Throwing up

In the shower is never a fun time.  Just incase you were wondering!  

I'm still going to try

My half marathon training was supposed to start on Monday.  My surgery was yesterday, and I was told about 2 weeks for everything to be settled down.  I can't shower until tomorrow, I can't take a bath for 10 days.  I can walk though any time.  I'm thinking that I can pull off the half training even if I start into it 4 weeks late.  I will just take it slow and build up from there.  I'm not going to give up.  I'm going to give it my all, but I certainly won't kill myself to do it.  If I can, great, if not, I'll find another one.  I just have so much renewed hope this week after something finally went my way.  Not that I like having an illness that isn't curable, but it's something that can be treated.  It can be lived with.  I have been living with it for this long, why not get on with my life?  

Recovery

Recovery is going well.  I'm wide awake and I didn't sleep much last night.  My feet continue to feel warm instead of the painful cold they would carry on all day.  I look massively pregnant, but that's just the swelling.  B and I have both noticed a great change for the better in my attitude, personality, and general being.  He said he's close to having me back.  We had a lot of conversations that included us both saying how much we missed me being me.  It's amazing how not feeling well takes it's toll on everyone around you.  I was to the point that I was complaining hourly about everything that was wrong.  It just consumed my life.  I stopped blogging about it so I wouldn't look like a hypochondriac.  I wanted to look as normal as I could possibly be.  Nobody likes hearing about the one that is always sick.  I didn't want that label.  I laid it all on B, and he's been there for me every step of the way.  I wouldn't trade him for all of the money in the world. 

With all of this being said, I'm starting to ramble again.  It's a combination of finally feeling better, having answers, and good drugs!  I hope that everyone is having a fantastic day... Maybe you can hit the gym or the road for me???  LOL

Sorry I've been MIA

I have a good reason.  Unfortunately, I do not know how my half marathon is going to happen this year.  I just got home from the hospital for a diagnostic laparoscopy.  It has been confirmed that I have endometriosis.  I feel like I've been down and out forever, but this really answers the questions I've had about the fatigue I've dealt with in the past years and months.  The doctor cauterized what he found and said that was most likely the cause of my pelvic and back pain.  This is a bittersweet moment for me because I've been in a lot of growing pain with some swelling in places that shouldn't swell.  It was to the point that I was sleeping with an ice pack between my legs, and sitting with a heating pad on my back all day.  Running did help me feel better, but as the past 2 weeks went on, it was debilitating to my every day life.  Everything became a chore.  I felt terrible for B because I felt like I was constantly complaining.  I had received a diagnosis of IBS from a GI doctor who had seen me for the first time.  I felt like everyone was just trying to take their best guess.  Needless to say, I never went back to him!

*Edited to add the picture.  You can see how swollen my belly is and if you look close enough (the lighting sucks)  you can see the bruising below my belly button. *

This just proves the point that we all need to take care of our own health.  We know our bodies best, and we know when something isn't right.  People would try to tell me that it was all in my head.  I was getting to the point that I was starting to think that as well.  I kept reassuring myself that the swelling wasn't in my head, and it certainly wasn't in B's.  The back pain wasn't in my head.  I was in a lot of pain after walking around the grocery store for 45 minutes.  I knew by the way I wasn't able to stay awake past 8 on most nights.  There were nights where I couldn't fall asleep because of the pain.   Work was becoming more and more of a nightmare and I was becoming a person I didn't like.  I'm hoping this is all past me now.  I kept telling B that I was afraid that people would think I was a hypochondriac.  Something that isn't fun to be labeled.  

I'm hoping this won't sideline me for long.  I don't think I will be able to run for about 2 weeks.  Then I'll start getting back into it.   I hated that I didn't look forward to running, and I skipped it more than I ever have before.  I'm thankful that I have a great support system of caring friends and a wonderful man.   Everyone's well wishes in the blogging community meant the world to me when I wasn't sure what was going on.  I'm so happy to have a diagnosis and a plan for the future.  I will blog through out my recovery and once I get back into running.  I'm really looking forward to that day!  I just hope that if people are going through the same things with doctors as I did that they read this and find some hope.  It doesn't help to give up.  Just keep pushing because you are your best judge of how you feel.  Don't let anyone stop you from getting the answers you need.  

I will stop here.  I start to ramble when I am on the pain meds!  My aunt just dropped off Nora, and I'm going to go spend some more time with B.  Who, by the way is completely awesome.  He didn't eat all morning until after I went into surgery because I couldn't eat.  That's true love if you ask me!   I hope everyone is having a great night, and I will update you all tomorrow!  

Happy Valentines Day!

How about a nice run?  I would, but I'm still sore from yesterdays awesome 4 miler.  I just kept going and going.  It was cold for the first few minutes, but after I got out of the wind, it was perfect.  I can't wait for the nicer weather to set back in for good.  

I just dropped cookies and milk off to both stations for V-Day.  I took B's car and then my car for oil changes and picked up some new shampoo.  I just finished making chocolate covered strawberries for B.  I hope he enjoys them.  I watched a ton of men buy the obligatory flowers from the grocery store this morning.  I just laughed at each and every one of them.  Brian took a half day off and will be home at 8.  That's all that I need.  Just one extra night to sleep next to him.  That's all that matters!  Tomorrow we are going for a road trip out east just to get out.  

Monday it's back to running at work full force.  My half marathon training starts next week and I'm looking forward to it.  I just can't wait to have that goal to shoot for.  It's going to be an awesome adventure for sure!  

With all of that being said.  I hope everyone has a great day.  I'm going to go and cuddle with my special pup and shower her with extra love (if that is even possible!).  

It was beautiful

The weather was perfect.  In february, I was running in capri's and a sleeveless top.  My running buddy from work came with me, and even left me in the dust a little bit.  I started to fall out in the last mile of the run.  I was actually looking for a soft place to crash with out too much garbage or glass.  I managed to make it back even though I was about 100-200 feet behind my co-worker at all times.  I'm so glad I didn't lose it because she would've never known that I was down.  It was a long recovery for me today, but I finally came around and finished off the day at work.  

Last night B and I went for a walk together so we could burn some energy off.  I also have been chewing gum like it's my job lately for no good reason.  So with that in mind, we walked down to Rite-Aid so I could get my fix of rubbery goodness.  We made it a few houses down and heard a gurgling sound.  He called the station to tell them that he thought there was a water leak from the hydrant.  The fire department came to check it out and called him back to say that it wasn't a water leak, but a gas leak.  We were kind of shocked because it sounded like running water.  That's a big leak.  Of course, we didn't realize until the way back that he was smoking a cigar the whole time we were looking around trying to figure it out.  Then as we neared the house again, we could then smell the gas.  It wasn't too long ago that there was a house explosion about 9 miles away from my house and I heard it from the very room that I'm sitting in now.  I walked out in the living room to see if he heard the noise and he said no.  Then we heard that there was a house explosion down the street from my best friend's house.  I was so thankful that we went for a walk last night and found that before it was discovered the hard way.  

I'm home alone tonight so I'm catching up on some laundry and dishes before the wind knocks out our power.  It must go off at least 2-3 times a month.  I guess the gorgeous weather has to end sometime before returning to our nasty Old Man Winter.  I was so getting used to the idea of not wearing a coat.  I'm really looking forward to the spring because it feels so damn good to get out there and run.  I love that feeling of accomplishment it brings me.  Plus, in the spring, our showers are hot again!  

Ok.  I'm starting to ramble and I should stop.  I have a ton of blogs to catch up on and a dog to make potty soon.  I'm crossing my fingers for another full night of sleep.  Here's hoping!

It took a little while

This is what I had to deal with while running.  What should've been an easy 30-40 minutes turned into something like an hour.  I know.  I have no control over this dog when it comes to stopping and sniffing things.  The bonus part about yesterdays run was that I got to stop and see B on my way back.  Granted, it was only for a few minutes, and I wasn't able to hug him, but it was still way awesome!   I won't be able to run at work today because, well, I have a stupid meeting.  That's ok, I don't want to shower in their freezing cold showers anyway!  It's going to be a fabulous 55+ degrees for the next two days.  I can't wait to enjoy it!  

 

Stay tuned

I have 6 days of beautiful above freezing temperature days ahead of me.  You know exactly what that means.... A LOT OF POSTS!  I'll be back with a full report tomorrow!  

Until then, I'll be freezing my ass off on another long drive to work and home! 

AAAAAAAAHHH!

We had a heat wave, and I took full advantage of it.  B joined me for a lovely jaunt around the 1.5 mile route.  It really was only painful at the very beginning as I realized that most of my conditioning had left me, and at the end when we were coming up the hill.  Other than that, I want to jump and scream because it felt so good.  I feel completely awesome right now as I sit and recover.  I have that awesome feeling of accomplishment reigning over me.  I'm so super excited to start training for my half marathon.  I just hope the weather continues to agree with me.  Tomorrow is supposed to be above freezing too, so I plan to run at work.   

In other news, B and I are officially taking a weekend trip to Canada.  We figured out last night that with his Kelly day, and me taking a half day, that we can make a trip up there and stay 2 nights.  I'm soooo excited.  The daily stress of life has really taken it's toll on me.  I guess it's been worse since I haven't had running to take it out on lately.  On the calendar that is on the fridge I wrote "YAY" on each day that we will be gone.  I know, I'm lame, but I'm oh so excited!  The other part about this is that I will have to do cross training on the Saturday since it is during my half training.  I may even run when we are up there since I have a 4 or 5 mile run on Sunday.  I'm so excited.  Maybe we can stop off in NY somewhere and find a park to run in.  YAY!    Ok.  Can you tell that I am feeling super good right now?  This is why I love running.  It's infectious!