Posted onOctober 7, 2022|Comments Off on A Recurrence Of Pain (or I’m Not Sure If I Should Worry Now)
The back pain I was dealing with last month was pretty awful. I’ve had back pain from time to time, but it was nothing like what I dealt with recently. The scariest moments for me were when I realized the pain was preventing me from being able to turn in my sleep and I would wake up in pain because I was moving in my sleep. I’ve only experienced that one time before and it was right after my hip surgery. That feeling of not being able to move terrified me back then and I still remember how helpless I felt. So having a similar feeling to that scared me as well.
The pain was more severe than any other time I had dealt with back pain and it lasted longer. I really started to worry that it was more about my hip than my back and that I might need to see a doctor. Fortunately, the pain was getting better over time even though it took a lot longer than I would have liked. But it felt like it was finally gone last week. I was still being cautious and careful because I didn’t know if the issue was still there even if the pain was gone. And I didn’t want to injure myself again if that was the case. Even though I’m used to dealing with pain, this was more than I’m used to and I didn’t want to experience it again.
And unfortunately, since Wednesday evening I’ve been dealing with very similar back pain again. As of right now, it hasn’t been as severe as it was before. And I’m doing all the same pain management things that I did last time. I have no clue if it will get worse and feel like it did last time or if it’s just going to be another slow process to get better. And I also don’t know if this is technically a new injury or if I aggravated the old one. I don’t know if those really matter that much, but my guess is that I aggravated the old one. I had a crazy workout on Tuesday and then that evening I went out to a place that had very uncomfortable seating where my legs dangled. And I know when I can’t rest my feet properly, it can bother my hip. So by having those two things back to back, I think I would have been shocked if I didn’t have a little pain. But I wasn’t expecting something like this.
I am worried that this isn’t my back and it’s really my hip, but I’m trying to be optimistic. I guess I will need to wait and see if this pain gets better over the next few weeks or if it doesn’t have much change. If it stays the same, then I might need to schedule an appointment to try to get a referral to orthopedics again. I know that the timeline for me to get my hip replacements done was to be at least when I’m 40. And even if that still feels a million years away, in reality, it is less than a year away for me. This pain is on the side that wasn’t operated on yet, so I haven’t really experienced what a slow uptick in pain is like yet. The side that was operated on wasn’t in pain one moment and I was in extreme pain the next. It was a very different process and maybe this is what things are like when it’s not drastic like that.
I’m trying to not keep thinking of the worst-case scenarios, but it’s hard to not think of them when I know that my body has a lot of issues that still need to be fixed. And I’ve almost hit the goal of when my orthopedic surgeon wanted me to wait to have the surgeries he knew I would need one day. But I’m just going to take this one day at a time again and hope that the pain decreases a bit each day so I don’t have to think about making plans for some sort of medical intervention. And hopefully, it’s just bad luck that I had this happen two months in a row and after I get over the pain this time, I won’t have to worry about it again for quite some time.
Posted onSeptember 16, 2022|Comments Off on Finally Feeling Better (or Just In Time To Feel Bad Again)
I wrote earlier about how I have had some health-related things to deal with every week for the past month. I think it affected my mental health more than I wanted to admit because I really have been down this week. There were other things that caused me to be in a bad mood, but feeling sick or off always seems to make things worse. But I knew that all the physical health stuff I was dealing with would get better even if it seemed to be taking longer than I would have liked.
And finally, I’m feeling normal again. Dealing with the side effects from the booster shot seemed to be a bit more than what I’m used to, but looking back now I don’t think it was as bad as I sometimes go through with the flu shot. I think it might have just hit me harder than I’m used to, but it didn’t last as long as it can with the flu shot. Almost all of my severe side effects were gone within 48 hours. The only real things that lasted longer were my swollen lymph nodes and feeling a bit weak in my workouts. I think I’m still feeling a little weak in my workouts, but I can finally do a lot of things that I was struggling with at the beginning of the week. And I’m sure that my lymph nodes are still a bit swollen, but they are no longer swollen to the point where you could see them and it was affecting how much I could lower my arm. I know I saw reports online about not getting a mammogram for 1-2 months after getting the vaccine because a swollen lymph node could be mistaken for something else. So I think it’s very possible that I could still have them swollen for a while, but I don’t really mind if it’s not affecting what I can actually do day to day.
And my back has been an issue for a few weeks now. It was slowly getting better, but it also felt like I was taking 2 steps forward and 1 step back every day. I would see improvement one way but then discover another way that things might have been worse. I have just been doing everything I could to take care of myself. I was making sure I was taking pain medication when things were getting worse so I didn’t compensate for pain with bad posture and have more issues later. I used topical pain relief throughout the day to help the pain but limit how much medication I took every day. I was trying to do stretches when I could, but I also noticed that they sometimes would hurt me more.
The worst of my back pain seemed to be when I was in bed. I don’t know why laying down was so painful for me, but it really was a struggle. And as I mentioned, I wasn’t sleeping well because every time I moved, the pain woke me up. And this has been an issue since my back started to hurt. But 2 nights ago, I noticed I moved while laying in bed and reading and I didn’t have searing pain in my back. I didn’t keep moving around to test if things would hurt since I didn’t want to jinx myself. But then last night, it continued to be somewhat ok while I moved in bed. I wasn’t waking up all night because of the pain, which was so nice. I do still have some back pain, but it’s really mild now compared to how it was even at the beginning of the week.
I’m so grateful that I’m feeling better with these two things. Although now, I’m just waiting to see how bad my pain and nausea will be this month. Normally, it would have kicked in by now but it hasn’t yet. I’m glad it hasn’t started since I’ve been dealing with other things, but I’m also worried that this could mean that next week will be even worse. I know I can’t think that and I just have to keep hoping this month won’t be bad. I also know that getting the booster shot might be throwing off my cycle a bit so maybe things are just late and that’s why I haven’t had those symptoms kick in yet. I’m not too worried if things are off by a day or a few days since I know that’s a normal side effect of any vaccine. But it’s also making me feel a bit antsy to see when things will kick in and when I will need to work on managing those symptoms.
After having a month of back-to-back health issues, I’m really ready to be over them. I know I still need to get through the pain and nausea when it kicks in, and because of the timing, that means I will be dealing with health issues for 5 or 6 weeks without a break. But hopefully, after I’m through that in a week or two, I will finally have some weeks with no health issues and I can just relax and enjoy my time.
Posted onSeptember 14, 2022|Comments Off on Sometimes It Feels Like One Thing After Another (or Having To Miss Things For My Own Good)
I’m used to having a bad 1-2 weeks each month. It’s an annoying reality of my life, but it’s just what I have to deal with. The ways to avoid it are either not options for me or things I don’t want to do just yet. But it feels like since my last bad week, it’s been one thing after another and it’s not stopping. And I feel like it’s starting to affect my life a bit.
I’m glad that I didn’t throw out my back while also having a regular bad week because that pain would have been really difficult to deal with. My back is doing a lot better now, but when it started I was really worried that something serious was wrong with me. I am used to bad pain with my hips, but this was another level. And when I was trying to sleep, the pain sometimes got worse. I do move quite a bit in my sleep, and every time I moved the pain woke me up. And almost worse than that pain, sometimes I wasn’t able to move and I felt trapped and that woke me up. I don’t know how to explain my lack of ability to move, but I just couldn’t turn over the way I normally do. I needed to wake up, sit up, and use my upper body to move me. It was really odd.
I’m glad that things are better now and I’m not in severe pain and it’s becoming less frequent. I still feel pain when I move certain ways and I do still have some issues moving while I’m laying in bed. But it’s nothing like what it was just a week ago. And I think that every day things are getting a bit better and I should hopefully be back to normal soon enough.
But just as my back was doing better, I got my booster shot and had to start dealing with those issues. I’m glad that I timed it out well so the worst of my side effects occurred over the weekend when I could rest and recover. But my lymph nodes are still swollen and my arm still hurts. And I have been feeling pretty weak in my workouts, which I should have expected but I wasn’t. Feeling weak when I don’t feel sick anymore is such a tough thing to deal with.
And now, I’m just about to start up another round of regular bad weeks. So I feel like I haven’t had a break. And this isn’t my normal, so it’s been hard for me to deal with this mentally. I’ve been trying to keep up with my normal plans, but this week I will have to skip something that I really was planning on.
I have done the Dri-Tri at Orangetheory almost every single time that it’s been offered since I started working out there. I missed the first one because of my schedule, and of course, I missed the ones that happened when the studios were shut down. But I did do the Dri-Tri at home, even though that’s not exactly the same. And this weekend, it’s the Dri-Tri again. I had every intention of signing up and just going for it. I know I wouldn’t get a PR or do something amazing, but that’s not the point for me. I just like to do them to prove to myself that I can.
But between how weak I’m feeling and the issues with my back, I know it wouldn’t be smart for me to try it. I have to be careful with what I do, and I know that some of the exercises wouldn’t be the best options for me to try. I do push myself, but I’m aware of my limits and what adrenaline can do. And I think that if I did the Dri-Tri, I would probably push myself too much and not realize until after it’s done that I did something that set me back with my back recovering. I wanted to wait and see how I felt and make a decision at the last minute, but I know now that there’s no way I could do it in a smart way and I just have to accept that’s what will happen.
I’m still thinking I will go to the studio to cheer people on, especially if any of my friends decide to go for it. But I also know that it will probably be a bit sad and frustrating to watch others do something I wanted to do and know I just can’t join in. I know this won’t be my last chance. They do the Dri-Tri every 6 months or so, so I just need to focus on being ready to do it then and not missing out on the one now.
Posted onSeptember 12, 2022|Comments Off on Trying Out A New Workout Schedule (or Still Working With Some Pain)
This past week I tested out a new workout schedule. Because the schedule is changing at the studio and some coaches are changing when they teach, if I kept my old schedule I would miss at least one of the coaches I like to take a class with. But this new schedule also means going 4 days in a row, so I’m not sure if this is going to work for me or not. But I was excited to test it out this past week.
Monday was a holiday, so I got to go to a slightly later class than I normally do. It was still a morning class since I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep in that late, but getting an extra 30 minutes of sleep was nice. And I was surprised to see that it was a 2 group class. Usually, I go to 3 group classes, and they typically do that for holidays. But it was nice to have a 2 group class because we got to do a run/row workout.
For the run/row, the treadmill/bike portion involved working with inclines. And for the row, we always had a 100-meter row. For the treadmill/bike, we started with the shortest segment, but it was also at the highest incline/resistance level. And every time we were back to the treadmills/bike, the distance got longer and the incline went down. Then we had our row and then we were supposed to do a 1-minute recovery on the treadmill/bike to make sure we were ready for the next interval. We don’t always have recovery built into workouts like this, and we were told not to skip it, so I think I was much more ready for each incline segment. My back was still hurting, so getting on and off the bike and rower wasn’t the smoothest, but I was able to do it quickly enough.
On the floor, we had 3 blocks. The first block started with a goblet squat, which I had to do as a regular squat because it was too tough for me to hold a weight while doing it. Then we could rest before doing the next 3 exercises without a break. We had front raises, lateral raises, and reverse flys. Since those were without a break, everyone had to use a lighter weight than we might have used if we did each exercise separately. The second block had lateral hops, shuffle steps, bicep curls, and hip bridges. For the lateral hops and shuffle steps, I just did them slowly and as steps to not aggravate my back. And the last block was timed with neutral thrusters and walkouts to planks. For the walkouts to planks, I did something that looked like a modified burpee by stepping out to a plank and using the bench for my hands.
Tuesday’s workout was a signature class and it was the Infinity workout. This one is a bit of a Dri-Tri prep, and we have the Dri-Tri coming up in a couple of weeks. Normally, I would already be signed up for it, but I’m waiting to see how my back does. I want to challenge myself, but I also don’t want to hurt myself more.
For cardio, we started with a 3-minute push pace followed by a 1-minute base pace. We repeated this pattern and the push paces decreased by 30-seconds each time. And we ended with a 1-minute all-out. I was using my new base pace and I was feeling pretty good about how I did. I did need some breaks when I had some pain in my back, but they were much less often than what it was like the week before.
On the rower, we had rounds of a 100-meter row and medicine ball work. We were supposed to do power jacks, but since I had to be careful I did overhead presses instead. We started with 20 reps for the medicine ball and that decreased by 2 every time. And the goal was to get as far on the rower as we could. I had a goal of getting to at least 1500 meters, and I just made it so I was very happy with that.
And on the floor, we had the same exercises that are a part of the Dri-Tri. We had bench hop-overs, squats, step-ups (which I did as lunges), push-ups, plank jacks, and burpees. And doing these exercises proved to me that if I’m still feeling the same way I feel right now, I won’t be able to do the Dri-Tri. I really did my best with each exercise, but I had to take quite a few breaks and I only made it through the exercises once before the workout was done. The goal was to make it through them all twice to be the same as what would be done during the Dri-Tir. I know there is time for me to feel better and I’ve made a huge improvement since my back was injured last week, but it still was a bit upsetting to realize how difficult doing these exercises was for me. But I tried in the workout and that’s all I could do.
Wednesday was a bit of a tougher day for me. I think because I have been compensating for my back hurting, I woke up on Wednesday with not only back pain but hip pain. So having extra pain meant I had to be even more careful during my workout.
We had 2 blocks for cardio and for both blocks the focus was on intervals of a push pace followed by a base pace. In the first block, the push pace got shorter each time and the base pace stayed the same. And in the second block, the push pace was always the same and the base pace got shorter each time. And both blocks ended with a 1-minute all-out. I did use my new regular resistance levels on the bike, but I just pedaled slower than normal.
On the rower, for the first block, we had decreasing rows with squat jumps between each row. The rows started at 250-meters and went down by 50 meters each time. I did regular squats that weren’t exactly my normal full range of motion since I wasn’t able to bend much more than that. And in the second block, the row was always 150-meters and we were supposed to do squat jacks between each row. And the reps for the squat jacks decreased each time. For this block, I did overhead presses with the medicine ball instead of squat jacks.
On the floor, I just had to manage the best that I could. In the first block, we had step-ups, chest presses, and low rows on the straps. I did lunges instead of step-ups and they weren’t very good lunges. I tried my best, but I couldn’t bend as much as I thought I could. And in the second block, we had chest fly with weights, lateral step-ups, and plank jacks. I did lateral lunges instead of the step-ups and I stepped out for my plank jacks.
And my last workout for the week was on Thursday. I know doing 4 days in a row is more than I normally do, but it was a good test for me to do when I was dealing with pain. And even though it was another tough day, it was a good challenge and I just did the best that I could. The workout had 2 blocks for each section of the room and we switched between each block. So we did 1 block at each section first and then did another round to do the second block.
For cardio, both blocks were the same and I did some modifications to make it easier for me to make it through. Each block had 3 hill challenges in it and a 45-second base pace between each one. Each challenge was 90 seconds long and we were supposed to increase the incline/resistance level every 30 seconds. I did do that increase within each challenge, but we were supposed to continue increasing the incline/resistance level for each challenge and I kept it the same for all 6. So my resistance levels ended up being the level between my push and all-out, my all-out, and 1 above my all-out. I know I should have tried to go higher, but I really didn’t want to push things too much for my back.
On the rower, for both blocks we were timed with cardio. So we had a 30-second base row, 30-second push row, and 30-second all-out row with a 45-second recovery row in between. And we did that pattern a total of 3 times for each block. I surprised myself by being able to row almost the entire time for both blocks. I did have quick breaks, but I only really took a few seconds each time.
And the floor again was the most challenging part of the workout for me. The first block was supposed to have bench tap squats, jump squats, and plank low rows. I did regular squats as far as I could go for the bench tap squats and squats with calf raises for the jump squats. And in the second block, we had chest presses with weights, push-ups, and balance lunges. I was doing ok with the chest presses, but getting up and down with the bench was harder than I expected so that slowed me down. And for the balance lunges, I just tried to do lunges the best that I could.
I’m glad I tested out this new schedule and I’m curious to see how it feels as I try it again. I really think this could be possible, but it just depends on how I feel. Since this past week wasn’t my best week, it could be a good representation of a bad week for me. So I might be able to manage it no matter how I feel. But I also know it’s easy enough for me to switch up my schedule if I feel like this won’t work for me for a week. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how I feel.
Posted onAugust 31, 2022|Comments Off on Ending Some Pain and Starting Other Pain (or At Least I’m Stocked Up)
I was just starting to feel better after dealing with monthly pain and nausea at the beginning of this week. The type of pain I feel each month is very specific pain and it’s not like any other pain that I feel. I might be lucky that I only deal with that pain for part of the month every month, but unfortunately, I pretty much deal with pain on a daily basis in other ways.
Even though my hip pain is so much better than it was before I had my hip surgery, I’m still in at least a little bit of pain every day. Some days the pain is more like a dull pressure and that’s really easy for me to deal with and I don’t worry about managing it. Other days, I worry that this could be the start of things needing to be operated on again because the pain is so severe. I’m lucky that I have been dealing with this pain for over a decade so I have some great tools I can use to manage it. I don’t always take medication as the first option because I know that doesn’t always work and often I have to be really on top of scheduling when I can take things. I have different stretches that can help and usually that will take the edge off of things. I also have some over-the-counter things I can use.
Because pain is a daily part of my life, when I’m dealing with pain every month I can try some of the methods I use for my hip pain. It doesn’t always work, but it’s good to have options. And when I have other random pain that comes up, I usually have some good ideas of what I can use and try.
And as the monthly pain was easing up at the beginning of the week, I did something to my lower back or hip and it’s pretty painful. I’ve dealt with this before and it’s likely some sort of pulled muscle or spasm. I know it’s different from my hip pain because joint pain and muscle pain feel very different to me. It doesn’t mean it’s not painful, it’s just a different type of pain. But pain is pain and I’m lucky that I’ve been working through pain for so long so I’m pretty prepared.
I am still going to my workouts, but I just have to be careful and make sure that nothing I’m doing will make me hurt worse. I’m good about paying attention to my body when it comes to pain, so this isn’t too tough for me to do. And while I’m working, I’ve been using different pain creams and heat pads to help make sure that sitting for several hours won’t cause more pain. So far, it’s only been a few days of dealing with this new back pain and I know it will probably take a few more days before it’s gone. But I’m hoping that it continues to ease through the next few days so it won’t be as severe.
But if it sticks around longer or is severe longer, I do know I’m prepared for this. If I have to take some painkillers, I have options because of what I take for my hip. Even though my hip pain is joint pain, dealing with it can cause muscle pain on the other side when I’m compensating for things so I do have a lot of over-the-counter muscle pain options. The plug-in heat pad I use for cramps is the perfect size to have against the back of my chair and I can plug it in at my desk and not worry about it losing the heat.
It does suck that I had a new pain start just as another type of pain ended, but at least I know I’m prepared to deal with this and it will pass. This is temporary and I know I can tolerate it. And hopefully, soon enough I will only have my normal pain to deal with and I can feel much better than I do now.
Posted onAugust 16, 2022|Comments Off on Unexpected Help From Having Better A/C (or Surviving Another Gallbladder Attack)
I used to have gallbladder attacks pretty frequently. I’ve been lucky that they have decreased quite a bit and I haven’t had surgery to take it out. I was planning on having it removed when I had my liver surgery, but when that got canceled I decided not to look into still having surgery just for my gallbladder. I would have kept my liver surgery date and had my gallbladder out at that time (and have the smaller tumors removed), but I didn’t want to do a surgery if I could avoid it. And after discovering about my tumors, my attacks weren’t happening as often.
What we think happened was when my tumors were big, they were compressing other organs so my gallbladder had less space and the attacks could be triggered a lot easier. But now that my liver isn’t pressing on other things, my gallbladder is a normal size and shape and while I still have gallstones they aren’t causing attacks the way they used to. I think every follow-up MRI I’ve had included a note about having gallstones. But as long as it’s not bothering me, I’m ok for now.
I have had a few attacks in the past few years, but they really don’t happen that often and I have found that they aren’t as severe as they used to be. They are still awful and there are moments I feel like I’m dying, but instead of lasting half the day, they are usually over within an hour or two. And I do have ways I can try to manage the pain and just get through the attack.
I had a random attack over the weekend and it’s been months since my last one. I really was trying to think of the last time I had one and I couldn’t remember it. But there’s no way to forget the pain, especially when it hits again. I don’t know what caused it because I hadn’t eaten anything that should have triggered an attack. But I had all the horrible symptoms and just tried to lay down and rest so I could get through it.
One of the symptoms I have when I’m having a gallbladder attack is feeling like I’m having a heat flash or fever. It feels like I’m burning up and I can’t stop sweating. I have always had a fan next to my bed, and whenever I have had an attack I put the fan on high and have it right next to me to cool me down. But this was the first time I had an attack since living at my new place and I have central a/c instead of a little window unit. I’ve already been loving having central a/c, plus the way my condo is situated, things don’t get as hot as they did in my old place. And as I was laying on my bed with my fan next to me, I lowered the thermostat on my a/c to make sure it went on and stayed on for a bit. And as soon as the a/c started and cooled down my room, I started to feel a lot better. The pain was still really intense and I was dizzy and feeling like I would pass out (which is normal for me with a gallbladder attack), but not feeling like I’m burning up really did help. I don’t know if it was really making me feel better or just giving me something else to focus on with cold air hitting my body. But it made getting through this recent attack a lot easier.
This attack I had only lasted about an hour, which sounds like a long time when you feel like you are dying. But compared to what my attacks used to be like, this was much easier. I was able to recover from the attack pretty quickly and get a few more things done with my day instead of needing the rest of the day to recover. I did still feel weak for a few more hours, but it was much more manageable compared to what it’s been like before. I know that it could be that this attack just wasn’t as bad as others have been, but I really do think having the a/c helped me. And I never expected that to be something I could have used when I’ve been having attacks before. I knew it would be nice, but I underestimated how much it would help.
Hopefully, I won’t have another gallbladder attack for quite a while. I would love it if I only had them maybe once a year or less. I do try to eat things that I know won’t cause attacks, but I think some of the ones I have had are just random because I can’t figure out the trigger. But even if I have another one soon, at least now I figured out something else that hopefully will help me get through the attack and make it a bit more tolerable.
Posted onJune 22, 2022|Comments Off on Sometimes I Feel Cursed (or At Least I Think I’m Feeling Better)
I finally got through being in a lot of pain and nauseous. As I wrote about before, it was really rough on me this time and I wasn’t able to get a lot of relief from things that usually help me. But I made it through and I was so happy that I was feeling better and like myself again. And on Monday, I felt pretty great. I wasn’t 100%, but I only had a few moments of minor pain or nausea that could have been attributed to anything.
And I don’t know if what I was feeling on Monday was the end of what I deal with each month or the start of something new. But all I know is that on Tuesday I was feeling horrible. It was similar to what I was feeling not too long ago that really took me by surprise. But there were a few differences. It hit me really quickly and it was pretty extreme. I had some moments where I really wondered if something could be seriously wrong with me, but then the symptoms got a bit better. It was a constant up and down all day where I would feel almost ok and then I would feel like I was going through something really serious.
I’m pretty certain that I had food poisoning. I don’t know what could have caused it, but because of how quickly it came on and how it went away, it didn’t feel like a stomach bug since those usually take a bit more time to work through your system. I have no clue what I ate that could have caused this. Everything I ate right before I got sick was something that I normally eat. But I know that even if I ate something from the same container the other day, I could have gotten something that happened to go back or affect my body differently. And I’m going to have to guess that’s what happened but I will still be cautious about what I eat for the next few days. I already did double-check all the expiration dates on the food I have and everything should still be good. I didn’t throw out anything I have, but I’m going to just be a bit more cautious and aware in case I feel like this again.
I hate how I felt so horrible right after spending more time than I would have liked being in pain and nauseous. It didn’t feel fair that I just got through something to have to deal with it again. But I’m glad that it seems like this was a quick bug and that I’m feeling much better. I do feel a bit weak, as I normally do after any sort of sickness, so I know I will have to just be careful and try not to overdo too much in my life. But I also am so tired already of feeling sick and I just want to get back to my normal life and enjoy the few good weeks I have before I feel sick again.
The bad days I have seem to last forever and the good days I have seem to fly by. So when I have an extra bad day that wasn’t when I expected it, it just makes me feel like there’s something really wrong with me or that things are working against me. I know that I’m not cursed, but it does feel like that at times. But I am grateful that I know this is a temporary feeling this time because there are so many people with medical conditions that feel like this all the time. And I know what it’s like to deal with things like pain all the time and how it really can take up your life. So I am grateful that this isn’t what I have to deal with every day and that I should be fine now.
Posted onJune 20, 2022|Comments Off on Surviving My Workout Week (or I Knew It Would Be Bad, But Not This Bad)
As I wrote about this past week, I was dealing with a lot more pain and nausea than I typically do on my bad weeks. I was pretty shocked about how bad things were for me, especially before I was able to get more anti-nausea meds. Just my day-to-day stuff was difficult enough for me. Doing my workouts felt almost impossible during this past week. But I tried to make it work the best that I could.
Monday’s workout wasn’t a good one for me. I knew it probably wouldn’t be good, but I think it was a bit worse than I expected. And I think this might have been because of the type of workout. If I was feeling good, it would have been a nice challenge. But because I was feeling so off, I really struggled.
The cardio wasn’t too bad for me because I knew how to manage things. We started with a 4-minute progressive block starting at a base pace and increasing each minute and ending at an all-out. Then we had a minute to recover and then we had a 90-second progressive block with an increase every 30-seconds. The second block was the same as the first except we did the 90-second progressive block first and the 4-minute progressive block second.
On the rower, the main part of the rowing was a crew row. A crew row is when everyone on the rower is rowing together, and that’s what made this workout so difficult for me. I knew I would struggle to keep up and I would need a lot of breaks. But I just tried to stay in sync with the others on the rower when I was able to row. The rower pattern was similar to cardio with a 4-minute progressive block and a 90-second progressive block. The strokes per minute went up every minute or every 30-seconds. And the second block on the rower was the same as the first but in reverse.
The floor was probably my best section in this workout even though I did a lot of modifications. I had to modify every exercise we were supposed to do. We had kneeling shoulder presses to stands which I did as lunges and then as shoulder presses separately. We had single-leg deadlifts which I did as regular deadlifts. We had balance bicep curls which I did as regular biceps curls. And we had bear planks with arm raises which I did as bird dogs. I tried to keep each exercise as close to what we were supposed to do, so I think that made it not as bad as some of the rest of my workout.
Wednesday’s workout was another tough one for me. As I wrote in my posts last week, I was really hurting and very nauseous. And because I didn’t have my anti-nausea medication in time for this workout, I just had to work through it and do what I could. I know I must have looked horrible because some of my friends in that class asked if I was ok. But just like the other workouts when I feel horrible, I just do what I can and try not to be too down on myself.
The cardio blocks were powered focused, and the first block had something I don’t think we’ve done before. The first block started with a 1-minute push pace and then we had a 15-second all-out. Normally, all-outs are at least 30-seconds, so to have a 15-second one was different. We then had 90-seconds at a base pace, but it could be a base pace lower than normal since we typically have walking recoveries after an all-out. We repeated this pattern for the rest of the block. The second block was a similar idea but we had 30-second all-outs and 2-minutes of a base pace after the all-outs. For both blocks, I did use my regular resistance levels, but I was pedaling a lot slower than normal.
On the rower, for both blocks we only had 200-meter rows. Between the rows in the first block, we were supposed to do lunges with a medicine ball but I did regular lunges without it. And in the second block, we had squats to front presses and then bicep curls with the medicine ball. For that block, I was able to do the exercises normally.
And we had 2 blocks as well on the floor. The first block had goblet squats, hip bridges, and sit-ups with rotation. I didn’t go too heavy with the weights, but I did try to get close to the normal weight I use for the hip bridges since I have been working on increasing my weight for that exercise. The second block had low rows with weights, pullovers, and mountain climbers. I used the bench for my hands for the mountain climbers, but that was the only real modification I had to use for the floor.
On Thursday, I finally had my anti-nausea medication, so that helped a lot with how I felt in class. I was still doing a lot worse than I normally do on my bad weeks. And I was feeling so out of it that I almost forgot that I had a workout that morning and was thinking I should sleep in. Fortunately, I realized what day of the week it was when I was turning off my alarm, so I wasn’t running late.
For cardio, we had 2 blocks. The first block had 45-second push paces and 1-minute walking recoveries. And for the push paces, we were at a pretty high incline. The second block had 1-minute push paces and 45-second walking recoveries and the incline was still high but slightly lower than from the first block. For both blocks, my resistance level on the bike was higher than what I normally do for my all-outs.
For the rower, we were timed along with cardio. So the first block had 45-second all-out rows and the second block had 1-minute all-out rows. And when cardio had their walking recovery, we could fully rest and recover. Normally, we have recovery rows where you row slowly. But I really appreciated the time to sit still and rest. And somehow, I was always able to row the entire time we had all-out and I was able to keep my distance almost the same each time. I really thought I would struggle more with the rower, but maybe my medications were kicking in by then.
And on the floor, each block focused on one specific exercise. The first block focused on lunges and the second block focused on single-arm chest presses. We first had a rep range to do on one side, then we could rest. Then we did as many reps as we could on the same side. Then switch sides. So you really got to fatigue on each side. I didn’t use a weight for the lunges since I hold onto the wall, but I did use my regular weight for the chest presses which made it extra hard with how many reps we had on one side. And we ended the floor with 30-seconds where we could pick a core exercise, and I just did regular crunches.
Friday’s workout was repeating a workout that we had done on the 1st, so I had done this one before. Of course, when I did the workout that time, I was feeling ok. This time, I wasn’t as bad as I had been earlier in the week (thankfully, my medications were finally working and helping), but I wasn’t doing as well as I had been before. But I was glad that I was finally feeling like I might be over the hump of feeling horrible so I could do a bit more.
We had 3 blocks for each section of the room. For cardio, the first block was a 4-minute progressive challenge. We started between a base and push pace and increased each minute, ending with a 1-minute all-out. For the second block, we had a 4-minute distance challenge where we kept things the same for the entire block. And the goal was to get to the same distance from the first block, which I was able to do. And the last block was a bit shorter with a 1-minute base pace, 1-minute push pace, and 1-minute all-out.
On the rower, each block had a specific row distance and one medicine ball exercise. I did have to make modifications for each medicine ball exercise, but at least it wasn’t because I was nauseous. The first block had 200-meter rows, the second block had 150-meter rows, and the last block had 100-meter rows. The exercise for the first block was supposed to be single-leg halos, but I did the halos just standing. The second block had lunges with twists, but I just did the twists while standing (my hips were a little sore, but I think that was due to sleeping funny). And the last block had tricep extensions that were also supposed to be single-leg, but I did them standing.
And on the floor, we had one weighted exercise and one body weight exercise. And for the weighted exercises, we had a range of reps we could do so we could try to experiment a bit with how heavy we could go. The weighted exercises were single-arm shoulder presses, suitcase deadlifts, and double crunches. I was hoping to try to go heavier with my deadlifts, but the weights that were one set heavier than what I use weren’t available and I knew I couldn’t go even heavier. So I just focused on trying to go slow. And the body weight exercises were dead bugs, bird dogs, and back extensions. And we ended the workout with a 1-minute plank hold.
I’m glad I am past this past week of workouts. They were pretty bad for me, and I hate that I ended up being so unprepared for how difficult they would be. But I did them the best I could, which is all I can ask for. And while this week might be a bit of a struggle toward the beginning of the week, I should be feeling normal again very soon!
Posted onJune 17, 2022|Comments Off on Still Feeling Sick (or This Will Be Another Short Post)
I know I just wrote about how miserable I was feeling this week. Unfortunately, that’s continued through the rest of this week. I have been really struggling a lot and I just can’t seem to make myself feel better. I’ve been trying all the things I have figured out in the past plus the new things I have just gotten to try to not be in as much pain or feel as nauseous. I am glad that I was able to get my anti-nausea medication in the mail yesterday so I was able to start taking that and it does help a bit. But I’ve just had to think of this week as a bit of a loss.
I really wanted to go out and do some fun things after work because my schedule had the availability for it. Instead, I have been spending so much time on my couch and in my bed. I’m even having to work from bed a bit because I am in so much pain. I hate doing that because it’s easier to work sitting at my desk. But when the pain is so bad that you can’t sit upright, working from bed has to be done. I probably should invest in a little surface I can put my laptop on to make working from bed easier. But I also don’t want to think that I will have to do that too much since it’s usually such a rare thing.
And when I’m in so much physical pain, I know my mental health takes a hit. I’m trying to do the things that I enjoy that aren’t causing me more issues. I’ve been reading a lot before and after work, and that’s a nice distraction. I haven’t been stressing out about things that aren’t as important or necessary right now like being perfect with cleaning. My condo isn’t messy, but I try to do some cleaning every day so it doesn’t pile up. But I’ve been letting it slide this week because I just don’t feel like it.
I know that this will be temporary and I usually don’t feel this bad. And I guess it’s good that I didn’t have anything I had to do this week. When my parents were here last month, it was when I was in pain and nauseous, but it wasn’t this bad. If it was, our visit would have been a lot worse. So I guess if I have to be miserable, it’s good that I’m not having to take things off of my schedule. And I know that it’s unlikely that next month will be like this, so I should be able to not have a week where I just can’t do much. But even though I know that, it doesn’t help when I really feel like this and it seems like this won’t end. But I do know that it will end and I’m almost at the end of when I should be feeling like this. And I can’t wait for it to be over so I can move on.
Posted onJune 15, 2022|Comments Off on Feeling Sick And Unmotivated (or Trying New Things To Feel Better)
I’ve had to deal with monthly pain and nausea for several years now. I know I was lucky that I got to avoid this for 15 years when I was on the birth control pill, but I’m still annoyed that I had to stop taking the pill because of my tumors. I wish I could still be avoiding this every month, but unless I take extreme measures (which I feel will be in the future for me), I don’t have many options. I know my doctor is always trying to think of new medications I can try, but I’m just in an unfortunate spot where there aren’t that many options for me. But I do the best that I can to manage it.
Because I’ve been dealing with this for a few years, I do have a bit of a routine that I rely on to try to feel better. But I do feel like each month things are getting worse for me. Sometimes I have more intense pain and nausea and sometimes it just lasts longer than it did before. Occasionally I’ll have a lucky month where things are just annoying, but then I’ll have other months where I really struggle to feel like I can get anything done. And this month is one where I’m really struggling.
Part of this struggle is my fault because I didn’t realize I was out of my preferred anti-nausea medication. I have another one I can take while I wait for my refill to come in, but it doesn’t help as much. And I have a feeling I won’t be nauseous by the time my refill gets here. But at least that means I’ll be prepared for next month.
I think this is true no matter what is making someone feel sick, but when I’m dealing with pain and nausea I’m not that motivated or productive. I try to do what I can, but sometimes I have to prioritize just doing what I have to do, such as work, and not worrying about anything else. But I also know that I can’t just do nothing for the next week or so because my brain won’t let me. So I’m trying new things this month to try to feel a little better.
I’m really focused on trying to stay hydrated throughout the day. Overall, I don’t usually worry about hydration because I know I drink enough water. But it can be in chunks of time where I drink a lot in the morning and then I might not drink any water for a few hours. So now, I’m trying to make sure I keep drinking water throughout my day. I don’t have an alarm or anything because I think this will be easy enough for me to do, but it is something that I make sure to focus on. And I think like most people who deal with pain know, a heating pad can really make things better. And I’ve had a variety of heating pads that I have used over the years. The main ones I have used were a microwavable one that was filled with rice and the one-time-use ones that have adhesive so you can wear them under your clothes. But I finally got a plug-in heating pad and it has been a very nice tool to help me.
I didn’t have a plug-in heating pad before for a few reasons. First, my old place had very few electrical outlets, so I could only use it in a few different spots that might not be as comfortable unless I unplugged other things that I needed. Also, the plug-in ones get really hot (which is a good thing), but I was always warm in my old place even with the a/c running. But now, I have central a/c so I have been running it to keep me cool when the heating pad was on high. I still feel a bit overheated, but it helps and lets me use the heating pad a bit longer than I would without the a/c.
I will just have to try my best for the next week or so. I hope that I feel up to being more productive again soon because I really hate feeling like I’m just being lazy. And maybe my refill will get here sooner than expected so I can use it this month. But just like always, I know this time is temporary this month and soon I’ll have 2-3 weeks of feeling good again.
Ending Some Pain and Starting Other Pain (or At Least I’m Stocked Up)
