Long time no blog. This has been one hell of a fall/winter if I ever saw one. And, I'm not just talking about the weather here in the Midwest!! Apart from all the snow and freezing temperatures, I have had some trying times due to illness. If you've read past posts, you all know that I'm really susceptible to winter bugs. When I'm not in a flare, my white cell count is typically lower than normal and that, combined with 3 pretty little petri dishes in elementary and preschool, makes for one sick mommy. It started out on the morning that we were to leave to go to my SIL's house for Thanksgiving. Long story short, after an urgent care visit, I came home with a full blown pneumonia diagnosis so my family went away for 4 days to enjoy Thanksgiving and I spent 4 days in bed. I slept 20 hours my first night - really sick is an understatement! I was brutal. Took me almost a month and a half to start really feeling like myself again. So, I had minor colds from then until now. And then on valentine's day, I was feeling pretty miserable so my husband insisted I run down to the Urgent Care just to make sure everything was okay. Well, they sent me immediately to the emergency room and I ended up spending 4 days in the hospital. I tested positive for flu (type A) and ended up having respiratory complications due to the infection. Breathing was incredibly difficult so as a result, my body became alkaloidic (my blood pH became too basic) and then my body (and it's fantastic ability to overcompensate for everything) tried to fix this and I developed acidosis (blood pH too acidic). Anyway, things got better over the next few days, they let me out and it's been a few weeks and I'm finally starting to get back to normal.
Before this happened I was happily training for my first half marathon on April 4. I haven't run since February 13 with the exception of the other morning when my daughter almost missed her bus. I ran approximately 300 feet and my lungs were burning. I'm now thinking my first half marathon will be walked, which is incredibly sad and frustrating for me. I was up to 8 miles on my long runs and now I have to start all over. In the grand scheme of things, this seems like first world problems but it doesn't diminish how devastated I feel about not reaching my goal due to something that I have no control over.
That being said, I'm going to start walking today and see how I feel. I have a tendency to start feeling better and completely over do it and set myself back further so I'm trying my best to pace myself and do less than I think I'm capable of - and that, in itself does not sit well with me.
Suffice to say, I'm over these crappy, sickly winters. With 3 very active kids, I just don't have time for it! I decided to seek out an alternative doctor to see if anything can be done with my immune system. I've had it with my current doctor. I had a follow-up appointment 1 week after I got out of the hospital and her only suggestion was that I start taking a daily multivitamin. Yes, a multivitamin will fix everything, FML. I need to kick my immune system up a notch without going into a straight flare. On Thursday I have an appointment with a doctor with a specialty in functional medicine (basically the marriage between diet and nutrition and modern medicine). He is also a chiropractor. I've never been to either so I'm interested in what he has to say and what type of treatment he may offer. I'll keep you posted.
:: Robyn
