This is not how I saw this week ending up…at all. I saw me finishing my last week of my winter marathon training and pacing my first full marathon…but I ended up in the ER early in the week…

Looking back, I believe my body started acting weird on April 14th…I got back to work from a hot afternoon run and my hand all the sudden started going numb and then my vision was a little blurred. I mentioned the weirdness to my coworker and we shook it off as a little dehydration – since it was super hot that day.

Ran Saturday, no issues.

Ran Sunday, no issues.

Eventful Week…

Monday- Last interval run in the books! Bring on the weekend! 

I ran early Monday morning because I was watching little man that day. Yay, I got to be home to watch the Boston Marathon live! Little man was great, eat well, watched the race with me, then I put him down for a nap.

A little bit after he was down, I started getting a little dizzy and a little nauseous. Since it had been a little bit since we ate, I thought it was just because I was hungry…so I warmed up some of my weekly prepped food and sat down. When I got my bowl out of the microwave, I noticed that my hand was a little numb…and it was weird to try and hold my hand straight to keep the bowl in my hand. I sat down and started eating…still dizzy, still a little sick feeling, with a numb left arm. Once I was done eating, I still felt off and decided to lay down as well. (I wish I would have wrote out more of what was happening and what I was feeling as it happened…oh well.)

After a little while, little man was next to me watching the TV that I left on from the race morning tube time. I had developed a headache and I was still dizzy. I felt off when I tried to walk, but I was able to manage. Around this time – roughly 4:45 pm or so, I text the hubs to tell him that I didn’t feel well and that I would like for him to try to get off work early and come home (since he gets off work around 8 pm). I didn’t feel comfortable driving anywhere for help… While they were busy that day, he said to try and eat something and to take some medicine for the headache. I wad to call him if I was still feeling bad after eating and relaxing for a bit. Not long after out original conversation, he called me back asking if I was feeling any better – but I wasn’t. I could eat anything without the smells making me want to run to the restroom, and my headache wasn’t really budging. Since I still felt pretty bad, nothing like I have ever felt before, I decided to go to the urgent care place on our side of town.

Around 6 pm, I talked little man through getting him ready to go and we were on our way. As we walked out the door, my left arm went numb again and I dropped my keys, but I was determined that I needed to get some help. My right arm was totally fine, so I felt better about driving. (**side note, I now realize how dangerous this decision may have been at the time. I now have a support system of local friends and family that I know I can call on if I need this sort of help again**) We got to urgent care in 5 minutes and we were only waiting for a couple minutes before we were called back.

The nurse took my vitals, questioned my pulse rate, the normal “I am a runner” response kept that conversation short, and the doc was in shortly. I talked about all of the previously mentioned issues I had during the day…and she was not comfortable sending me home. Instead, she sent me to the ER with the conditions of either complex migraine or mini stroke. From my reading prior to going, I knew of the possibility of the mini stroke, but I am still not all that sure what it all means… I called the hubs, and he came to pick me up and take me to the ER. 

In the ER, they were basically waiting for me. The urgent care called over to expedite my care and paperwork once I showed up, but I am not sure that it helped all that much. We were taken to a room, I talked to the doctor, had an EKG run (heart is good), had an IV put in for a little while, had blood drawn to test, had a CT scan performed (nothing noteworthy seen), and waited around for some answers. Well…through the hours that passed, nothing came up that pinpointed what was happening.

1. I am too young, active, and in good health for it to be a stroke.

2. My heart is working just fine, my blood work didn’t have any red flags, and my CT scan was clean as far as they could tell.

When I was discharged around 9-9:30 pm that evening, it was under the recommendation to :

1. Make an appointment to see a referred Neurologist this week.

2. Cut back my running (don’t necessarily stop running, but that is what I did) until being checked out my the Neurologist. 

We stopped for food on the way home, I stomached a burger and some fries, and little man and I were off to bed while the hubs went over to pick up my car from urgent care.

Tuesday- After an interesting day yesterday, I started work just a little later than usual, and Tuesday came and went with no episodes. 

Little man and I even went for a mile walk in the evening…not just the taper crazies but also the doctors orders… The Neurological office still had not received my referral and I was left waiting for a call back.

Wednesday- I called the office again on Wednesday and they finally received my info from the ER and was ready to make an appointment for me IN THREE WEEKS. No. That was not happening…I was told by the ER doc who spoke to the Neurologist Monday night that I would be able to be seen this week, especially since I had a big event this weekend. She checked with her manager and they were able to fit me in later that day… #selfadvocate

While I was nervous of what he would say, I was also nervous about the interaction we would have. After looking the doctor up, I saw that he was rated a 2/5 due to his bedside manner… Yeesh! As long as he is a good doctor, I am ready for whatever. We went through some questions and “walk like a duck” sort of diagnostics, and then he had my scans brought up on the computer. He talked about my scans for a bit, cycled through them fairly quickly, and then said I had a normal, healthy brain. Good news! He also concluded that it could be a complex migraine…no new news to me. I then talked to him about my running history and my liking to be able to start running again. He gave me the all clear on that as well, and my appointment was over.

Guess what I did after?? I headed straight to the gym, hopped on the treadmill, and I ran a mile…just to see if my legs still worked…or something like that. I felt great and I would have run a little more, but I needed to get back to work for the end of my day. No residual symptoms into the evening, WIN!

Tweet: Check out the Weekly Workout Wrap via @livinglovingrun and other great #linkups! http://ctt.ec/dk91e+ #fitfluential #sweatpink #runchat

Thursday- I planned on running Thursday morning, but the snooze button won the morning war. I still had 1-2 runs I could get in before the pacing event on Saturday, so I packed my lunch run bag and I looked forward to getting outside and running the calming trail. The weather was perfect, warm with a light breeze, and I felt great before, during, and after!

Until around 3 hours later when I was picking up little man from the daycare. At some point in the pick-up process, I had him on my back and I was laying on the ground. When I was able to get up, I got a little dizzy, but I accounted it to just getting up too fast…and once I got to the top of the stairs, I noticed that my leg was numb…not like a limp noodle and it fell asleep, but totally functional with no feeling. Weird. On the way home, the numb feeling started going up my torso and within 30-60 minutes, my shoulder and arm were numb – all on my left side. I didn’t quite know what to do, but I had the hubs take me to the pharmacy to have my BP taken and to get some Asprin. Since I didn’t have a headache, I didn’t want to take the high-powered drugs they sent me home with from the ER. But from what I was reading about migraines and other conditions that may or may not be what I was experiencing, with the almost prognosis of a mini stroke, I felt like the low-dose Asprin was a viable option. My BP was low, low enough that the tech questioned if I had a headache or migraine…I said no, but I may have one soon.

The rest of the night was fairly uneventful…but when I was doing laundry, my arm went numb when I was bending over and standing up several times. This in-and-out numbness made me a little crazy, and I talked to the hubs for a bit about going back to the hospital. We decided to wait it out…and I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep that night, worried about something more happening overnight. 

Friday- I woke up feeling just fine, but I needed to make the bummer decision to e-mail my pacing coach and drop out of the race this weekend. Needless to say, no workout today 😦

We still planned on going to KC this weekend, whether or not I could run. So after work on Friday, I picked up little man, headed home for the hubs and pup, and hit the road to KC. We first stopped by the Health and Fitness Expo, I picked up my packet (shirt, bib, etc.), and dropped off my pacer materials with Coach. That was the hardest, yet most important decision I could have made… I was on the verge of tears the entire time we were talking…I am more upset about canceling on pacing than not being able to run at all… I don’t like to be the person that backs out of a commitment – and that hurt far worse than not being able to run. Yeah, I have been training to be able to pace this race well…but there will be more races.

Saturday- I slept in 🙂 Little man woke me up around 7:15 am and while I had full intention to go and spectate, I didn’t make it out of the house until later in the afternoon. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind…and while I could have looked supportive, I would be crying on the inside…and maybe the outside. The one big sunny spot of the race is that a runner I talked into registering and running with me for her first full marathon, she finished the race within a minute or so from my “would be” pace time of 5:30 🙂 Great work Amy!! You can do anything you set your mind to!!

Sunday- no workout – lots of friends and family time 🙂

Weekly Miles : 10 miles

795 / 2,016 miles in 2016

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Next Week’s Projected Workouts

I am not confident in what my next steps are. Since the symptoms are only coming forward after I run, I have put running on the back burner for a little bit. My next few races are all pacing events and my coach and I have a “plan B” for all of these events on hand. Granted, “plan A” is that I will be able to run…but having a back up plan in place is going to help ease my nerves…

My next mini training cycle is for Hospital Hill Half in KC, MO on June 3rd. I hope that I can get all of this health stuff figured out so I can actually run the KC hills that Saturday. I will be volunteering on course on Friday night for the 5K, so I know I will be out there to support the runners no matter what happens.

If you would enjoy coming out and playing on the hills of KC as well, use the code “BIBRAVE” at checkout for 10% off your registration (not valid on the family 5K pricing). With the next price increase coming up May 1st, I urge you to register today and save a little cash!! Use that savings at the Health and Fitness Expo

Tweet: Come conquer the hills of KC, MO with me in June!! @HospitalHillRun #HHR2017 #bibchat https://ctt.ec/60ne0+

Check out some awesome #linkups this week!

As always, there is the great Weekly Wrap link-up with Holly & Tricia! Also check out the #MotivateMe Monday with Lucie & Janice, Ilka & Angela’s Sunday Fitness & Food link up, and Courtney‘s weekly Training Recaps!

Check out the Tuesday’s on the Run gang as well: Patty,  Erika, & Marcia! I am also linking up with Annmarie, Jen, & Nicole for Wild Workout Wednesday 🙂 Check out the Coaches Corner linkup with Suz, Rachel, Debbie, & Lora!

How did your training week go?

What are you training for?

Have you had any major medical concerns derail you from your training or goal race?

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I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment and start a conversation!

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