one on one: day two

Let me begin this posting with an update on my health scare. This past Monday I posted about my Sunday evening trip to the ER with stomach pain. They had figured it wasn't my gallbladder or kidneys causing the pain and figured it was either an ulcer or acid reflux. Little did I know that later that evening I would end up back in the ER with even worse pain than the previous night. This time the doctor ordered an ultrasound to check my gallbladder and surrounding organs. They gave me another GI cocktail which didn't give me the immediate relief as the previous night. It did help reduce my pain to about a 5 but I was still dealing with the waves of pain, as well as nausea and back pain. So my gallbladder, kidney, pancreas, and liver was check out and all of them checked out fine. Still no definite answer but this time I left the ER with an RX for some pain meds. It's now been 4 days since my first ER visit and I can say I have had 3 full days of no pain. I am still taking the meds as I was told to and am trying to get in to see my PCP to get checked further, but I am thankful that I am no longer experiencing that god awful pain anymore.

Because I was still recovering this past Tuesday from Monday nights trip to the ER, I did not make my appointment with Joon for my official "day two" session. So technically this would be my day three, but well I won't really count it! Joon thoroughly kicked my arse today, and it probably wasn't fully intentional but he definitely proved to me how quickly I experience muscle fatigue. We worked on some plyometric movements and strength. Today's session most certainly was hard but felt really good. So here is what we did.

Warm-up: 500m row
Extended Warm-up:
     10 Shoulder Shrugs
     10 Cleans
     10 Strict Presses
     10 GHD Back Extensions (this was intimidating and hard for me- did not do full ROM)

3x: Athletic Burpees x3
      Jumping Lunges x6
      Plyo Side Lunges 20sec

4x4: Front Squat 65#
2x4: Power Clean 65#
3x3x3: Push Jerk 65#

5x for time: 
     100m row (26/23/22/22/21 sec)
     30 sec rest
     Medicine Ball Slams x10
     1 min rest
= 11:08

The GHD back extensions were challenging for me. First I had to get comfortable with the idea of lowering my upper body down and trusting that I wasn't going to fall. Once I got over that, well better at it, I found I couldn't even lower myself down very low before my hamstrings began to yell at me with such force. Those sucked! But the hardest thing I did today was the burpees, lunges, and side lunges routine. I had to keep moving without stopping and this is where I experienced my muscle fatigue. Primarily during the side lunges as I kept going my legs would give out on me and I was struggling lifting them up onto the platform. A couple of times I came close to tripping over myself. It's frustrating to want to push through but your body won't cooperate. I can not wait for the day that I get beyond this quick fatigue and can go for longer. The lifts were comfortable, didn't go super heavy, focused on technique. Front squats have been a challenge for a long time and I am just now getting better at them and increasing weight! And the last part of our time was fun and I worked hard on just pushing through the suck. With every round I improved my time on the 100m row, which I have to admit was unexpected. The medicine ball slams were also a challenge, but I did them and that is all I have to say about that.

I am officially tired and sore. Tomorrow is a holiday and I do not have to work- yay! There is only one WOD tomorrow at CFST but I think I will pass on the WOD and enjoy sleeping in. I'm sure I will be plenty sore tomorrow. :)

This photo was taken from Pinterest.

an ER trip

For the past week and half I have been dealing with some mild stomach aches. They would come and go, I'd notice them more after eating something. I paid attention to my diet but nothing in particular would stick out as the culprit. I didn't take it serious as I thought it really had more to do with what I am eating than anything else, and admittedly my diet in the last two or so weeks hasn't been the best. Than as quickly as the aches came, it was gone. I spent an entire 24 hours with no issues and I thought the problem resolved itself. I couldn't be more wrong though. Come Sunday afternoon while running errands with Aaron I found that old familiar ache resurfacing. Again I began to think about what I ate, hoping something will stick out. While Aaron was trying on some shoes I found myself unable to stand up straight, the pain was getting a bit too intense for me. I sat down and distracted myself with Facebook on my phone. Once we left the store I had no desire to go anywhere else and so Aaron took me home. I figured if I lied down for a bit, drank a little water, it'll pass. I have to say the pain I began to experience was like no other pain I had ever felt in my life. For the next 12 hours I would go through waves of intense pain, each time the wave would hit it would be that much more intense. I opted to sleep on the couch to not disturb Aaron and was holding out for the morning to get in to see my doctor. By 2 am I have had enough and could not take the pain anymore. I was beginning  to fear that it was my gallbladder causing all the discomfort so I decided to go to the ER. Immediately they took my blood pressure, temperature, drew blood, and asked for a urine sample. I was taken back to a room almost right away and the doctor was already there waiting for me as he feared it was my gallbladder as well. After a quick chit chat he decided to rule out something else first, and so I was required to drink the god awful GI Cocktail of Malox with Lidocaine. Now anyone who knows me well know weird I get with texture, so imagine how hard it was for me to swallow something that was slightly chunky. I felt like I was taking a shot of wet snot, seriously! I had to fight not to throw it up and I was forbidden to drink any water. I was greatly frustrated and wanted answers. And to my surprise almost immediately the pain began to subside, along with my tongue and throat beginning to numb out.

So the outcome? Well this instant relief meant it was NOT my gallbladder which was a great news. The doctor asked me a few more questions and we talked about possibilities and where to go from there. What he believed was going on is that the lining of my esophagus and stomach had become irritated. I had begun to feel it mildly and it finally got to a point where it needed attention. The cause is unknown but my bad diet may have not helped it much. The course of action is to take a prescribed medication for two weeks. If my symptoms persist or get worse I am to go back in ASAP, otherwise I need to go see my PCP for a check up in about a week.

I am thankful that it was not something as serious as my gallbladder but somewhat frustrated that it is something that is without a definite explanation of cause or reasoning. I hope my prescribed medication will be the key to healing and being back to my normal self!

Take care of yourselves!