First, a few positive updates:
A few posts back, I talked about launching a new look for the blog by mid-June. Well, obviously that hasn't happened. I'm having a little trouble getting the new layout to look the way I want it to so it will be delayed for a bit longer. You may notice some small changes I made this weekend (mainly to the header and the sidebar) in the interim until I can implement the new layout.
I'm still struggling with my weight. Each week seems to slip away from me and I haven't followed my plan as much as I need to. But I'm still tracking and still trying so that has to count for something, right? And I've been able to run and do a few strength-training workouts each week- again, not where I'd like to be, but definitely better than where I used to be.
In the last five weeks, I've been to three professional conferences, all requiring travel- just this past week I was in beautiful Niagara Falls, NY. Check out my scenic 4.5 mile run below!
Now, a pretty negative update:
I have pneumonia. After spending some long (but awesome) days at the conference in Niagara Falls last week, I started to have chest pains and shortness of breath on Friday night. The pain was bad enough that I decided to seek emergency treatment. My amazing co-worker Kim took me to the ER and seven hours- and x-rays, fluids, blood tests, pain killers, and a CT scan- later I walked out with a diagnosis of pneumonia and a mass (most likely mucus) in my right lung.
I will follow up with my doctor this week and will get another CT scan in the near future to make sure the mass in my lung is breaking up. My chest pain has subdued a lot since Friday night though it's still tough for me to breathe deep or lay on my right side.
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So, how exactly did this happen? I have a strong suspicion that this is left over from the upper respiratory infection I had in late February/March. The last few weeks, I haven't felt like myself; fatigued after a basic workout, constant back and rib cage pain, horrid headaches, a few days of a low-grade fever and nausea, and a stubborn, persistent cough. Looking back, it's easy to see that I should have gotten medical attention sooner- I chalked it up to allergies and figured it would go away on it's own. I've taken a few sick days here or there since March but definitely didn't rest the way I should have.
Long days at work, tons of travel, and not enough rest finally pushed me over the edge last Friday night. While it was a pretty shitty experience being in the hospital all night, I am infinitely glad I went and all the tests were done. Pneumonia is one of those things that can be deadly without timely medical treatment- even in healthy people with strong immune systems.
So, for the foreseeable future, I'll be resting, drinking plenty of fluids, and not doing any activities that require exertion, i.e. running. In fact, the doctors, the nurses, Matthew, my mom, and everyone else immediately told me "no running!" as soon as they found out I had pneumonia. I guess they don't trust that I won't run for the next few weeks! 😂 Though I will say, the nurse was impressed that I had just run 4.5 miles the day before I was in the hospital.
I have to give a huge shout out to Kim- she stayed with me all night in the hospital and then after being discharged at 6 am, she drove us the six hours home by herself (after getting ZERO sleep the night before), just so I could get home to my own bed, get my prescriptions filled, and see my husband and pup. She is the literal BEST co-worker and friend on the planet. Thank you so much, Kim!
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| Kim and me on the American side of the falls. She is so wonderful ❤ |
So while you might not see any new running or workout related content shared here in the next few weeks, I've got lots of race recaps to post and I've been experimenting with some new muffin recipes- exciting, right? Ha! As always, thank you for your continued support- y'all rock!
Have a great week!
