One Step forward....

Hey all,


Sorry for the prolonged absence. If you have been reading this much over the past year, you know that I have run the gambit of injuries and migraines. Luckily, when I had the 2 cervical discs removed back in March, it eliminated a good amount of the numbness (not mental the physical) and the 2 to 3 migraines I was experiencing a week. Unfortunately it did not eliminate them completely, but I have only had about 4 since March. The 4 however have been real doseys though. Pain, light sensitivity, blurred vision, and nausea. Sunday, as we were celebrating Catie (my step-daughter's) and my birthday, a day late due to our hectic family schedules, we were just sitting down to eat, and low and behold the migraine aura showed up and within 5 minutes, I lose my eye sight. Puts me in bed early, and keeps me in bed with the exception of about 2 hours all through Monday into Tuesday morning.

Well here it is Friday, and although my eyesight THANKFULLY comes back generally within an hour or so, I am still to a lesser degree experiencing some of the migraine leftovers.

And (I apologize for the unnecessary length of this story) it has kept me off the trails, after I had a nice little roll going there over the past couple weeks. So regardless of everything else, I am finding the time to hit Gilbert with Belle this weekend.

Until then, Be Well ~ Sank

Pain in the neck....literally

Well not a lot has happened on the roads or trails lately that's for sure.  Yeah the weather has hindered it a bit, daylight savings, blah blah blah, excuse, excuse, excuse.  But the one thing that isn't going away is the pain and hinderance being caused by my neck.  The two herniations (C5-C6 and C6-C7) are really hindering most things.  The arms go numb or tingle or fall asleep, the migraines, the lack of movement, the pain sitting, the pain in driving, etc...  I have been dealing with this for about 7 years or so.  And for the most part it comes and goes in severity but never completely.
I was living with it for the most part, but I fell (click for blog entry) back on December 7th, and it has been killing me ever since.
Tried a bunch of stuff and just last week, Dr Higgins threw me on my second steriod treatment (I guess I wont be going into the Baseball Hall of Fame along with Mark McGuire anytime soon).  But with the exception of a slight amount of extended movement for a day or so, they really dont do anything.
So back to the NeuroSurgeon I go on February 23rd to discuss the fusion surgury. 
I watched a video, an actual video of the surgery, on YouTube.   Now with all the stuff I have had done, including the 3 heart procedures and having to give myself blood thinner shots in my stomach, I just cant watch medical stuff.  God bless Nancy, who works in the dental field, she tries to tell me what she does some days and I am such a wimp and cant deal with it.  Anyway, I tried to watch this surgery video - not the best idea.  Click here if YOU want to watch it cause I aint  :)  LOL
But I have to do something.
Be well - dont take what you have for granted.
Sank

Back

Seems like forever (well actually just a week) since I posted.  Tons of refereeing this weekend and the herniated discs sparked back up the migraines.   That coupled with the fact that eating whatever and as much as I felt like and a way to many beers, so kind of a lost couple of days and feeling pretty crappy.
Oh well poor me - I really need to get going on the roads.  I still have an outside shot at hitting my first 100 mile month (in about 15 years), which I am really going to try to do, but I just wish I could get out there consistently and feel good.  Not just mentally but a good stride, pace, breathing; without having to think about what I am doing.
My goal a little while ago was to:
1. get the little nagging legs issues under control (which thankfully I seem to have), and
2. stay on the roads only to try to get some consistency
But I just cant seem to get that flow going while running.  Oh well, just need to keep sticking to it, and stop whining about it I guess. 
My replacement Garmin 405 shows up today, so at least I will have a new toy to go out with me while I figure it out.  :)

Thanks all - if any New Englanders are out there that know of any good running clubs that do a fair amount of Trail Running - PLEASE comment me their information.

Take care, be well - Sank

Migraines

For those of you that share one of my malidies, I am sorry.  But damn migraines can sure put a HUGE change of plans on your day.  Similar to other sufferers I get the aura, which makes it extremely, if not impossible, to drive or even survive.  Followed shortly by nasusea and than the pain comes.  NOT FUN.  Well yesterday afternoon's sudden aura attack had me rushing home to get into bed, and unfortunately cancelled my run for the night.  Woke up this morning to continued pain and a day off that honestly I would rather be at work, given the choice.

The afternoon broke and besides some tenderness, I decided to pull out one of my old remedies and tried to sweat out the after effects.  Not bad, finally broke the 9 minute mile barrier, but realized one of my problems.  I am looking done while I am running which as me leaning forward.  I tried to concentrate on keeping my head up, leaning back and lifting up my stride and it actually felt much better.  More to follow.
Be well - Sank