Summer

This is by far my favorite time of the year. I love lying out, reading a book, walking the dog (my brother's dog, mine passed away two years ago,) or doing anything that involves being outside in the warm summer sun. I love the hot summer sun, and it doesn't matter how hot or humid if you ask me! When people complain about the heat (and today it was 100 degrees) I ask if they would prefer negative temperatures, ice and snow? Most people agree with me and welcome the heat. How do you stay warm in the winter? You either stay inside and turn the heat on, or get in your car and turn the heat on. How do you stay cool in the summer? You can stay inside with the AC or a fan, you can get your car and turn on the AC, you can go swimming in a pool or at the beach, you can go to a water park, running through the sprinkler, have a water balloon fight, or even a squirt gun fight. And another good thing about summer is that it cools down at night, nighttime during the winter gets colder!

Physically, I have trouble with the heat and the cold. During the summer, with the AC blowing inside I have no choice but to go outside and sit in the sun so that I can warm up my body temperature enough to be able to handle the cooler temperatures inside. I have a terrible time warming up once I become cool or cold. Because of my spinal cord injury I do not sweat. This prevents my body from cooling down on its own. Therefore, If I am in the sun too long on a hot day I can overheat because my body temperature keeps rising. The only way to keep my temperature from rising is to stay in the shade. That doesn't work for me because I enjoy sunning myself too much! The only way to bring my temperature down is to drink lots of cold fluids, sit in front of a fan, wet my face and head so that I can stimulate sweating, and if it comes to it I'll need to dump cold water on my head or submerge my head in a cold shower. If I'm not careful I can get heat exhaustion, it's happened before and it's no fun!

When I am exposed to cold temperatures during the winter I have to worry about my legs. Because I can't get up and walk, the circulation in my legs is compromised so I don't get enough blood to in them to warm them up. If I were walking my heart rate would speed up, increasing blood flow to my legs, and using the muscles in my legs to walk would naturally warm them up. When my legs get cold I can't "feel it" but my body can and that is enough to make my whole body feel chilled. Unfortunately the only way for me to warm up is to put my legs in front of the heat source like a fire or a heater. This is dangerous though because I can't really feel if my legs are getting too hot or even if they are getting burnt. Plus, I don't have a fireplace or a heater at my house. That leaves the only alternative for getting warm being a shower and hot water. If I am constantly cold all winter am I supposed to shower three times of day to stay warm? It's just not going to happen. So when I do get cold sometimes I have to wear a wool hat inside to keep from shivering. I get relief when I go to bed and pull the covers over my head. This keeps my head warm and helps to regulate my core body temperature (you lose most of your heat or your head.) Then we pile a couple of extra blankets on my legs, it takes a couple of hours but eventually they warm-up.

I am very grateful for the warmth that our short summer months bring us!