Aaaaand we're back. The month of March was a complete blur and a bit of a bust from a training standpoint. It started with a vacation to our favorite place to escape reality and act like the kids we still think we are....Disney. We had high hopes for a relaxing, warm, sun-filled week, and we scored with two of the three. The warm part didn't so much happen as temps only got up into the low 60's for most of the week. But the sun made up for it, with day-after-day of brilliant blue skies and bright rays. It was quite a downer to come back to Chicago and the gray skies we've had for days on end this winter/early spring.
But I didn't have much time to be distracted by gray skies, because I had to catch up at work and prep to be out of the office for nearly two weeks for my surgery. I did some hard-core training in that one week between vacation and surgery to make sure the month wasn't a complete loss!
And as most of you already know from Facebook, I had my BSO (ovaries/tubes out) on March 19th. The recovery was a little slower than I had hoped, mainly because my abdomen was swollen to the point that I looked about six months pregnant! I was able to get back to walking pretty quickly and took advantage of the indoor track at our gym to start getting some light activity in as soon as I could (about five days post-surgery). I'm now about 95% recovered from the surgery and back to swimming, biking AND running! But the surgical menopause...WHEW! That's been interesting. My symptoms started about two days after surgery and have so far included migraine-level headaches, hot flashes, night sweats and fatigue. And then there's the fact that I have become completely absent-minded and forgetful. I can't walk from my kitchen to my bedroom without forgetting what I'm supposed to be doing. I can't find words as quickly when I'm writing and talking. I would chalk it up to getting older, but I have been told this is a common side-effect of surgical menopause. The solution? More lists!! That, I can do.
I would do it again in a heartbeat though, since my ovarian cancer risk is now only about 1% (and my pathology was CLEAR!!) and my breast cancer risk has been reduced by 50%. I've still got a long journey ahead of me, but for now I can relax for a heartbeat and enjoy the summer. As things get back to "normal," I'm getting back to my training full time and things are getting busy busy at work. I can't believe my first race of the season (running) is in just three weeks and my first tri is in five weeks! As I struggled through a measly 2100 yard swim this morning, it was very apparent that I've got some work to do. In the meantime, I'm enjoying every minute of life with our little family. LIFE IS GOOD.
Happy Training!
-- HER
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| See the hat? Yes, it was really THAT cold! |
But I didn't have much time to be distracted by gray skies, because I had to catch up at work and prep to be out of the office for nearly two weeks for my surgery. I did some hard-core training in that one week between vacation and surgery to make sure the month wasn't a complete loss!
And as most of you already know from Facebook, I had my BSO (ovaries/tubes out) on March 19th. The recovery was a little slower than I had hoped, mainly because my abdomen was swollen to the point that I looked about six months pregnant! I was able to get back to walking pretty quickly and took advantage of the indoor track at our gym to start getting some light activity in as soon as I could (about five days post-surgery). I'm now about 95% recovered from the surgery and back to swimming, biking AND running! But the surgical menopause...WHEW! That's been interesting. My symptoms started about two days after surgery and have so far included migraine-level headaches, hot flashes, night sweats and fatigue. And then there's the fact that I have become completely absent-minded and forgetful. I can't walk from my kitchen to my bedroom without forgetting what I'm supposed to be doing. I can't find words as quickly when I'm writing and talking. I would chalk it up to getting older, but I have been told this is a common side-effect of surgical menopause. The solution? More lists!! That, I can do.
I would do it again in a heartbeat though, since my ovarian cancer risk is now only about 1% (and my pathology was CLEAR!!) and my breast cancer risk has been reduced by 50%. I've still got a long journey ahead of me, but for now I can relax for a heartbeat and enjoy the summer. As things get back to "normal," I'm getting back to my training full time and things are getting busy busy at work. I can't believe my first race of the season (running) is in just three weeks and my first tri is in five weeks! As I struggled through a measly 2100 yard swim this morning, it was very apparent that I've got some work to do. In the meantime, I'm enjoying every minute of life with our little family. LIFE IS GOOD.
 |
| Playing on the deck on the first spring day in Chicago! |
Happy Training!
-- HER
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