My First International Hospital Visit

This was one post I was hoping I wouldn't have to make.

Ever since I landed in South Africa, I've been dealing with some rather annoying stomach issues - primarily some pretty painful cramping and other symptoms. I actually thought I had food poisoning.

My first night here was horrible. I didn't sleep at all, thanks to jet lag and to the stomach illness. I was up every hour with pain. In fact, I spoke to our facilitator the next morning, because I was concerned I might not make it through our first day of meetings. I rallied as best I could and followed along, but the first day was brutal. I was breaking out into cold sweats, cramping, wishing I was in bed. By Sunday (three days after I started having issues), I finally started to feel better again. I began eating normally - instead of relying solely on bread, toast and crackers.

I thought I was good to go, until last Wednesday, when the cramping started again. This time it was worse. That same day, I did a more demanding workout and ended up simultaneously throwing out my back. Thursday into Friday was the worst night here so far. In addition to terrible stomach cramps, I could hardly move, because my back was in so much pain. My guess is I aggravated my herniated discs. By 4 a.m. I had about given up on the day - just getting out of bed was a challenge. I ended up staying in bed until 4:30 p.m., icing my back and popping ibuprofen.

By the end of the day, our facilitator thought it was best if I was checked out by a doctor, so she took me to the hospital, which is across the street from our hotel. This hospital was a private hospital, which accepts foreign visitors. Our facilitator said the level of care is much higher in a private African hospital, as opposed to a public one.

Even though we all speak English, it was still difficult to communicate with accents and such, mine included. We had to sort out my insurance, among other paperwork, as well as insure proof of payment through a company IBM uses when employees travel abroad. Lots of miscommunication happened between the hospital and the company, which caused a lot of frustration. Just when we thought we had everything sorted out, I realized they had transcribed my wrong birthdate, which meant they had to reprint all the forms and have be re-fill them out again, which just meant more time spent before getting treated.

When I finally got into my hospital room, I was assigned a nurse. Her name was Roxy and she was so nice and patient. She was funny too and said she loved treating Americans because we were so friendly, as compared to other countries. She also understood how difficult it was for me to sometimes understand what was happening - there are some thick accents here in South Africa, so she  would help translate what people were saying or write things down for me, so I could better comprehend what was happening. This was probably the scariest part - not knowing why a needle was going into my arm, or not understanding the instructions for medicine. I was very thankful to have had her as my nurse, she made the process so much easier.

They did a number of tests - blood work, urine samples, x-rays. Each time someone came to administer a test, I had to pull out my credit card to pay ahead of time, before they would be able to move forward. I think I ended up spending about $500 total - which ultimately isn't too terrible for an emergency visit (I should be reimbursed by my insurance company when I go home). When the tests came back, my white blood cells were fairly high, which they said indicated my body was fighting what they believed to be a bacterial infection. It wasn't worth figuring out what kind of infection it was they said, but that likely I picked something up on the plane or ate something here in Africa that caused the infection. I was given an IV with pain medication and a broad spectrum antibiotic. They also sent me back to the hotel late that night with a stack of pills.

Now, day seven into the second wave of this infection and my stomach is starting to feel normal again. I'm just hoping this is finally the end of this - it's been so frustrating.

Being away from home for so many weeks, has been an amazing experience. But it has also made me realize just how lucky I am. I never worry about housing, I never worry about electricity or internet connections, I never worry about good medical care or access to medicine. Even though this infection has been frustrating, it could have been so much worse and I'm sure thankful it wasn't.

A Force to be Reckoned With

I have been shockingly bad about updating my blog . . . as in, haven't posted in nine months? I'd like to say I have a good excuse...and I do have at least one.


In my spare time, I took up volunteering with the American Lung Association in Delaware this past August, specifically as chair of the LungForce walk, which took place in November. It's been incredibly rewarding working with people so dedicated to fighting lung disease. They have asked me to speak about my experience with the disease and share my passion for educating people about the risks. I was chosen as the Ben FM Woman of the Week and also had the opportunity to share my story at various events.

 The association has been so welcoming and supportive to me, especially when we lost my Aunt Barbara to small cell carcinoma just one week before the walk,. We were planning to honor her and her battle at the walk . . . and while we did despite her absence, I was really hoping she'd hang on a little longer. Ultimately, Aunt Barbara lost her battle to lung cancer after a brave, seven month fight. Sadly, with her passing, she marks the fourth family member I have lost to lung cancer.

I am looking forward to continuing my work with the ALA as chair for the 2015 LungForce walk. This year, my amazing team of friends and family, affectionately known as "Remember Each One of Us Can Make a Difference," helped raise $3,000 in just six weeks, helping the event to raise nearly $30,000 total. I'm hoping to raise even more funds and awareness next year.

Having the opportunity to honor my father and my family members who have passed from lung cancer has meant so much to me. While there are many causes I am passionate about, I have struggled to find something I could really sink my teeth into, a cause I could really dedicate my time to and feel as if I am making a difference. To be able to work with the American Lung Association fills that void for me and allows me to keep my father's memory alive and honor all those I have lost from this terrible disease.  Onward and upward.

Craving something sweet

So, this marks my third week on the paleo diet and although I've managed to avoid all those things I thought I'd struggle with giving up, I have started to feel the need for something sweet. I started with freezing banana chunks, which have been great. But I find I tend to eat way too many bananas in a day this way.

I made a quick stop at Trader Joe's yesterday and perused their dried fruit section. Most everything was sweetened or freeze dried, which I don't like because the strawberries are more like flakes than anything I can sink my teeth into.

As I kept looking, I came across "Just Mango Slices," which were unsulfured and unsweetened. I've got to admit, my expectations were pretty low. I was expecting the mango to taste more like cardboard. When I opened the package, the strong smell of mango was divine. This really elevated my expectations, which honestly, were not let down! The mango was so good, chewy and sweet and just so tasty. In fact, I'm almost done with the package and it's been a day!

The package says the serving size is four pieces, which is about 120 calories. No fat of course. I probably eat about six slices in a sitting, although today I've had a few more than that! I'm really surprised at how tasty it is. I'm planning on buying another pack for my trip to Delaware this weekend, although I need to be careful not to overdose on this! Definitely a really tasty snack that satisfies the sweet tooth.

It's the simple things that keep you happy and help you through paleo!

Trouble Walking? Me? No! I'm just...CrossFitting

So tonight is my third CrossFit class this week and fourth total. A few things I've learned this week:

1. Somewhere between fifth grade and today, I forgot how to jump rope. This skill simply evaporated from my repertoire and I look like an absolute fool even attempting it. I trip over the rope, get the rope caught in my pony tail, miss a foot and tangle myself in the rope. It's sad, just sad. My solution is to buy a jump rope this weekend and practice.

2. I never knew what sore meant until now (well really until my marathon). I can remember being sore, or what I thought was sore after training, but this is a new level. My legs are so sore, I can barely sit down and stand back up. The stairs become a tremendous feat, hell even walking is difficult. Every time I roll over in my sleep, I wake up from the severe pain and effort it takes to move even the slightest bit. My body hurts!

3. I used to think squats with dumbbells were a pain...that was until I started doing over head squats and wall balls. Now, I'd give anything to squat with a 12lb dumbbell.

4. Thank God I trained for two years - the skills I learned are certainly coming in handy. While there's no doubt I feel like the new kid on the block at CrossFit, at least  have some sense of what I'm doing...sort of.

Tonight we're doing upside down push ups (yeah right), pull ups (I'll be doing a modified version), box jumps (again, they'll probably have me to a modified version), toe to bars (ha, yeah right) and MORE squats. We'll see how it goes. I'm enjoying the challenge and the discipline and accountability I have by going back to some form of training - it helps to keep me on track. I'm also trying the paleo diet, although very modified  and only every other day. I do miss carbs . . . I'd like a bagel.

What gives me hope, is that if I keep it up, hopefully in six months, on my 27th birthday, I'll feel a sense of real accomplishment seeing all these expected changes in my body. And hopefully I'll be a ripped beast!

Here's hoping I can walk tomorrow!

CrossFitting!

I finally took the leap and attended my first CrossFit class at the CrossFit Danbury box yesterday. As I've mentioned in previous posts, I worked with a personal trainer for about two years and ended up losing close to 40 pounds, which I gained in college (forget the Freshman Fifteen, it's the Freshman Forty!). Working with my trainer Amanda, I substantially increased my strength, endurance, everything. But since I've moved, I've been looking for something to replace that training. Not to mention, for the past four months I've been mainly focusing on my running...and since the marathon, I'm ready for a change of pace.

Thanks to a new colleague who joined my office a few weeks ago and my friend Brian's encouragement, I finally went to my first "beginners" class yesterday. Before diving in, I had all these scary thoughts about what I was getting myself into. All I could think of were all the intense, beast-like photos I had seen of friends lifting insane amounts of weight. I was nervous I'd embarrass myself or not be able to keep up.

Thankfully, all that personal training came in handy. I was able to keep up, despite some of my lingering marathon issues, and felt relatively strong throughout. I think we came on a day with a fairly easy WOD (Workout of the Day), as my friend Brian promises me it's going to be much more intense, but I've decided to commit to going three days a week, starting next week. Brian assures me I'll be a ripped beast in six months, so here's hoping!

Honestly, it was amazing how supportive and encouraging everyone was. These were people I had never met in my life, telling me I was doing a good job and helping me to make sure I was doing the exercises correctly - definitely a change of pace from the typical gym. There is also a level of competitiveness, which for anyone who knows me, knows I love. I think this could end up being really good for me, although I promised Karen (Brian's wife) I won't get too obsessed - we'll see!

I'm looking forward to continuing with it. Not sure if I'll adopt the paleo diet that comes along with CrossFit, but I am pretty confident I'll reach my goal weight through this program, as long as I stick to it. And maybe even make some new friends...which we all know I need to do since I moved.

Here's the WOD I completed yesterday:

1. STRENGTH/ SKILL WORK
5X5
PRESS
REST 60 SECS
5 STRICT C2B PULLUPS
REST 60 SECONDS

2. WOD
4 RFT
400M RUN
12 PP 95/65

So here are my main CrossFit goals:
1. Get to my goal weight
2. Do a pull up
3. Do a full push up (chest to the ground - as of now, I can do a very small one and totally kick butt on the girl version!)

So if all predictions are accurate, by April, I should be a ripped beast. Here goes nothing!

The Countdown Begins

So in just 73 short days, I'm competing in this little thing called a marathon. When I signed up for the race back in February, it seemed like I had all this time to train and prepare, but with just over two months left, that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

I was sticking to a running schedule and then went on my work trip for three weeks, which definitely stalled some of my training. But I'm happy to say I started a new 16-week schedule once I returned and have stuck to it for the past month. I'm up for a ten mile run on Friday and will brave 11 miles in the Arizona heat next week, while I'm on vacation with my parents.

I would be a total liar if I said I wasn't scared to compete in this marathon. Let me tell you now, I am terrified and in all honesty have no idea how I'm going to finish it. Don't get me wrong, I have confidence in my abilities and every time I complete a long run, it's never as bad as I thought it would be, but let's get real people, 26.2 miles is a friggen long way to go.

I keep thinking about how I felt after my half marathon last summer. When I hit mile 12, I was "seeing Jesus" as they say and verbally praying aloud for God to help me finish the race. When I crossed the finish line, I remember my cousin grabbing me and yelling for one of the race officials to give my my medal. I remember her putting the medal over my neck and me just saying, "Cheryl, I hurt. I hurt a lot." My knee was swollen and not feeling too hot because of my overly tight IT band and I ended up working with my trainer for a few months after the half, just to get my IT band back to normal. I remember going to bed that night, after the half marathon, oddly enough on an air mattress (I was staying with my cousin, so real bed space was limited). I remember being in so much pain that when I went to readjust or move in my sleep, I woke up with the searing pain of aching muscles.

And thus I admit to you, I am terrified to run this marathon.

So what's my plan for the next 73 days? Well, I'm definitely sticking to the schedule. When I trained for my half, I kind of made up my own schedule and I think maybe ended up adding too much mileage each week. This will not be the case for the marathon.

I'm going to run the Lynchburg half for a second time in August, about a month before my marathon, so that should gauge how well I'll do. I'm also going to be joining the local Crossfit here in Danbury after my vacation, which should help with overall fitness and maybe help me shed a few more pounds before the race.

I'm also purchasing my very own foam roller, which I've been putting off for far too long. This means I'll be a stretching, foam rolling machine up until the big race.

And finally, I plan to overhaul my diet over the next two months, to really focus on consuming food as fuel and not simply because I like it. Although I lost 40 pounds over the past two years, I've been lazy and allowing myself one too many indulgences. Yes, I've kept the weight off, but I haven't lost anything either, and that has to change. But it's really less about the weight and more about giving my body the energy it needs to friggen run 26.2 miles. This means more veggies, more fruit, more high protein and less low fat mini cupcakes (yes they do exist), cups of cereal before bed (hate that I've reverted to that nasty habit again), and carb binges.

The good thing about all of this is that I committed, I paid the money, I'm running the race. Whether I run, walk, or crawl to the finish line, I will complete it. I don't care how long it takes me, because this is one of those moments in life, where it's all about the journey.

Let the countdown begin  . . .

Staying Healthy while Staying Abroad

In just a few short weeks, I'm off for an extended work trip abroad. I'll be spending about a week in Warsaw, Poland, a few days in Prague, and four days in Madrid, Spain. While I'm certainly excited and happy for the opportunity to travel, I'm a little nervous about two things: 1 - How will I manage to pack all that I need for two weeks in one suitcase and one carry-on and still make the airline weight restrictions? 2 - How will I stay on track with my marathon training and eat healthy? Big problems, right? Yeah, I know, they're fairly minor, but still important, especially to a PR, clothes/shoes-loving, woman!

Let's tackle the suitcase issue first. I've already started making a list of things I need to buy and things I want to pack. I think I've come to the realization that I will need to do some laundry in the hotel sink, and I'm alright with that. But let's be honest, I'm totally one of those girls who brings eight pairs of shoes and too many "just-in-case" outfits. It's going to be tough. I just don't want to get into another situation like I did in China, where my bag was too heavy and in broken English I was told I needed to pay $500 U.S. dollars - Nightmare of a story for another blog post. Anyways, my goal is to be extremely practical about my packing - I said, it's my "goal." I also need to some how leave extra space for all the gifts I need to bring back. This will be a real challenge folks. I plan to document my packing extravaganza and offer some tips as I go along. So wish me luck!

As for my training schedule and eating, that's another story. I know the hotels I'm staying in are equipped with gyms, so that's a start. Working out isn't really going to be a huge issue, I seem to make time for it on work trips. Sometimes though, the fatigue and time differences make me lazy, so I'm going to need to fight the urge to sleep. My shorter runs won't be too bad, but I have a seven and ten mile run to complete while I'm away - that's going to be one boring treadmill workout. Here's hoping I stick to it!

Now eating is a totally different beast. I'm a little compulsive when it comes to weighing myself, so I usually bring a scale with me. Yes, I pack a scale in my suitcase. I'm not sure I'm going to have the space for it this time around, although I refuse to give up and am on the hunt for a lightweight travel scale, if such a thing exists. Worst case, I'll see if the hotel has one. I'm also bringing a lot of my own food, which also contributes to the packing issue. I plan to bring low fat English muffins, a small container of peanut butter, oatmeal packets, some craisins, cheerios, 100 calorie snack packs, and I'm sure that's not all. Part of the reason I bring my own food is strictly health reasons (i.e. calories), but the other reason is due to food allergies - It's not easy being lactose intolerant abroad! I'll also continue food journaling, which should help keep me on track. When all else fails, order the salad.

If you have any tips on packing or keeping a healthy lifestyle while abroad, please do share! I'll keep you all posted on my attempts!

How many breakfasts can a breakfast fan eat?

I'm a lover of pretty much all things breakfast. Belgium waffles? Sure, where's the syrup? Pancakes? Yes, please. Oatmeal? Absolutely. Rye toast? Just give me some peanut butter. Cereal? Any time, anywhere. I really enjoy breakfast. In fact, I regularly eat breakfast for dinner. I've been known to make a quick egg sandwich, or some egg white pancakes, or even just pour myself a bowl of cereal for dinner. Simply put, I love me some breakfast. To that end, I read a recent Times article about the "Second Breakfast," and yes, I'm guilty of being a second breakfast eater too! The article discusses how Americans are treating themselves to smaller breakfasts and then eating a snack or a second breakfast later in the morning. I guess the key here is "smaller." I suppose if you consume two equally large breakfasts, you'd really be doing more harm than good, but I tend to be in support of a second breakfast. I actually think I might be a third breakfast kind of girl. I tend to mostly work out in the mornings, so I usually eat a couple pieces of this special egg white Belgium fruit waffle I make (recipe forthcoming)  before I work out. Then, after I bust my butt at the gym, I'm ravenous, so I tend to eat a full breakfast (oatmeal, or chiobani, or cereal, or eggs) around 8 a.m. But then, after I've made it to work, I'm usually starving again by 10-10:30 a.m. I try to arm myself with healthy snacks, but sometimes, a girl just needs some chocolate, or a perhaps a lemon square from Starbucks? Ugh, so there you go. I admit it. I'm not just a second breakfast eater, I'm a third breakfast eater. Please don't judge.

Here's the article for your reading pleasure.