Health Issues and Thru Hikers

I've been sleeping with the Nicoderm CQ 21mg patch on.  Today, I forgot to change it.  The current patch is probably depleted, so there is some vascular improvement in my left wrist, but for the most part, not necessarily my right, yet.  If Monday morning, I remove the patch from the night before, the patch's residue would wear off when I sweat.

The whirlpool at my gym is being rebuilt and won't be available until the middle of this month.  I'll have to rely on stretching.

Aside from the vascular issues, I still have a lower back problem.  After I do anything strenuous, like about 6 miles of weed whacking (perhaps accumulative?), I have back pains on the morning after when I get out of bed and bending over.  This was from the 54 mile mixed mode hike/bike that I did 3 years ago on The Wilderness Loop of the Buckeye Trail.  But I'm not ready to heave over and die yet.

I really haven't complained much.  But something's going on with my body and I really don't know what it is?  I keep forgetting to make a doctors appointment.

Right now, the plan is to continue Whipple's Maintenance will probably be on, or maybe after the 17th.  I have Preston H. as possibly being 33 days from The Wilderness Loop with M L trailing him by about 24 hours currently, both those numbers are give and take.  What they'll actually be depends on monitoring them.  Preston is set for his hike on the Road Fork and Whipple Sections.  I think the only thing that I'll have to do is give him the location of grocers, the bar and restaurant.  Which means that it's just about time to plan for M L's resupply if she'll need it?

Nicoderm CQ and Vascular Concerns In Hiking and Trail Maintenance

I've been wearing a 21mg Nicoderm CQ patch and have been struggling to stop smoking for the last 2 years.  Recently, I noticed that the veins in my wrist have 65 - 80% smaller than they should be. This is vague, but sometime in the last 8 years, I think that this has happened before?  And when my veins were reduced, so was my stamina.

I'm planning a 17.2mi transit hike soon.  Considering the state of my body from other more recent matters, I'm concerned about it.  But I bet that when I take that hike without a patch, my veins will be more normal.  I can tell you this, my problem is not hydration.