The D&L Blog

By Miranda Alvarez, Community Engagement Manager

Just last year, Jayne Hartzog stared major abdominal surgery in the face. Overwhelmed by health complications and an unsure road to recovery, she leaped at the chance to complete the Get Your Tail on the Trail 30/30 Challenge. Just two days after surgery, the hospital corridors became her walking trails.

An active member at her gym, Jayne always makes health and wellness a priority. Before retiring, she was the kind of person who convinced her coworkers to use their lunch break for mid-afternoon walks. When she got the news that she would need surgery, she was left confused.

“I’d never had surgery” said Jayne. “I thought I was doing good things for my body.”

Winter Challenge & Recovery

Luckily for Jayne, the winter challenge coincided with her recovery. Her doctor encouraged her to get out of the hospital bed after her procedure. Little did the doctor know, Jayne would slowly but surely rack up miles on her hospital floor.

Jayne’s friends were nothing less than encouraging. But living on her own, each day was a battle. The challenge provided much needed day to day motivation to increase her acitivity, daily.

“I didn’t have someone at home pushing me to get active,” said Jayne. “The program helped me say ‘I can do another mile for this’.”

Before leaving the hospital, Jayne was walking anywhere from one to three miles on her hospital floor. Even more impressively, her first weekend back home, she logged a five-mile outdoor walk.

There’s no secret to Jayne’s completion of the 2019 winter challenge, other than a commitment to her own health. She paired that commitment with small daily efforts and knocked the challenge out of the park.

A year later

Today, Jayne is back at her gym and regularly gets outdoors in her home of Lehigh County. No longer walking circles around the nurse’s station, she’s getting out for walks with her friends. Thankfully, there aren’t any more surgeries in Jayne’s near future. Regardless, she hopes to continue to log miles. This time, she’s logging them with a little more swing her step.