18 Miles - Down

Today I ran the longest long run of my life.  18 miles.  Wow.  Who would have thunk it.

Travis and I hit the trail late this morning and it took forever but we got it done.  I really didn't feel too bad.  Travis cramped up pretty bad and could hardly walk for a few hours after we finished.  We didn't set ourselves up very well....we didn't eat anything before we started even though it was almost lunch time.  We took some Chomps with us but that probably wasn't enough.

My sister and family watched Sam for us while we ran.  Having family around is so awesome.

We are kicking back now watching a little football after running to Jimmy John's for a sandwich.  I've been eating really well lately, mostly organic and such but JJ is a treat for us and always tastes great after a long run!

Sam Update:  I was out of town for 4 days and when I picked her up from daycare yesterday afternoon I swear she looked like she had changed.  They grow so stinking fast it is unbelievable.  This morning she wanted to color so I put her in her highchair, got out some crayons and a coloring book and let her go to town.  She scribbled allover her tray as well (no biggie - it washes off) and took a small bite or two out of the colors but she had fun.

This weekend we were supposed to go to the zoo for trick or treating.  I bought Sam a Tinkerbell costume this week along with some really cute jellies.  Well, we ended up not going.  My sister & her family and my mom didn't come to town because mom is still not feeling well.  She has a cough now.  I talked them into going to the doctor yesterday morning and her WBC count is really low (something like 800 if that makes any sense) and they could hear some wheezing and rattling in one of her lungs.  She has no fever but I'm wondering if her body will even let her get a fever since her count is so low.  They gave her some antibiotics and said if she gets a fever or starts coughing up greenish or yellow stuff she needs to call them.  My sister said she sounded better today - it appears the wheezing may be dissipating.  Please keep her in your prayers.

Well, I have to go, I need to kick my feet up and watch a little football before we hit the sack.  My Huskers won today so all is good.

Goodnight!

Why does the baby always get sick when one of us is traveling

I'm on my first work related trip in years.  I am also not home to rock my 16 month old baby girl to sleep for the first time since the day she was born.  I'm doing OK.  I miss her and my incredibly awesome hubby like crazy but I'm managing.  I talked to her on the phone last night.  I said "Hi, baby" and I swear she said "Hi, baby" right back.  It was so cute. 

All isn't rosy with her though.  She has come down with a bug of some sort.  Daycare called yesterday at noon and Travis had to go pick her up.  She has a slight fever and seems a little tired but other than that she seems OK.  She got her 15 month vaccinations last Friday so I wonder if she is having a reaction to one of them.  I think the MMR shot often has a delayed reaction.  I really want to drive home right now but I can't.  My older sister is taking care of her today & hopefully she can go back to day care tomorrow.  I can't wait to see her and Travis tomorrow night.

Mom update:  She did complete her A/C chemo last Thursday.  She hasn't been feeling well this week though.  She thinks she is fighting a little bit of a cold (my niece and nephew have both had fevers lately and she lives with them).  Yesterday she felt good enough to go out for breakfast with a friend but ate some greasier food and she said her tummy hasn't felt very good since then.  Hopefully she gets better quickly.

Goofy training has been going pretty well.  I have not done this much running in my life but since I haven't run a marathon before I guess that is to be expected.  I just wish I ran a little faster so it didn't take me so long to do my runs.  Oh well, I know I'm not fast and never will be so that is what I get when adding on the miles.  This weekend is my first 18 mile long run.  I'm looking forward to it.  Saturday is going to fly by....18 mile run in the morning, Nebraska football game on TV in the afternoon and a trip to the zoo for trick or treating in the late afternoon/early evening.  My mom, sister & family are planning on coming over too.  I'm going to be beat by Sunday morning!

Gotta run.....the Mall of America is calling my name!

This one will bring tears to your eyes

I do not think I have posted the link to Baby Khloe Sassman's story on here yet.  She is from a town near me and some of my work friends know her family. Read the journal when you have some time....it is a long story brimming with amazing faith and love.  I think it will touch your heart!    www.caringbridge.org/visit/khloesassman/journal

Mom is done with A/C Chemo

Mom finished her 8 week course of A/C Chemo today.  She has done great.  I have been super paranoid that she was going to get sick & still am.  I want to put her in a bubble but I know you can't do that.  She needs to live her life and get out when she feels she needs to.

She still isn't working and I'm getting a little nervous that she will eventually lose her job and her benefits.  I'm not sure what we would do then.  She was working part time as an LPN.  Right now she just doesn't have the energy to care for patients.  She can last an hour or two before she needs some rest.  That just doesn't work in the nursing environment.  She has a little chemo brain going on as well but not really too bad.  Her WBC count has been low at least once and it was then that she was thinking about going back to work.  The doctor put the kibosh on that quickly.  She has applied for SS - Disability and possibly early retirement.  Does anyone know how health insurance works if you are on Social Security/Disability? 

Sam & I visited her this weekend while Travis headed to help his dad with harvest.  We went to the pumpkin farm with mom, my sister & her family.  We got to celebrate my nephew's birthday too.  It was a great weekend.  The weather was perfect.  I'm including some pictures from the weekend in this post.

Now on to marathon (to be more accurate "Goofy" training).  Last week looked like this.  Monday - 3 miles at 5-10K pace, Tuesday 3 miles, Wednesday - 5 miles, Thursday - off, Friday - 3 miles, Saturday - 15 miles (which I did on the treadmill in my sister's basement.  Thank goodness for college football even though the Michigan vs. Michigan State game wasn't that great).  I felt pretty good all week.  The program I am following has you running really long every other weekend.  For some reason I feel really drained the week after the long run.  I think I'm still working hard to build endurance.  Next weekend is an 18 mile long run.  I've never even seriously thought about running that far.  WOW! 

I can't wait to get to Disney in January.  We are going to have such a great time.  The runs will be fun and then we are going to relax.  I'm not going to let anything bother me.

In my last post I mentioned that I had bought a few books.  I've been reading Master Your Metabolism and Anti Cancer and it is surprising to me how much they support each other in their teaching.  I may be a sucker but I am gradually buying into their philosophy....implementing it is hard though.  I crave sugar.  I don't know why but I do.  I really shouldn't because I eat a lot of fruit and you would think that would curb my craving for candy but for some reason it doesn't.  Sugar is one of the things both books say to avoid.  I'm a work in progress. 

I Bought Two New Books Today - I never buy books!

I went to Barnes & Noble this afternoon with my sister and actually bought two books - wait, I bought three books!  I've been a library goer and anti book buying for years now so this really is monumental day for me.  I bought Jillian Michaels - Master Your Metabolism, David Servan-Schreiber - AntiCancer a New Way of Life and I bought "Just Like Daddy" - a kid's book about a border collie and his puppy.  I bought the last one for my hubby.  Our soon to be 14 year old dog is a border collie and we love her so much!  I had never seen a kid book with a border collie in it so I had to buy it!

Regarding the other books, I'm trying to figure out why in the world so many people are getting cancer.  I also wanted something I could give my mom that would help her try and take some control over her body in this fight she is in with this ugly disease.  I read bits and pieces of AntiCancer on Amazon and decided it was worth shelling out some bucks to purchase it.  I'll let you know what I think as I make my way through it.  As for the Jillian Michaels book, it just intrigues me and I was in the buying mood so it now lives at my house.

Mom had a CBC done on Friday as she was on the schedule to return to work on Monday.  Needless to say she won't be performing her nursing job on Monday as her WBC count was low.  I also came down with a sore throat on Thursday and Sam had a bit of a snotty nose.  We were planning on going over to see her but I called and talked to her nurse and she advised we postpone our visit.  I'm so scared I'm going to make her sick.  Will I ever get over that?  We'll see if she is good to go for her next round of chemo on Thursday.

Training for the Goofy is coming along.  Saturday was a 12 miler which I ended up running on the treadmill at the Y.  ICK!  It was raining and about 52 degrees out.  Travis ran the whole thing outside but I'm not that tough.  I think we do 14 next Saturday.  I got some new shoes about a week ago and I can really tell the difference.  My legs feel so much better now. 

Quick Sam update, she really started walking this week and she is everywhere.  It is amazing how quickly they go from just a few steps to full speed non stop all throughout the house!  I like that I don't have to carry her everywhere and she seems to have stopped shoveling every little speck of dirt she sees on the floor into her mouth so that is nice as well.  She has started throwing a little temper tantrum or two though.  She will just lay down on the floor and kick her legs.  I try not to laugh but it is rather funny to watch.

I have a Habitat for Humanity build tomorrow so I get one more day of not doing my day job - gotta love that!  I think I'll be doing some interior painting which should be fun.

Fall is Awesome

I love this time of year! The crisp mornings, low humidity, leaves turning colors, everything about it is great except one thing.....it means winter is coming! :-(

Marathon training is going ok. I was sick for about a week and a half. I finally went to the doctor after a week of horrible sinus issues and a productive cough. He told me I had bronchitis and sent me home with an antibiotic. 24 hours later I was feeling 100% better & today for the first time in 2 weeks I didn't need to blow my nose thousands of times a day. One health related remotely disgusting fact to share....towards the tail end of the illness I was blowing out Tang colored snot. That is disgusting!

I did my second tri of the season the last weekend of August. I didn't do as well as I did in the July race but I still finished 6th out of 31 in my age group which isn't too bad. My run was horrible though and I killed myself on the bike course. For some reason I refused to shift into my smaller chain ring until the third and final lap. If I would have done so during the first lap I would have finished the bike quicker and probably saved my legs for the run. One of the really frustrating things was that I could not find my spot when I came into T2. Seriously, I spent an extra minute just trying to find my spot on the rack. My sister-in-law joined us in the race and completed her first tri. Nice job Kris.

Sam is doing great. I should take her in for a weight check. Something tells me she is nudging her way up on the the weight percentile charts. She is eating everything in sight and feels like she is packing on the pounds. She is talking more and says "hi, bye, mama, dada, puppy, and her newest thing is no-no". The no-no comes complete with the index finger wagging. The first time she did it was after I told her "no biting". We have never said no-no and wagged a finger at her though. She must have picked this up from daycare. It was hilarious. I managed to get a video of it and posted it on FaceBook.
My mom is doing good. She had her second chemo treatment today. The first one wasn't too bad. She had a little bit of a queasy stomach but never threw up. She had her first round on a Thursday as well and she felt ok that day, pretty good the next day, totally wiped out Saturday and then gradually started to gain back some energy. We expect the same this time around. She gets a shot the day after chemo to help keep her white blood cell count up. They did blood work this morning and her counts were a little low but not low enough to postpone chemo today. They expect the shot tomorrow to help out. So far her hair is still attached to her head but they tell her to expect it to start falling out soon. She says she won't cry when it does. I told her if she did that was ok. Since I've been sick I haven't been able to go see her. I'm paranoid I will make her sick. I think I'm probably being too concerned. I wanted to go over today for her treatment but she doesn't want me taking time off work to come over now. She wants me to save my time until she needs me. I want to hang out with her some while she feels good though.

Thanks to all who have posted concerns about me and what my mom is going through. You are all awesome and I appreciate it soooooo much.

I noticed some people posting "a day in the life". I think I should do that too. Thanks to MomRunningFromCancer for tagging me for the Cherry on Top Award. I really don't have time to see who I could tag who hasn't already been tagged but I will answer question # 1.

1) Answer this question: if you had the chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be? I would know more about what I wanted to be when I grew up when I entered college. I started out as a pre-physical therapy major, which I think I would have loved if I could have handled the chemistry courses. I don't get chemistry and I gave up too easy. I changed to dietetics but hit the science problem again and then changed to advertising. I now work in banking & finance. How did I get here? I make too much money to quit and go back to school and I'm good at what I do but to be honest I don't think it is my "passion". I would love to work in public health and wellness. I would really like to work in a medical setting helping people who have chronic diseases such as heart disease or diabetes and even cancer make changes to their diet and exercise. We need to get people in this country to take control of their own health! Our kids are becoming diabetic everywhere we turn. This shouldn't be happening. We are smart people. We need to fix this!!!!! We need a way for this to be affordable. I'm not saying it should be covered by insurance but if mental illness is covered couldn't health and wellness guidance be covered as well. I don't know but I do know that what we are doing now isn't working.

Mom's Boyfriend Visits the Hospital

River, Sam & Mom

Mom is still in the hospital recovering from an infection in her left breast. She's been there since Tuesday evening and as long as things go well, she should be headed home tomorrow.

When talking to my sister on Friday morning, she mentioned how drab mom's room was. There were no flowers (it drives mom crazy that people spend money on flowers) and it seemed do dull. I started wracking my brain, what could add a little color to the room and make mom smile whenever she looked at it. What does she like???? Then Johnny Depp popped into my head. I thought about a Pirates of the Caribbean poster. He is one of her favorites - particularly in that movie. We could have a movie night at the hospital on Friday night. Then I thought some more, a poster just wouldn't cut it....where could I find a life size cardboard cut out of Captain Jack Sparrow in an hour and a half. Thank you to "The Theatrical Shop" in town. I called, they had it and I immediately left work. It was approx 6 foot tall and folded over once. It barely fit in the trunk.

Assembly Time

When we got to the hospital, my sister and her family met us in the parking garage. We carried Jack to the family room on the 4th floor where we assembled him. Then we headed to mom's room. Travis hung back with Captain Jack. I had the theme from Pirates ready to play on my cell. Sam and I walked into the room and gave mom a hug and a kiss and made a little small talk. She then asked where Travis was. We told her he had stopped off at the bathroom. I headed out into the hall to "let him know what room we where in". I told him we were ready & to give me 30 seconds to get the song rolling and my camera ready.

I started the song and got out the camera and mom just looked at me funny. Then Travis made his entrance with Captain Jack leading the way. Here are some pictures of mom's reaction.

With all of the stuff we have had going on, I've still managed to squeeze in workouts but I'm not following my training plan. We'll see how much I suffer for this next weekend.

Sam Update: She fed herself with a spoon on Thursday night. She still isn't walking but she also doesn't want to crawl much anymore. She likes to grunt until you get up and walk with her holding onto your hands. It is fun but tiring!

We also picked mom some wild flowers on our run this morning. I'm sure some of them are actually weeds but oh well they looked pretty.