Everything Hurts

In my inpatient quest to be fit, I've taken up running.  I hurt.  Every muscle, ligament, and bone from my waist down is in some kind of trauma.  My feet hurt (no surprise there).  The small of my back hurts - what's with that?  My left knee twinges every time I put weight on it; and my legs are sore and feel like they weight 100 lbs each (maybe they do?).

Running so far, feels like a love/hate kind of exercise.  Exercise in general is love/hate, but this seems more than normal.  I keep dreaming about the day, months out, when I am trim and vigorous and can run several miles without a second thought.  This is what keeps me going.

I also found a group on Facebook, called Couch-to-5K or C25K that has links to a site: http://www.coolrunning.com/ where there is loads of info for runners; new runners in particular.  The Facebook site has been great with people starting out just like me that can offer support and agonize with me.  Pretty cool.

Today during my run, I was listening to my iTouch and a song "I am free to Run" popped on.  In a word: perfect.

Springing into Action

I'm more focused now than I probably have been in...well forever.  At least about fitness and health.  Oh, I worked out plenty in my younger years, but I sure wasn't as motivated as I am now.  Back then it was about being slender and also about the "me" time I could carve out.  Now it is about staying cancer free and active so I can run, jump, and play with my kids and grandkids.  I want to be full of vitality and not, as I see so many around me, too tired out to engage in anything after a long days work.

My stint with cancer which culminated in 6 weeks of tiresome radiaton and then immediately going into 6 weeks lolly-gaggin' around the house with pins in my feet meant that I had gained weight (again).  Within just a few days of having the pins out, I painfully began the walking again, determined to get fit.  I had been doing quite well prior to the surgery, but 6 weeks off my feet meant it was slow going for a while.  Well it is now 6 weeks later and I can pretty much walk as many miles as before.  I have even started to run a little.  I can't run far, mostly because my lungs start burning and my legs get heavy, but each week I know I'll do better.  The weight coming back off has been slow; or at least it feels slow.  But I now I just have to be patient, eat right and keep active and it will slowly come off.  I am determined.

I tried golf again the other day.  I hadn't done that in years.  Even when I did, I stuck mostly with the driving range, getting pretty intimidated when golfing with anyone since it took me a gazillion shots just to make it to the the par 3 hole, the one time I did play on a course.  Well, maybe I'll try again. We'll see.  I noticed that it worked out my midriff muscles pretty good.  I like that idea better than doing sit ups. :)

I am very excited about my upcoming trip in August/September to Europe.  The last time I went was in 2008 with James.  We visited Romania (spent a week helping with some orphanages) then on to fun in Istanbul, Kusadasi (near the Ephesus ruins), Greek Islands, and finally Athens.  This trip will start in Paris, then move to Venice where we'll say goodbye to a couple traveling wtih us (Jackie and Dale).  James and I will move on to the South of France to see Nice, Cannes, Monaco, and the Provence region.  We meet up again with Jackie and Dale in Barcelona, after they get off their cruise ship, and then head on down to the south of Spain to see Granada, Malaga, Gibraltar, Tarifa, and a day trip to Tangiers, Morocco.  All-in-all, a 3 week trip that is sure to be warm, beautiful, full of history and architecture: everything James and I love about traveling.

I have most of our hotel reservations done, the main flights to/from Europe booked, and the only thing that remains are rental car, one hotel, and then some smaller flights and trains between the cities. We typically walk a LOT when we travel, so this getting in shape will be important so we can stay energetic throughout our trip.

I am focused.  I am driven.  I WILL be healthy.  Watch me.

I Have a Weak-End

I know sounds strange; but I got you to look, didn't I?  The weekend is here and I can't even begin to tell you how glad. 

Our IT organization is in the middle of a big re-org.  We're going through layoffs and many were in the management ranks this year.  So now it is the big shuffle (like they don't shuffle all year long for other reasons).  The good new is that I have a better manager.  Our group was suffering pretty badly with a new management recruit that wasn't working out well.  We now have a seasoned manager who seems to be very congenial and lets people hunker down and do their work without throwing wrenches into it every other hour.  It's only been two weeks, but so far, so good.  He's letting me finally do what I've been trained to do: be autonomous and run my projects. Love it.

I have the pleasure of having Judah spend the night with me.  At 1 1/2, he's a bundle of fun.  Ricky and Rosie (my son and daughter-in-law) are finally moving into their new home, so having the energetic toddler at Grandma's should be helpful.  His vocabulary is growing every day by leaps and bounds.  He's a blast to play with.  I also got my pretty Kayla for a few hours too.  She sure is beautiful at 6 months.  I love getting her to belly laugh.  What a joy.

I'm up to 2 miles walking!  Yeah.  I still can't run more than a few steps, bending my feet that much is still painful, but each day it gets better. I suspect I should be able to start in about 2 weeks.  That's my hope anyway.  I would like to wait until a little nice weather (though last week was awesome).

So, week-end: HERE I COME!

So Far So Good

Well 2010 started out challenging but is shaping up nicely, so far.  After subjecting myself to foot surgery only 3 days after finishing my last radiation treatment, I ended up being mostly sedentary until about 2 weeks ago.  I had pins in toes on BOTH feet. Ugh.  What was I thinking?  I couldn't drive, and could only hobble about for the entire six weeks wearing these dorky shoe/boots.  I was fortunate in that my work let me work from home that entire time.  I am very much a home-body, so it didn't bother me at first, but after about 3 weeks I was getting very antsy.

I only have two pairs of shoes I can wear so far, but I can walk.  Prior to my surgery, I was doing regular walks; averaging about 2 - 3 miles a day, 5 days a week.  I went from that to ZERO in a week.  I started up walking again only a few days after the pins were out.  I moved slow, but I started.  Each day I was able to hobble faster and faster.  Now I can go about 1.5 miles before my feet swell up such that my shoes get too tight.  In only about 15 days, I'm about 80%.  I am hoping to get the flexibility back so I can actually start running.  We'll see :)

I am determined to lose the pounds I gained sitting on my duff, so I'm consuming inordinate amounts of vegetables and very lean meats; very low fat, no carbs, and no sugars.  Hopefully the weight will come off OK. It sure does get harder the older one gets.  I'm determined to keep working on my eating habits and minimizing those that contribute to cancer (sugar is a big no-no).

Regarding the cancer?  Well, I have to go back in again in March and have a baseline mammogram.  I then visit my oncologist quarterly for this year and probably 1/2 yearly next year.  They'll do blood tests to make sure the cancer hasn't spread elsewhere and that I'm still good to go (I'm believing I'm going to be just fine). 

I can't express enough how much everyone's support, prayers, cards, phone calls, emails, and hugs have all meant.  I don't now how anyone could get through a cancer diagnosis, or any other debilitating disease, without the support of family and friends.  I met several while doing radiation - they had no one.  My heart goes out to them.

As a result of seeing those lonely souls, I determined to find a way to help them.  I don't know quite how I'll find the right vehicle to do that, but I'm going to be searching.  My first order of action, now that I can walk, is to contact the cancer center here where I was a patient.  I know there are several volunteer groups that work with cancer patients.  I hope to get that activity started within the next 60 days. (Goals are a good thing to have.)

Thank you everyone for listening to my fears and helping me through the struggle of last fall.  I couldn't have done it without you.

Love Tons,

Kat

Happy New Year

So my new year has started off strangely.  I am still hobbled with pins in both feet due to some surgery I had on the 19th of December.  I should be able to get those pins out in about 10 days or so and then maybe start driving.  Until then, I'm pretty house-bound.  Thankfully my job lets me work from home, so I don't have to take more time off of work.  I do, however, have to keep my foot elevated most of the time, which, even though I have it setup so I can, it does make me twist a little oddly and now the small of my back is aching some.  Ahh, old age.  Here it comes. I will say that James has been fabulous helping me out with my gimpy feet.  I don't know what I'd do without him.

My son and his wife are going to find out the gender of their new baby sometime this afternoon.  I am excited to hear what it will be.  I don't know if I have a preference or not, though I'm leaning towards a girl, only because they already have a sweet little boy, Judah.  Either way it will be VERY loved.  I can't wait to hold them in my arms.  It looks like the due date will be towards the end of May.

My first day back at work has been interesting.  From the get-go there have been many fires to put out.  I don't know that it could have gone any worse than it did.  Oh well.  It is just a job, I keep telling myself.

I am really looking forward to getting healthy.  I can hardly wait to get walking again (2+ miles a day) and then hopefully actually start to jog too.  I'd love to be able to do the June Susan G. Komen 5K.  I'm not sure if my feet with be OK with that, but it is a goal I have and hope to meet if my feet will let me.  I also am going to look into some kind of volunteering with terminal cancer patients.  My journey with cancer has really put them on my heart and I really need to see about doing something on that score.

So, I am really looking forward to 2010!

Happy New Year everyone!