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Running from the cancer

guest — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 19:09:36 GMT

I have a three year old. He just turned 3 on St. Patrick's Day, actually. Back in February, his big sister clobbered him by accident when he darted in front of her swing. We ended up in the ER and the CT scan showed massive internal bleeding. We were in the hospital for almost a week before they sent us home telling us to do another CT scan in a few weeks when the blood was absorbed and they could see exactly how much damage was done to his kidney. His sister was devastated. She could not have felt worse.

A few weeks later, the CT scan showed that it wasn't internal bleeding, but a giant cancerous tumor that was eating his kidney. He would lose his kidney and have to go through 19 weeks of chemo. We just completed week 3. Big sis, it turns out, saved his life. Without the accident, we wouldn't have known about it for probably another year when the tumor was so big that it poked out a bit. By then it would have metastisized and he would have been a stage 4. He's stage 2.

A lot of things turned out to be very lucky for us. It was lucky that I was layed-off the day before the playground accident because I would have had to take time off anyway. But you can't imagine the stress that goes along with your baby having surgery, losing an organ, and then poisoning him once a week to make him healthy. Miraculously, my husband and I managed not to tear each other apart with all the stress. However, he ended up in the hospital with a painful ulcer and I've been enjoying headaches for the last two weeks. The physical manifestation of stress.

So I run. Run, run, run from the stress. Run from the cancer. Run from the guilt. Run from the hospital bills and phone calls. Run from the chemo. Run from the begging and pleading to try and eat something because the little guy doesn't understand that he's nauseous. Run from the fear of germs that might earn a few nights in the hospital for him. Heck, run from the fear of everything. So for 30 minutes or an hour my footsteps become louder than the stress. The cadence soothes me. The pain in my knee/shins/hips/feet or whatever the flavor of the day replaces the pain in my heart and my head.

Run, run, run...

If you care to follow my Max, his caringbridge website is here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/supermax

So my question to you is... What are you running from?

Re: Can you still run on a stress fracture?!!

guest — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 14:54:43 GMT

Thanks James. I'm not sure if it actually collapsed, it just felt like it that last mile. Intense sharp pain in the middle of my arch. Doc says he thinks it's the 3rd medial metatarsal, so pretty much smack in the middle.

I'm having bone trouble because I'm breastfeeding and it's leeching all the calcium from my body. It seems obvious now, but when I first started I only considered that it would be pretty inconvenient to have a self-inflating chest during a race. It would certainly explain all the trouble I've been having with my shins throughout my training. It might actually be shin splints.

Today I opted out of wearing the boot because it doesn't seem to throb and I just want to guage the pain and motion. I'm taking 1000 mg of Calcium (with Vitamin D and magnesium) a day. I've got 24 days before the Austin marathon and I'm fairly certain I won't make it, but there's still a part of me that just can't let it go.

Re: Can you still run on a stress fracture?!!

guest — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 14:31:34 GMT

You're right, he couldn't see it. He made me walk on my toes, then my heels, felt around my arches and asked me exactly where the pain was and deduced it was most likely a stress fracture. I'm a week down now and my ambitious hopes of healing faster than the average human being and getting to the start line are starting to fade. Still taking calcium supplements though, so we'll see, I guess. It's still a hard pill to swallow that 5 months of training are down the drain.

Re: Can you still run on a stress fracture?!!

guest — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 18:52:36 GMT

Thanks Heather. I needed that. My husband will appreciate the football stats. LOL! I do too. Thanks.

Re: Can you still run on a stress fracture?!!

guest — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 18:28:00 GMT

Thanks James.

As always, I respect and appreciate your opinion.

I'll think hard on it this weekend.

Can you still run on a stress fracture?!!

guest — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 14:26:20 GMT

Ugh!!!! I ran a half marathon last weekend and at 11.5 miles, it felt like my arch collapsed. I finished it because - come on - after 11.5 miles I wanted my dang finishing medal. I hobbled/walked/jogged a very slow finish with a lot of people passing me by. Somehow I still managed to finish in the middle third of the race instead of dead last.

Turns out it's a stress fracture. The doctor says it will be a miracle if I make it to Austin next month. He said he's not saying I can't do it, just that it's very unlikely. After much prodding, he offered up that I could possibly spin-cycle my way to the start line. So that's my plan. I don't want to be out of the race when I'm so close.

Has anyone run on a stress fracture? How serious are they, really? I mean, I did manage to run a mile and a half on it. There's a quarterback who's played a ton of games with one. If I take my calcium and vitamin D supplements and cycle my little heart out.. has anyone else tried it?!! Please help!!!

Re: Where's my endurance?

guest — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 14:50:52 GMT

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh the heart rate tempo thing makes sense now. Thanks!

Re: Great stocking stuffers for your running partners.

guest — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 18:17:19 GMT

Oh what a wonderful idea! I love this!

Re: Half Marathon/Marathon Training Questions

guest — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 19:55:35 GMT

If you can push yourself to do a bit more, go ahead as long as you leave a few weeks before the actual marathon to recover. Don't keep pushing yourself right up to marathon day or you'll risk injury and all that training will be lost. If it helps your confidence, go ahead and make a 26, 27, 28 mile long run the month before. Truly the last part is just mental, so physically, you don't need to run a marathon before the marathon.

Re: Where's my endurance?

guest — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 19:45:18 GMT

If you read the marathon books, they often tell you to walk often the first mile (run a minute/walk a minute, then run 2 minutes, walk 1, then run 3 minutes, walk one etc..). If you are only running one mile, just push through it. You can do it. I'm exactly the same size as you. If you are worried you can't do it, set your mind to 2 miles. Walk through the first mile (which is when your body complains the most) and run the second. If you are hearing a lot of mental chatter about quitting or hurting, offset it with the other side of your brain. You do that by imagining. Anything. Imagination offsets logic/reason. You won't collapse over a one-mile stretch unless you're shooting for a 4 minute mile. LOL! Listen to music and imagine the music video or what the lyrics are saying. Imagine someone running next to you. Imagine the trees swatting cars out of the way. Imagine anything and it quiets the negative chatter that causes you to slow down.