After a trial swim of 500 yds at the IMA last Wednesday, I wasn't sure I was ready to swim yet. My belly muscles were SORE after that swim!! And the hip flexors were a little sore too. But I thought - wait - I have a wetsuit that can act as an ace bandage! And if I wear my full one, I don't have to kick as much.
So this morning my friends Sarah and Karyn joined me at Greenlake. We decided to swim east beach to the dog tree (it looks like a terrier profile) and see how I felt. Sarah wore my shortie suit and I wore my full. The air was cool enough that I was not going to overheat. We got to the dog tree and I felt pretty good so we continued to the other side. Nice! After hanging out at West beach side and answering a guy's question about wet suits, we headed back east - INTO THE SUN!!! It was almost impossible to see the other side due to the glare, so we went to a buoy a little south and out of the sun. We hung out and chatted a bit, and then continued to east beach. We stopped to savor the beautiful morning. Karyn and I lamented that neither Donn or Chad liked to swim, and Sarah said Zach didn't like to get his face wet. I said Donn didn't either and Karyn said the same about Chad. Then I launched into a little teasing about them being afraid to get their makeup wet and called them girlie men. Pretty soon we were all giggling hard and treading water. I wonder what the people on shore thought....
It was an awesome morning and it felt great! to be back in the water and great to be with good friends!
Friday, August 24, 2007
Sunday, August 19, 2007
first run post surgery
I ran around Greenlake with Terry last Saturday. Or I should say gently jogged and walked in the middle when my low abs were talking. It felt a little weird like I was not quite ready. A little out of shape. It could have been that we stayed out way too late on Friday visiting friends for dinner out in West Seattle. And we had a gig at Pike Place Market for their 100th anniversary. I am definitely not ready to run Hood to Coast so I am glad I dropped out of the team!
Afterwards I came home and took a hot bath (finally, I can soak!!) and lay down for a nap. Almost woke up too late for the Marysville gig! Donn drove and I was still groggy by the time we arrived. But it gets a little better each day though today I didn't get to all the errands I wanted to do. After shopping at Ballard Farmers market and PCC, I was too worn out and just wanted to go home and start the peach ice cream.
So tomorrow I may attempt a swim at the IMA before work and maybe a little run after work - who knows. I'm taking it one day at a time.
Afterwards I came home and took a hot bath (finally, I can soak!!) and lay down for a nap. Almost woke up too late for the Marysville gig! Donn drove and I was still groggy by the time we arrived. But it gets a little better each day though today I didn't get to all the errands I wanted to do. After shopping at Ballard Farmers market and PCC, I was too worn out and just wanted to go home and start the peach ice cream.
So tomorrow I may attempt a swim at the IMA before work and maybe a little run after work - who knows. I'm taking it one day at a time.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
And they're gone!
Had surgery on Thursday (8/2) to remove the ovaries and all seemed to go well. I remember getting all groggy in the OR while they held a mask over my face to breathe in, and one of the anesthesiologists asking me if I was alright. I told her I was just getting all wonky-eyed and sleepy. In my mind's eye, I saw a casket sitting across the room with the sun shining on it. There was a body on top - it was my father's. Very weird.
The next moment I heard someone call my name and I opened my eyes. I was in my recovery room and the nurse was by my side. I said "Wow! You guys were fast!" She said it took a while to wake me. Also they pumped a lot of fluids in me - I gained at least 8 pounds! After a while they got Donn and he sat while I worked on waking up. I threw up a few times (before he came in) probably because there was blood in my stomach. They had scratched a few spots in my throat and mouth when intubating me, and I guess that causes nausea. My throat is still a little irritated and I have noticed some rough spots in my mouth.
My mouth was SO dry the crackers just sat there. The nurse got me some jello and it reminded me of the final heat in a mash potato eating contest in college. They ran out of mashed potatoes, so they gave us jello instead. I started spooning mine in and at some point noticed my fellow contestants had the bowl to their mouth and were slurping it in. I came in third, but I learned better race strategy for the next time.
Finally about noon, the nurse asked if I needed to pee, and said before I could leave I had to demonstrate I could walk to the toilet ( with her beside me) and also pee in it. She was a bit surprised (or may have just been humoring me) that I was able to stand and walk without hoding a pillow over my abdomen for support. I told her I had relatively good core muscles - finally - they came in really handy in something other than running or swimming! I passed the pee test and the next challenge was to get myself dressed. First I had to take a quick "power" nap. Then Donn handed me the garment bag and slowly I managed to get dressed. The nurse came in surprised (again) to see me dressed. She got a wheel chair and Donn took me for a (fast) ride to the car.
Back home and on the couch I slept most of Thursday. I noticed on Friday that I was really puffy all over. Legs, arms, face, belly, etc. I stepped on the scale and saw I had gained 8(!!) pounds from Thursday morning. If I were in an ultra, I would have been pulled from the race! I called my doc, and the nurse said it was probably all the IV fluids and I should expect to be peeing a lot, which I had been doing, but not a lot by my standards. So wait and see...
My friend Karyn came over with ice cream and Donn made us dinner. It was really nice and a good break for both of us - she's in the middle of a trial (she's a prosecutor) and has been going at it hard. I feel bad for her but it will be done soon! Anyway, later, I went to bed. About every two hours I had to get up to pee - and I mean pee! Not just a small trickle but like I hadn't gone in days! Sure enough, the 8 pounds I had gained were all (save one pound) gone this morning and my arms and legs and most of my face were back to normal. My lower abs still look weird - like I had been obese and had the underlying fat taken out, with no muscle tone. I'm sure that's because they had to blow up the abs and stretched a few muscles and also it's still swollen there. I'll worry if it's still that way in a month or so.
For now, just taking it easy and following the road to recovery!
The next moment I heard someone call my name and I opened my eyes. I was in my recovery room and the nurse was by my side. I said "Wow! You guys were fast!" She said it took a while to wake me. Also they pumped a lot of fluids in me - I gained at least 8 pounds! After a while they got Donn and he sat while I worked on waking up. I threw up a few times (before he came in) probably because there was blood in my stomach. They had scratched a few spots in my throat and mouth when intubating me, and I guess that causes nausea. My throat is still a little irritated and I have noticed some rough spots in my mouth.
My mouth was SO dry the crackers just sat there. The nurse got me some jello and it reminded me of the final heat in a mash potato eating contest in college. They ran out of mashed potatoes, so they gave us jello instead. I started spooning mine in and at some point noticed my fellow contestants had the bowl to their mouth and were slurping it in. I came in third, but I learned better race strategy for the next time.
Finally about noon, the nurse asked if I needed to pee, and said before I could leave I had to demonstrate I could walk to the toilet ( with her beside me) and also pee in it. She was a bit surprised (or may have just been humoring me) that I was able to stand and walk without hoding a pillow over my abdomen for support. I told her I had relatively good core muscles - finally - they came in really handy in something other than running or swimming! I passed the pee test and the next challenge was to get myself dressed. First I had to take a quick "power" nap. Then Donn handed me the garment bag and slowly I managed to get dressed. The nurse came in surprised (again) to see me dressed. She got a wheel chair and Donn took me for a (fast) ride to the car.
Back home and on the couch I slept most of Thursday. I noticed on Friday that I was really puffy all over. Legs, arms, face, belly, etc. I stepped on the scale and saw I had gained 8(!!) pounds from Thursday morning. If I were in an ultra, I would have been pulled from the race! I called my doc, and the nurse said it was probably all the IV fluids and I should expect to be peeing a lot, which I had been doing, but not a lot by my standards. So wait and see...
My friend Karyn came over with ice cream and Donn made us dinner. It was really nice and a good break for both of us - she's in the middle of a trial (she's a prosecutor) and has been going at it hard. I feel bad for her but it will be done soon! Anyway, later, I went to bed. About every two hours I had to get up to pee - and I mean pee! Not just a small trickle but like I hadn't gone in days! Sure enough, the 8 pounds I had gained were all (save one pound) gone this morning and my arms and legs and most of my face were back to normal. My lower abs still look weird - like I had been obese and had the underlying fat taken out, with no muscle tone. I'm sure that's because they had to blow up the abs and stretched a few muscles and also it's still swollen there. I'll worry if it's still that way in a month or so.
For now, just taking it easy and following the road to recovery!
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