am taking as needed, Vicaden was given to me for the first few days, but made me so sick I stopped taking it. I had a similar experience with Percuset after my c-sections, so not really surprised.

My recumbent bike

After 6 weeks I will be allowed to do more things and, stretching and exercise wise, push myself harder. Right now there is still swelling and angry, short muscles. My TFL(tensor fascae latae) was cut, and will need to heal, I have a 5-6 inch incision over my hip and an additional small area where the robotic cameras were placed. My right knee is angry where the IT band attaches and in general when I overdo my walking. My legs feel slightly uneven, the right leg is slightly longer. I was told my body will adjust. 12 weeks is the big mile stone, which is when I may or may not be allowed back on a horse. And do yoga, and twist, and possibly lift hay bales again. We’ll see. Current goal is getting on and off the floor without feeling like I’m popping my incision open, so there’s that.

Amira and I in 2022 (photo by Wanda Clowater)

I’m looking forward to being able to get back to riding and working on the farm. Goat kids will start arriving in late February. Onwards, and upwards. One step at a time. Quite literally…

endurance, health, horse, kids, Uncategorized

Winter riding

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This afternoon Alex and Amanda went out into Pachaug for a trail ride. Alex rode Mojo and Amanda rode JJ. Alex is in the middle of finals still, but we all know he doesn’t ever study, so… They did some trotting and the report I got from Alex is “he feels sound”. Mojo spent two months or so slightly off after the Pine tree endurance ride. We did a lameness exam, x-rays and appropriate blocks along with ultrasound and concluded that Mojo’s pastern angles were unfavorable and he had some caudal heel pain going on. Whether it was an injury to the insertion point of the DDFT, pain from the navicular bursa, or slight arthritis starting between P2 and P3, we are not sure, but we decided not to do a standing MRI to find out more, as the treatment was the same for all three. Mojo was trimmed more aggressively at the toe and put into shoes with a wedge to give him relief from the pain he was having and change the angle of his pastern bones. After a few weeks his soundness was definitely improved; it’s been almost 10 weeks now and he looks pretty good.

Amanda has ridden JJ now both in the arena and on trail. When I’ve been working in the arena with Gamble, she has ridden JJ walk/trot and over poles (and a little canter, but JJ is still out of shape and weak behind). JJ is pretty chill riding wise, but gets nervous when tied up for tacking, especially if out of view of her herd. I believe consistency and patience will cure this, just like it has with Fiona.

Amanda and Alex rode 4 miles up to the farmhouse on Lee Rd and back and had no major issues.

Meanwhile, at the house, Quinn tacked up Fiona and worked with her in the arena. Quinn designed and sewed a winter riding skirt and plans to use it while riding Fiona this winter. Fiona can be a bit reactive to flappy things so it is a work in progress, but the skirt is working out so far. Dad helped her get on safely today. The skirt is made out of a waterproof fleece lined material, with a real wool filling and fancy lining fabric. There is a zipper on the back and a little flap preventing your bum from getting wet when open. There is a two way zipper in the front and there are snaps in the front snapping the sides up for mounting. Quinn also has straps that snap around the leg to keep the skirt from sliding off your leg when moving faster. Quinn chose this design over a full circle skirt due to weight and bulk. It is also easier for chores than a full circle skirt.

For those that do not know, I had a total right hip replacement surgery on Wednesday this week. It has been a long time coming. I was told it was inevitable in 2017 and probably wouldn’t make it through the winter in 2021. My sockets are deep and over time hitting the femur repeatedly on the edge, running, riding, biking, any lateral movement really, creating bone spurs, wearing out the cartilage and tearing my labrum repeatedly has created “severe osteoarthritis”. My hip balls were no longer round and my range of motion was very limited. So, it was time.

I am doing ok. The surgery was at 7:30 Wednesday morning and I was discharged at 4:15 that afternoon. I am walking around with a walker or cane for safety and have been outside walking for 2 days now. I am starting PT next week and will likely do the other hip next year. No riding for 12 weeks. The hardest part so far is lifting my leg up due to weakness in my quads and pain from the incision site.

Amira is having a Prostride injection into her tendon sheath injury from August to hopefully reduce it’s appearance (though she is not lame) so we can rehab together.

dog, fitness, health, marriage

Hiking in Pachaug State Forest

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Last night when Rob got home from work, we went for a walk in the forest. Our property directly borders Pachaug State Forest, Connecticut’s largest state forest. We walk out of our horse barn and are in the state forest in 20 yards. It is my absolute favorite thing about our house. Rusty loves the forest too!

Rusty in the creek just behind our house

There is something special and relaxing about hiking. I find it resets my inner peace. This time of year, the earthly smells of leaves and water, ground me like nothing else really does. Maybe the Japanese are right about that forest bathing thing…Exercise and nature fill up my bucket.

The blue trail is flooded by Heron Marsh due to beavers. Rusty was wondering why we wanted to go around.

We didn’t hike for very long, we walked for about 2 miles. The sun was setting and Rob is still recovering from his accident. He took a few running steps and said: “Not yet”. Yes, I agree. Not yet. Patience is a virtue.

Sun setting over Heron Marsh

We walked over to the “water fall”, which is a popular destination for our kids when they hike or run in the forest and we contemplated new better ways to connect to the Yellow CT Horse Council trail without having to go out to the main gravel road first. Maybe this is a good project for Rob’s recovery this winter. We had found an overgrown forest path several years ago, but never finished clearing it.

As we came down the path to the house, the kids texted that goat chores were done. The light was fading and the view of the sunset across the road was, as always, spectacular.

The view from our drive way
endurance, health, horse, kids

Run and Ride

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This morning I ran the Griswold Sunflower 6k road race at Buttonwoods Farm.  At only 2.5 miles from the house, it doesn’t get much more local than that.  Before I talk about the results, I want to give an update from my May post “Primal Diet and Fitness“.  If you didn’t read it, or don’t remember it, please go back and take a look.  It has been almost 3 months since that post.  I have continued to follow the Primal diet and training approach for endurance sports.  My weight loss steadied out with my new weight at 164 lbs; I lost 21 lbs.  I may still lose a little more, but I feel great and I definitely feel that I have found a sustainable eating plan.  On the training front, I have continued to limit my heart rate to 140 bpm in my marathon run training.  I am not worried about a specific speed goal.  On Thursday of this week, I did 16 miles in 3:00.  It was my longest run to date and my heart rate did creep up in the heat.  However, I wasn’t crippled from the run and recovered quickly.

With my focus on distance, I haven’t done any speed work at all.  In fact, a sprint triathlon in June is the only other time I have truly tested my speed in the past 4 months.  So today’s 6k race was a little bit of a question mark in my mind; I really didn’t know what kind of pace I could sustain.

It turns out, I was able to run the race in 26:21 for a 7:04 min/mile pace.  That was good enough for 18th out of 566 runners and 3rd (out of 30) in the men’s 40-49 age group.  I can live with that!

After I came home and had some breakfast (I don’t eat before running), we loaded up the trailer with 5 horses and headed to Arcadia in RI.  Today I rode Mojo, Anna rode Dakota, Vicki rode Duchess, Alex rode Teddy, and Amanda rode Huey.  This was a switch up ride for Alex and Anna to test out some things and the first time we have taken Duchess out for a trail ride at a different location.  All the horses behaved for the most part.  Mojo won the “Most Typical Arab” award for his spook at a butterfly flying across the trail.  We didn’t ride too hard and did 10.5 miles in 2:30.  When we got home, it was time to put some steaks on the grill and call it a day.  The weather was great and we made the most of it.

health, Trimming Blog

Lyme in people and horses

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As we are all aware, Lyme disease is a way too common in our area.  Some friends who live farther away may not realize the disease is actually named for Lyme, CT, where the disease was first diagnosed in 1982 (about 25 miles from our house.  In fact, the disease was diagnosed at Subase New London (according to a display I saw on base).  While some still believe Lyme is a temporary illness that is gone after a simple round of antibiotics, I am not one of them.  I truly believe based on my experience and observation that Lyme, while occasionally short-lived, is frequently a life long problem once contracted.  I want to share a few quick things just in case it might help someone dealing with Lyme.  I’m not a doctor and I’m not a vet.  These are just my thoughts and experience, so take it or leave it.

First, even if you had a negative Lyme test or never saw a bullseye rash, that doesn’t mean you are not dealing with Lyme.  The estimates vary dramatically, but there is general agreement that the Lyme tests are not perfect and false negatives are not uncommon.    In our family, Anna has had Lyme for years, Amanda was born with it (possibly got it in-utero from Anna), and I now believe many of the symptoms I thought were related to my concussion in 2013 (migraines and memory problems in particular) were actually Lyme related, even though I tested negative for all tick-born diseases.
Symptoms that might be an indicator you are dealing with undiagnosed Lyme in your horse:
unexplained, and inconsistent lameness
lethargy
stiffness resembling arthritis
hypersensitivity to touch
Unexplained muscle loss, especially along the topline
general poor performance (more apparent as a reduction in performance in competitive horses)
For people, symptoms may include, but certainly not limited to:
bullseye rash
lack of energy
flu-like symptoms
persistent headaches
memory loss or degradation
swelling and joint pain (similar to arthritis)
numbness of hands and feet
I listen to podcasts from The Horse Radio Network and the founder, Glenn, shared his story about Lyme a couple of years ago.  That got me to start noticing a lot more about Lyme.  Recently, they did a revisit to the topic.  If you are still interested in what I have written so far, I HIGHLY recommend you take the time to listen to this single podcast.
There are some alternative treatments that don’t require large doses of antibiotics, which is sort of the point of this post.
Dr. Tobin is a holistic vet that has done some extensive research on Lyme, and specifically has identified Ledum as a treatment that is effective in animals and humans.  Now, I will say this is not something we have used yet on our own farm, however, I have a friend who used it on her horses that had chronic Lyme, and had been through multiple rounds of Doxycycline without success.  She tried Ledum and saw a dramatic improvement in her horse in under 48 hours.  Here is a link to the article from Dr. Tobin and more information about Ledum.  Check our the entire website for some interesting alternative views to traditional medicine.
For people, we were turned on to Silver Biotics by a friend.  We have used Silver Biotics, purchased via Amazon and noticed subtle results.  The Silver Biotics aid your immune system by killing the spirochetes of Lyme.  It’s not ucommon to feel a little worse initially as the spirochetes die off.  The changes were actually more apparent when the Silver Biotics were stopped. For me, I had some chiropractic adjustments to my neck at the same time I was taking the Silver Biotics.  My migraines ended and my memory challenges faded away.  However, after not taking the Silver Biotics for almost 2 months, the memory lapses returned.  For Anna, the joint pain and stiffness seemed to lessen when taking the Silver Biotics, but returned when she stopped.  Now, this is far from definitive evidence, but the silver is not very expensive (the dose is only 1tsp 1-3 times a day, and we just take 1 dose at breakfast) and has been helpful to both of us. Care needs to be taken not to overdose on silver as it can turn your skin permanently blue. It is also toxic in large quantities.
There are many other alternative treatments for Lyme disease.  It’s not about the right answer, but rather what works for you.  I encourage everyone to keep an open mind and be willing to learn.  If you have other treatments that have worked, please leave a comment below!