Fun Mud Run 2014

Next week....another half marathon...

Yummy Energy Thingies

The kids will probably like too...

Energy Bites

1 cup (dry) oatmeal (I used old-fashioned oats)
2/3 cup toasted coconut flakes
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup ground flaxseed or wheat germ (I use ground Chia seeds, it's what I had on hand)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract


Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl until thoroughly mixed. Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour. Once chilled, roll into balls of whatever size you would like. I got 16 when I did this. Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week. They freeze well.

In the Books

And my half marathon I was worried about....it's over.

I did it today.

I have to say now that I have done two of these things, I have some thoughts (of course):

1) Between mile 11 and 13, I have some seriously dark conversations with myself. I hear Jillian Michaels in my head, "Unless you're bleeding, puking or dying....don't stop."

2) It is in the last three miles that you find what you're made of. I really thought my last three miles were miserable in the first race because of the horrible weather. Not so much! Today was decent weather and it was still difficult.

3) Different races definitely mean a different mix of people racing and today was no different. Lots of women. About a third of the runners overall from December. I liked the route today, a lot. The mix of racers....had some issues.

4) I definitely do not hurt as much as I did in December and I attribute that to cold weather and better stretching.

5) I did better than I thought after the health stuff I have been fighting for a month. I managed to finish having run the whole thing. No walking, no stopping. 

6) When is the next one?

Giving Thanks

So the week before the half marathon is going well. I am a bit nervous still but the runs this week are going well. They are not the struggle they were last week. Endurance has returned. It will need to be enough. I have one more long run on Friday and will do a short run on Saturday and the half is on Sunday.

As I run the thoughts are all over the place. I have 60+ minutes to sort out a whole lot of life. Today it was thanks. I really am thankful for something that seems so silly. Ready? The calorie counting app I started this whole health focus two years ago on, MyFitnessPal. I am not kidding, it has been a stalwart guide through all of this. So I wanted to pass that on. I got online and sent a simple letter of thanks to the developers.

"MFP:
I have been doing MFP for two plus years now. I had a lot of weight to lose and had some success before with calorie counting. I decided to use MFP at the recommendation of a friend, and put only a few extra restrictions/guidelines on myself.

I have lost 90 lbs and am looking to do my second half marathon this weekend. I have to say, the feature to link MFP with other fitness apps (I use Endomondo for my running) has made my health focus so easy!!

I now have several friends who are doing MFP after watching me, and I am so proud of them.

If you want details, here is a blog post I wrote about the two year journey:

http://candlemom.blogspot.com/2012/09/what-difference-two-years-can-make.html

Here is a blog post I wrote last week about my first half marathon I did in December. That was an amazing goal to reach, and again, I thank you for your amazing, yet simple app for giving me the tools I needed to do it.

http://candlemom.blogspot.com/2013/03/december-16-2012.html

My most heartfelt thank you for a great great product!
AMG"

 I have to be honest, I didn't expect to hear anything back or if I did, maybe a simple "thank you for sharing". After all, this is a very popular weight loss/fitness app that is used by millions of people. My message was one of thousands they received today.

To my surprise, within an hour, I received this email:

"Hi AMG,

First let us say, Wow! Wow! Wow! Congratulations on your beyond tremendous success of 90 pounds! That is so amazing! Not only do you look like a completely new woman, according to your blogs, you feel like one too! We also have to thank you, thank you so much for sharing your amazing journey with us. I just finished reading your blogs, and still have chills! It is for members like you that make our jobs rewarding each and every day.

I was also absolutely taken away by your blogs, and truly enjoy the way you kept encouraging yourself. Yes, our program is a great tool, and it does help, but only for those who are determined to make a change. It is our members, their challenges, and inspirations that are the true success! We do hope you continue to enjoy using the program, and we wish you nothing but a lifetime of being able to say "I did it"!

All the best to you and your family!

N"

And that is a little reminder, it is worth it saying "thank you" even when you don't think it will hit it's mark. 

March 24th, 2013

So, I am kind of addicted to running now. All the things you hear people say they love about running that I have always blown off as "weird".....I love now.

Here is my list:

• I love the quiet time it gives me. It is just me and my brain. No phone, family, voice mail, email, etc.

• I love that it truly keeps me skinny. While I still watch what I eat, if I am running regularly, it truly is a metabolism miracle. I don't have to worry about every little morsel I eat. 

• Running is a stress shredder and I love it, and cherish it. I was working a very stressful temporary job last summer, and most of the time, I found myself wanting to run to relieve the stress rather than for the physical health of it. 

• I love being outdoors.

• I love that even on a day that feels like a "bad run", it's better than no run at all. It's a good run no matter what.

• I love running with my trusty dog. She loves to run with me. We are a great partnership, and I love having her with me.

• I love the amazing muscle tone I have. I am shocked that I have muscles places I never thought running put muscles. Abs and arms? I asked a physical therapist friend how in the world does that work?  I have always had flabby arms and a genetically given "tummy" to the point where I never ever wear clothes tucked in. Ever.

         She asked what I did with my arms while running. Of course I answered,
         swing them in control, and yes, flexing them as I go. What are my abs
         doing? she asks. I  answer they are flexed, staying in control as I twist while
         running and slightly sucked in as I control my breathing. All for about 60
         minutes straight while breathing hard. Surprise! Muscle tone! All over
         muscle tone.

• I love how I feel when I am done.

• I love when I am done I have energy instead of lacking it. 

My next half marathon is set for March 24th, and I am very nervous. I have really been battling health issues this month before the half. I have had a week of chest cold sickness, followed by a week of nasty food poisoning followed by another week of chest cold sickness. It has been impossible to do the ramp up runs one should do before a half marathon.

I went on a five mile run yesterday and it was a struggle. I need to be able to do six to seven miles effortlessly to do this like I did in December. Before the sickies, I was doing six miles, effortlessly, each run, and not even thinking about what the body was doing from moment to moment because it was doing very well. If I could say one thing I dislike about running, it doesn't take much to lose efforts gained, but it also doesn't take much to gain them back. I need to remember, even bad running days are good running days just for the fact I am running and physically fit.

I have had to have some moments of reality as I look at this coming in less than two weeks.
*I am not going to be as physically prepared.
*I will go running every other day until then to get as prepared as possible.
*After my final training run on 3/22, I will have a conversation with myself to see if I have "permission" to walk sections of the race if needed.
*I will not withdraw from the half.
*Any organized races I do....I need to realize they may not all be great. Again, at least I am out there doing it, and running!
*This half marathon will be better if only for one reason.....I won't be pelted with freezing rain.

December 16, 2012

I haven't had a chance to really sit down and get the words out of me. If you know me, you know I set a goal back in about March or April 2012 to run a half marathon before the end of the year. I set the goal to do it around August or September, based upon what I was able to run in April.

Well life got interesting and hectic. August and September both came and went. At about mid-October, I realized while I might be physically ready for it, I may have lost my opportunity to actually do it since fall and winter were fast approaching. Luckily a friend told me about one in December that would truly be one of the last one's of the year to do.

I signed up to do Portland's "Holiday Half". Just a fun, holiday themed run through the city. Not a super competitive, hard core race. Just fun. Perfect. I signed up.

Then I trained, and had actually not really stopped all spring, summer and fall. At about Thanksgiving I was fighting my body trying to keep it well.  I declared myself ready about two weeks before. However, I had never actually run 13.2 miles, I had come comfortably close.

Race day. It was cold that morning, and there was no parking and I knew that. But it became a factor. My husband dropped me off super early. We had made arrangements to meet along the route and then at the end of the race.

As you can see by the picture, not only did the day start out cold, it continued. By the last three miles, the rain was coming down fairly briskly and it was cold. Like little razor blades on my face, and it sucked the energy right out of me. The picture below is at about mile ten or eleven, and I am struggling. My legs are tight and I am just plain cold. Lungs were doing well, it was my leg muscles that were dying.


As I crossed the finish line, I was proud of several things. I did it! I absolutely did it! I didn't stop and I didn't walk once during the race. I felt great emotionally! I teared up a bit and it surprised me. This was a huge accomplishment for me and it all rushed to me what I had done.

I started looking around....no husband....no kids.....didn't see them on the route. And I was cold. Very cold. My clothes are soaked and I am shaking uncontrollably.....that kind of cold. There is no shelter. I had my cell phone with me to track the race, and I had about 2% charge left on it. I know enough about hypothermia, I knew I needed help out of there. Fast.

Call the husband. He didn't expect me to finish that soon. He's way back on the route. Nice compliment! Doesn't help the immediate need right now. I needed warmth, now. I got on a race-provided shuttle bus and took a ride to an overflow parking lot and told the husband to meet me there. That got us away from the crowd so we could find each other easier. More importantly, it got me on a slightly warm bus. I got off the bus, phone dies, husband pulls up, I get in, kids hand me a protein drink. and home we go.

I did it!!

The pics with the kids were at home. What you can't see....I am still shivering uncontrollably. It was a long shower, a long nap, and three blankets that finally took the chill out.

Reflective Thought

I had a poopy day today. Bottom line.

I won't talk about that, because it's over and the less thought I put into it the faster it will become a fleeting memory.

As I have been working so hard to keep this old carcass of mine in shape and healthy, I find myself thinking less and less what it looks like and more and more how it's functioning. People around me remind me what it looks like.

I had the thought yesterday, and it put it all in perspective for me, I think I want to hang onto it a little bit more than other thoughts so I will post it here for reference. Here it is:

If you take care of it.....it will be beautiful.

What a Difference Two Years Can Make

Two years. In some memories, it seems like yesterday. In other memories, it's a lifetime.

When it comes to my health, its a huge milestone.

Two years ago, I was at my heaviest in my entire life. I can stop here and really just start going inward and deep to tell you why. Not sure I want to do that in this forum, so I won't. I will use a phrase I read in a book once that is very true. "Weight loss is between the ears."

Like I think so many of us have said who have this struggle, I did the weekly, "I need to lose weight." And I would make a few choices that may or may not be drastic for a few days, then weigh myself, with little or no results. That turned into a "give up" and continue down failure.

I, like so many people, did this over and over and over and over and over.....for years. I have had some great seasons in my life where I have had great success. I thought I conquered this beast, only to have some impetus bring me back.

 

Me, September 2010
I remember these pictures being taken. And cringing because I had a good idea of what I looked like. Then when I do see the picture, I look worse than I imagined. 

September 2010
During this time, my body was giving me signs. I couldn't walk very far without
getting very painful, burning shin splints.

September 2010
And I was very much in the public eye and knew people snapped pics of me, and I hated it. 

Lots of things have changed, and I get asked almost daily by those who knew me then and know me now, "What did you do?"  

I will tell you what I did, but I want to caution you before you start taking a turn around the path I just described above of the cyclical path of failures in weight loss. I have some philosophies I want to tell you about that I did first, and then made my gazillionth plan on how to conquer this beast. 

1) I started out with a list of things I have done to lose weight that have lead to success and have lead to failure. DO THIS! Do not do what doesn't work, and do what is successful. 

Perfect example. This happens to me all the time. I tell people what I have done, and they pipe up with, "Oh I do a points system, you should try it. It worked for my cousin......" Nope. Stop. Halt. I tried it, cost me a lot of money, and was a failure. Don't do what doesn't work for you. Now, my friend's cousin, yes, she should count it as a success 

The bigger picture here, there are all kinds of ways to be successful at this, do what works for you. Period. 

2) Do not look for results in 72 hours. I know this about myself. I will do a "plan" for two days, weigh myself, give up, and eat ice cream. Failure. I put this on my list of things I do that lead to failure, and decided not to do it. It sounds funny, but many of you know what I am talking about.

3) I had a lot of weight to lose. I did not go into this thinking I could even lose half of it. I just wanted to lose something. I wanted to just lose 20 pounds. I knew I could take a stab at that. That is what I wanted to call success, not lose 20 pounds and know I have a million more to go. Again, I am looking for a way for success here.

Here is my timeline of a journey, and I will give the most details at the beginning because that is where I set out the rules for myself for my journey.

January 2011: Yes, this began as a New Year's Resolution to get this body on a healthy path. Again, lots of personal stuff going on in my head, some of it still is, but my body is healthy. 

Rules:

I have had a lot of success counting calories in my past lifetime of dieting. It works. My doctor says it's a practical way to figure out portion sizes and keep things in check. It's the basic rule of expending the amount of fuel your body takes in, making sure it doesn't store any. My calorie intake, as a sedentary person, was set at 1200 calories a day. That is tough, but I knew I could do it because I have done it before.

Cutting out the white. I have had a lot of success in my lifetime of dieting cutting out all white sugar and flour products. Bummer, I have a family that doesn't follow that regime and it's very difficult to hold to that kind of a diet for very long. I counted the cost of success vs failure. I can't be that strict on myself and hope for success. I chose not to follow this closely. However, if I did eat these things, I must count the calories. If I eat cheesecake, I must count them. I don't recommend that, because I would get to eat one piece of cheesecake all day long, and nothing else, but I could if I wanted to.

I also got a calorie counter app and put it on my electronic device. That could be your smart phone, computer, tablet, iPod, etc. Back in the "old days" before the gadgetry, yes, I had a calorie counting book. It's the size of a paperback book and I looked up my food that way.  

Great example. I was working with a person today, we hit dinner time and went into a fast food place and I had 349 calories left for my day. I punched in my phone the franchise's name along with the word "chicken". I found a sandwich for 310 calories. Done. I am good to go.

Okay, I had my guidelines for calorie counting. Next.

Forgiveness. If I messed up a day, forgiveness. Tomorrow is another day and I must not allow my mess up to continue by messing up again. Tomorrow is a new day, with zero calories on the books when I awake. Fresh slate, no mess ups. Let's do it right. No more of the wallowing in failure and continuing in it by eating poorly two days in a row. Or worse, grabbing a spoon and quart of ice cream and making it an epic failure. 

Don't look for results for six weeks. Again, we have all done it. A diet for two days and then getting into a mental spin out because we gained two pounds after two days of killing ourselves trying to lose weight. I wanted to set myself up for success. That spin out sure wasn't success. Some of you reading this know exactly what this spin out is.

So, no weighing for about 4 to 6 weeks. Find it on the calendar. I started January 1, so I said at the earliest, I could weigh myself on February 1. However, I couldn't do it unless I had done the calorie counting faithfully, daily for a month.

Someone out there just gasped out loud at that. It's pure logic. Here it is. You ready? 

Why in the world would I want to weigh myself after knowingly messing up a diet? I wouldn't. I can assure you of this, unless something is wrong with you and you need to see a doctor, if you have eaten 1200 calories a day for four weeks straight, that is a recipe for successful weight loss. Period. And I knew if I did that, I would want to continue.

Plus it took the focus of my weight loss off the scale and onto my daily habits. Big difference!

First time I weighed in, I lost 22 pounds. Mid February 2011. I could stop there or continue. It was a success no matter what. It felt great. I wanted to do it again. Let's do this again, same simple rules. for six weeks. 

April 2011, I go visit a friend (Hi KB!) and she and I are both on this kind of a journey. Hers has different choices than mine, but the support we have for each other is constant.

This trip was key for me in this journey. You remember how I start dismissing the friend's cousin's advice? I also listen to others. She had talked to a nutritionist about focusing on protein in my diet. Protein builds muscle, helps the circulatory system, and makes you look skinny. Not hard to do. No need to go get crazy protein drinks or anything. She got me turned onto Greek yogurt (yes, it's double the protein grams than regular yogurt), and a protein supplement. No big deal, just something to think about. I mention this because I do think focusing on protein helps, but it isn't crucial. 

 April 2011, the "leaning"effect was beginning to show in my face. 

This is about a month after focusing on protein in my diet. I have lost about 35 pounds total.

At that point, when I visited her, I had lost 30 pounds and people were starting to notice. In the following month after visiting her, focusing on the protein, I hadn't lost much more, but the "noticing" increased. The protein was having it's desired effect. It builds lean muscle mass and had an effect on my appearance. It was making me look thinner although I hadn't changed much in my numbers. This is key, and will come up again later.

Let's stop for a moment here. Had I had bad days in this first four months? Yes, several. Did I lose my starting out rules and throw them all out? No. Did I take a bad day and end it at the end of that day and make the next day a new start? Yes. Did I have success in doing that? Yes. 

Did I still have the nagging underlying, deep rooted problems going on? Yes, still do in fact. 

Oh did I mention exercise? I haven't done any at this point at all. None.

And so it continued for the remainder of the year. I kept on it, bad days lasting no longer than a day. Counting calories. Weighing in about every 4 to 6 weeks. We had a death in our family, we had some catastrophes, we had extremely happy moments. I continued the daily routine and didn't let the stress take away from the routine. 

Christmas 2011. Yes, I splurged a little bit. I allowed myself bites of goodies. Not servings. Bites. Christmas goodies are crazy full of bad stuff that pack on pounds, and if you don't know this by now, then you don't have a weight problem.  I did count my calories but I was relaxed about it. I didn't have any kind of "over the top" crazy overeating days either.

After Christmas I weighed in and found I had gained 3 pounds. You know what? I just about did a happy dance for a day! I should have, I might have lost that 3 pounds. I was excited it wasn't the 15 I would normally gain around the holidays. I could actually still fit into my, then, skinny jeans.

Christmas 2011

Here comes January 1st again. I was feeling good. I had lost, during 2011, a total of 56 pounds. Honestly, if I had stopped there, life would be grand, and I would be happy. I could be at that weight and be happy. I mean it. If I were that weight right now, after losing more, I would be happy. 

I wanted to set a new goal. I knew my history of losing weight also consisted of losing it, then not making a "new goal" that would support this new weight. So let's make a new goal. 

Several of my friends had taking up running. I had tried it years ago, and frankly, hated it. It hurt, it was uncomfortable. But okay, let's try it. 

Around New Year's of 2012, I took the dog out walking (remember that walking alone used to be extremely painful) and decided to take a few shots at running. Let's just see how far I could go before dying? Let's see how much it hurts. Let's see if this is the new goal.

On my first walk/run, I was completely shocked. On a walk of about 2 1/2 miles, I could run about half of it, and it didn't hurt. In fact, it felt great! I was completely and totally shocked. 

Running is the new goal. I wanted to run a half marathon for 2012 and you can look back at a previous blog post to see those specifics. 

Calorie counting is an easy habit after a year. It's like brushing my teeth or combing my hair. I do it.

I am fully able to handle bringing another goal into the mix.

The weirdest thing that happened when I started running was what happened with the weight loss. From January 2012 to the beginning of April 2012, my weight did not budge one bit. Nada. None. Yet I am steadily increasing my runs, my distance and my calorie burns. Huh? 

I had to be very vigilant of my attitude during this time. This kind of "lack of success" can easily cause me to throw my hands up in the air and give up any of this at all. Many times I had to have a conversation with myself that my success is not a number on a piece of plastic on the floor. My success is in my health, my stamina, etc. 

I was able to easily count one huge success during that time. While the numbers on the scale never moved, boy my size sure did. I went down two whole sizes in clothes, yet my weight stayed the same. I compare this 3 month period to my "protein" focus the year before. While the scale didn't change, my appearance sure did. The "noticing" factor jumped again.

What happened at the beginning of April that changed this? I went to visit my friend, KB, again. She took me to a gym and we did a crazy boxing/shred workout that just about killed me. I couldn't move for days afterwards. I went into that experience knowing it would be crazy hard, and was glad to say I did it, I never stopped, I did everything that was asked of me, I wasn't a whiny diva, and I finished what I started. I also lost 4 pounds when I got home and weighed in. Whatever happened that day jump-started something. 

The weight loss continues slowly; 1 to 2 pounds a month. I have lost 80, yes 80 pounds since January of 2011. I never ever thought in a million years that I would be here. I just wanted to lose something when I started.

I am going to be honest, I am not sure if a half marathon is going to happen in 2012. That is okay.

At the time I am writing this, I am up to running three times a week 5 to 6 miles at a time. I am running about 5 mph, about a 10-11 minute mile. I have had some running set backs this summer, especially with side stitches. In the last 3 weeks, those have been under control and I am back to increasing my distance. I am ready to start thinking about entering a half marathon again.

I have my sights set on January 2013. I want to keep running, and I may need to re-up my half marathon goal.  But I do want to continue my success. What goal can I put out there for myself that would continue my healthy lifestyle? That is what I want to do every year from now on. It may not be as huge as 2011 or 2012 were, but I want to keep it up. I am having too much fun.

September 2012

September 2012

Once a year......

It happened again today, and I absolutely hate it. It doesn't happen very often, and it hasn't happened in a long time. I got a seriously bad migraine today.

I was just waking up this morning and I could feel a basic headached coming on as I got to moving around.

As the morning wore on, I kept having to stop for a few minutes until the severe throbbing stopped. Finally, I stopped. The migraine had arrived and the nausea had begun along with white spots. I postponed my entire day. School with the kids, business calls, and going out to dinner with my inlaws for my hubbie's birthday. Also, a meeting I should have gone to. Done. Non participation.

I laid in bed all day, snoozed a bit, and had those awful thoughts of "Am I having a stroke?" because it hurts so bad. The husband comes home, peanut butter and jelly for dinner, a science assignment was completed. I realize the kids did a great job doing some little assignments I gave them from bed and didn't kill each other. I thank them profusely.

I try going vertical around 6 pm, and the throbbing didn't start. I could move around and get my heart rate up without throbbing. I ate a little dinner. I got caught up on emails.

And tomorrow will be another day.....

Sick sick sicky sick sick sickiest sick

Where am I? Sick!

Good grief! What a month! Is March over yet?

So my kids get their little sniffly cold at the beginning of March. Because they are young and their immune systems are fresh and free, they recover and bounce back in a day or two.

My husband? He gets the full hacking, lung spewing, nasty cold. Nice huh?

I am next. About a week and a half ago, the tickle in my throat began. Here is my problem. Since I turned 30 (last week....shhhh!) I have had the hardest time keeping a cold from turning into a sinus infection. If I don't keep all forms of Mucinex and Sudafed, all versions, constantly in my blood stream, a simple cold can easily turn into a full blown sinus infection.

I have awful stories of these bouts as well. There was a Christmas when the kids were small. When we got home from the festivities, I went to an emergency care place. The doctor told me I was within hours of being admitted to the hospital. Merry Christmas!

Then there is my favorite. The month before we adopted our youngest. Here is the problem, I am doing my gamut of meds, and from hour to hour, I feel good. Then suddenly I feel bad. Then I have a few good hours, then I feel horrible. Days go by before my common sense kicks in and says "Self, you're not getting better. Get help you dork!" Anyway, one month before adopting said child, I was doing that better/worse ride. One night as I was trying to sleep, it suddenly felt like an ice pick was being driven into my ear. The internal brain burning was nothing like I have ever experienced, and it scared me. Yes, doctor visit the next day. I let that one go so long I ruptured an ear drum and couldn't hear out of my right ear for 6 weeks.

I have grown a brain since then. When I can't get the sinus junk out of my brain, I pay the co-pay and just get the antibiotic. I don't wait. And of course, last week, Wednesday and Thursday, not getting better. Off I go. I have my meds and I can stand up without throwing off my equilibrium and making my nose drip disgusting things.

So the kids, the husband and me. That's all right? Oh no. Remember, we have critters. Our poor dog! She has a cool new health plan (Obama should have taken a look at this before boosting our entire health care system.....but I digress) where she gets some nice maintenance kind of care, not just shots, for a few dollars a month. It's time to get her teeth cleaned. That requires her to be put under anesthetic. However, in our last visit, it was noticed she had a few benign growths. One behind her ear and another on her chest. They don't mean much, but those sorts of growths turn to cancer in older dogs. So why not? She's going under anesthetic, let's have those removed.

So she has her meds now too. She has an anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, and a pain pill. I have an antibiotic. The husband isn't on anything, but I also can't find any more Mucinex right now.

We're just a bundle of energized health right now. I feel better, but sound like Demi Moore on steroids. The dog is doing well although she has to wear a tshirt so she leaves her stitches alone. The husband still hacks up things.

A Virus or Pneumonia?

Okay, this has become almost comical if it weren't so miserable.

This last weekend while I was moving furniture like crazy, my husband suddenly doesn't feel well. I never know what to do with that mainly because he mostly just wants to be left alone. If you don't leave him alone, he gets cranky. He usually let's it last for weeks until I raise my voice and make him go to the doctor's.

So he is in bed with his laptop working on his dissertation (that could easily be destroyed by this virus). While I was gone in St. Louis, his computer got a nasty virus. He took it to the place he bought it, left it for about 10 days, for $230, got the stinker removed. Not so! While he is in bed with his computer this weekend, the virus comes back.

He is shaking and shivering (fever!) taking his infected computer to the shop.

We found out his flash drive had a virus. Tossed that baby. Virus came back this afternoon, shivering husband goes back!! I know! There were two viruses that kind of fed each other and kept each other going. Gads! Let's hope!

Anyway, this whole time of going back to the shop, my husband keeps having recurring shivering spells and spiking fevers. To his credit, he normally would "suck it up" and keep going about his business. This time he at least got into bed and rested, unless he was going back to the computer shop. To his credit, he went to the doctor way sooner than he normally would, like by weeks.

He just popped in from the doctor's this morning. He has pneumonia and he is contagious.

Which is worse? A husband with contagious pneumonia or a computer virus that just won't die.

That's a tough one.

Doctor's Orders

Okay, so as I left my dentist's office, he gave me one piece of advice. He said, "Basically, as you eat, if you feel any sharp pain up your tooth, call us. There are about six different ways that could go, bottom line, call us." Got it. Of course that won't happen to me right?

Wrong. As good as I have been to be very careful in not eating crunchy things or meaty things, it happened anyway.

I was dead asleep last night. I think I clenched my teeth, because suddenly I heard a pop in my head, and an instant sharp pain right up my face. It lasted quite awhile, and I laid there throbbing for quite awhile.

Did I wear my mouth guard last night? No, my teeth are too sore. The mouth guard would have prevented that, I think.

Anyway, call into the dentist this morning. He hasn't called me back yet, but I am no hurry to go back in and have my face opened up again. The saga continues....

Sound of Drilling Hanging Over the Pacific Northwest...

Root canal is over, and the drilling wasn't too bad. You might remember, it was on a tooth that already had a filling that had fallen out, and I had ignored for awhile. Since it was already drilled out, the dentist just needed to drill out the decay, and that was deep. Honestly, none of that drilling bothered me and if he had done nothing else, I could have fallen asleep.

Teeth people, correct me if I am wrong, but from my perspective, this is what it seemed like. He goes to the hollow "canals" of my teeth where the roots are, and files them out. He used terms like, "I need a long file for the second canal". I can see him and feel him filing the inside canal of my tooth. The decay on that tooth was deep and it was questionable if we could save it. Dr. Awesome did, of course. But it also meant that as he was filing, he was going pretty deep.

So deep, I could feel him hitting the absolute tip of the root of my tooth in to flesh as he is filing. Now that is nothing I have felt before, and it hurt. It wasn't sensitive tooth hurt, it was hit me in the face hurt. The Novocain didn't cover that part of the procedure. Dr. Awesome is very cool in that he definitely knows what part of the procedure will be painful, will warn you ahead of time, etc. "You'll feel a quick pain here." "This will be uncomfortable for a moment." "A little bit of pressure for a moment."

He also filled another tooth that was to the back of the one he did the root canal on. "As long as we're numbed up, let's do it." Sounds good! No joking, he numbed me well. I felt absolutely nothing nerve-wise this time and that is unusual.

When we were done, I felt good. My face was numb, of course, and felt like it was sliding off my jaw. I came home and actually worked out for 30 minutes. Then I picked up the kids from Vacation Bible School, stopped at Jamba Juice and came home. I laid BH down for a nap, and I laid down too. I just woke up a little while ago. I zonked out and I didn't plan on it.

Now, I am feeling the pain of hitting the tip of the root. My face aches. My teeth are pretty okay, although I have been advised to eat soft things and be nice to them while all the "material" sets for the next ten days. I have three Advil Liqui Gels (my gold standard for all pain relievers) in me, and my husband is picking up yogurt so I can make a smoothie for my dinner. I might be pouring a glass of wine or making adult smoothies soon (pina coladas or margaritas).

All is well. More drilling coming up at the end of August.

Early Tuesday Morning....

By the time many of you read this, I will either be in the process of this or have just completed it. I am not sure what is worse.

Eight a.m. Tuesday morning, I have my root canal (dentist says "plan on two hours of drilling") topped off with a filling.

Two good things will come out of this. I'll probably lose a few pounds because I usually don't feel like using my teeth too much for the first few days after a root canal. I am thinking I'll treat myself to a Jamba Juice smoothie afterwards, which is my second good thing. I can actually do that because it won't send shooting pain through my teeth up into my eye sockets.

I'll give an update Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. Drilling begins at 8 a.m. PST.

Second Opinion Comes In....And God Provides.

After my gut-punching prognosis at the generic dentist, I was in agreement with everyone. A second opinion, and demanding some options were our next course of action. My husband was just as upset as I was, and wanting some choices in the matter.

We agreed, I need to see my dentist, Dr. Awesome, and admit my mistake. I saw him today. I LOVE my dentist! I will never ever deviate from him ever again, I will always suck up my pride, admit my fault, and subject myself to his expertise.

First thing, when I walked in, Dr. Awesome's assistant was with the receptionist. She took a look at the bill from the previous diagnosis. She tells me she used to temp for that exact office, and their prices are "steep" in her words. That gave me hope.

I showed Dr. Awesome the "Treatment Plan" given to me by Brand X dentist office, which has offices nationwide by the way. I also picked up a copy of my x-rays from them earlier today to take them with me to my appointment today. I also said, please be kind. I handled this badly. He said, "Oh, you know me, I am not like that!" It's interesting how our own perceptions cloud the reality of what the person is really like.

Dr. Awesome went down the list, and checked each thing that they prescribed. He set down his tools he used to probe my mouth and just said, "I disagree with a lot of this." Please tell me more!

Here we go:

Tooth number four, the one giving me the most pain. He agrees it needs a root canal and a crown. I agree too. BUT! He can do the root canal, and put in a temporary filling to stop the destruction and get it "healthy" until the insurance renews after the New Year and will pay for the crown. Thank you, Lord! You provide! I know You do, but this is just another example of Your provision where there was nothing.

He caught a few stray cavities as well. In general, when I go to the dentist, I have cavities. I honestly brush my teeth 2-3 times a day. He absolutely recommends rinsing just as many times a day with flouride. Studies Dr. Awesome has read show that rinsing can really build up your teeth and almost make a protective barrier on them. People like me who have bad teeth genes seem to respond well to this. Guy at Brand X office didn't tell me this. I'll be making a trip to the drug store in the next day or so, and I'll get back to you on this.

Receding gum needs a graft, but Dr. Awesome will do it differently than prescribed by Brand X. Again, to be preventative and cost effective. He showed me how if I pull back my gum enough I can see an exposed ligament. He also said don't do this incessantly, but that is where we need to fix that. Interesting huh? Brand X didn't give me a lesson in anatomy.

Here is the big one. Tooth 12 and 13. Brand X says I need a full root canal and crown. That is the tooth that has an abscess, is dead, and should be considered for an extraction in the future.

Dr. Awesome says he doesn't see at all what the fuss is. Yes, it has lost the filling, the nerve is probably dead. But it's a decent tooth. A good filling, and it's good to go. Dr. Awesome took a pencil and lined through about half of the "Treatment Plan" from Brand X and wrote "filling" over all of it. It doesn't need to be considered for extraction. It certainly doesn't need a root canal and a crown.

I cried for a different reason when I got in the car. I might be able to actually do this in such a way to pay minimally out of my pocket, insurance to pay for most of it, and get good dental care. I won't have to finance yet something else in our budget, setting us back $5,000+ dollars.

For those of you who live in my city, I should have seen Dr. Awesome sooner rather than later. I should have swallowed my pride. If anyone wants to know who he is to see him, you just let me know.

I also got a prescription for the radiating pain I have been having until we can get to drilling here in a few weeks. Also I will be taking an antiobiotic to prepare for the root canal. It has a lot of gunk in it now, and that will help prevent infection when we do this. At the end of August, if you hear buzzing sounds for two hours straight hanging over my city, don't be alarmed. It's me getting my bazillionth root canal, and I am happy about it!

The Results Are In....It's Ain't Pretty

I am stunned at how bad my teeth are! I just had a simple toothache! I am going to give you the results by tooth.

Here we go:

Tooth number 12--Needs a root canal, crown and something else I can't tell relating to tooth #13.

Tooth number 2--Needs a cavity filled, I think. I am reading office shorthand as I do this.

Tooth number 4 and 5 (the ones giving me the most pain)--both need a crown and a root canal. I knew that would be the case, just from the pain.

And one of my front bottom teeth, which has a receding gum on it, needs a gum graft. If the gum recedes much further, we will have "future issues".

The dentist used words like "abscess" and "extraction". The abscess on my upper right mouth is the only reason why that side isn't screaming in pain either. He says it's a dead tooth probably. He put ice cold directly on it, and I could barely feel it. The upper left, where the most pain is, he discussed my two options of doing a huge root canal to try to save it, mainly because the teeth around it seem good. If they didn't seem good, then we would extract them! What??!

Yes, after he left, I sat in the chair and cried.

I am taking guesses.....wanna know the dollar figure for all of this?

After insurance--$5450.00

Anyone need to purchase candles?