Hospitals and Engagement Rings (lame post title)

Well, last night was eventful to say the least…  My dad had to be taken by squad to the hospital, I’ll spare you the details.  By the time I was able to bring him home I had been at the hospital for 12ish hours overnight… no sleep whatsoever.  He’s doing a lot better now and is mainly just worn out.  Please keep him in your prayers!

My Weekly Roundup yesterday had a couple comments about what I had hurt and how.  I hurt my back last Sunday… I have no idea what I did, it just hurt so bad I could hardly move!  It’s finally doing a lot better and if it weren’t for the exciting day yesterday evening and getting no sleep last night, I would be outside running today or doing p90x, but i think I need to go to bed…

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Before I pull the blinds and finally get some shut eye… I wanted to share one of the pictures that I begged for asked my followers to email me!  If you missed that post, CLICK HERE.  I’m only a tad excited to be getting married in June lol ;)  

Hannah from HannahViolin just recently got engaged in February!

CLICK HERE for her engagement story! This is her gorgeous ring!!

If you guys want to send me wedding pictures/engagement pictures/cake pictures/ring pictures you can still do that… just send them to runners.luck@hotmail.com and I’ll post them on my blog :)

 
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95 Days Left Until I Marry My Love!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ok, so this isn’t the rest of my race report but it kinda sorta does have something to do with my first half marathon and this past week.  I’ll start out by telling you about a sad sight/experience I had as I was getting ready to leave the race last Saturday.

My parents and I were walking towards the parking lot and were walking along the finishing stretch… I was cheering on everyone I could by name since it was on their bibs.  I was still feeling a little out of it and totally happy and excited about what I had just accomplished!  Then I saw it… an ambulance.  As we got closer I could see that someone had collapsed less than 100 yards from the finish line!  The medics were desperately trying to give her CPR and get her to breathe!  They were giving her CPR for what seemed like forever and finally put her in the squad and raced her to the Nashville hospital.

All I could keep thinking was “This is supposed to be a happy day!”  It was sad and unexpected and something I had never seen before… it was very scary.  I thought about her and prayed for her throughout the day and couldn’t get that image out of my head.  It was later confirmed that she had passed away!  Why God?  She had family cheering her on, she was healthy and volunteered her time and was making a difference in other people’s lives!  I don’t know why it was her time to go but it got me thinking.

First, I had never been so grateful that I had had my heart tested in the week leading up to my first half marathon!  Yes, that could have been anyone out there, including me!  So, please, if you haven’t had a physical or had your heart looked at and are running… GO GET IT CHECKED OUT!!  It’s worth spending the money in the end to make sure you will still be alive to share your special memories with family and friends!

Also, I have been taking a lot of things for granted including my relationship with God.  He has blessed me with so much and I have so many things to be thankful for!  I am healthy and getting stronger!  I have parents who would and do help me out if they can and will make an effort to come to things and support me when it matters the most.  I have siblings that although at times can annoy me, are there for me if I am having a bad day (most of the time).  I have a boyfriend who supports me in anything I do and can see past my faults.  I have jobs that keep me on my feet financially and a degree that I can fall back on if I need to.  I have a brain that works properly and motivation to keep me going when things get hard.  I have an awesome GOD who created me and all these wonderful people I have in my life and is there for me when I feel the world is crashing down all around me. 

The list goes on and on… but I am so thankful for everything!  This week has been an eye opener and I continue to pray for that lady’s family.  Don’t take things for granted!  Tell people in your life how important they are and how much you love them! 

Any day can be thanksgiving day… what are you thankful for?

Say What?!!

Last night I went to bed early but my mind was racing and I ended up not falling asleep until almost midnight!  My alarm went off at 7:45 this morning so I rolled out of bed and immediately noticed a difference in the way I felt.  My chest pain felt more like a chest cold now, which is kind of weird, and I had a slight cough.  I still had problems taking in a deep breath, but I just knew that today, no matter what the tests said, was going to be a good day! Don’t get me wrong, I was still nervous, I just knew that God has a plan and that all of you guys were praying for me!

So, my dad and I headed out the door and were signed in at the hospital at 9:15am.  When we finally got to the second place we had to sign in at it was 9:44 and the lady said “Hun, I don’t know who told you to be here this early, but your exam isn’t scheduled until noon so you don’t have to be here til 11:30!”  Seriously?!  At this point I’m getting really hungry and I always wake up in the morning dehydrated so I was rather thirsty…. My dad and I decided to just stay and wait it out.  I crocheted a little bit while my dad slept. (He works nights so he came with me on ZERO hours of sleep!  Love my dad!)

2 hours later and I am allowed to go back to the room for my stress-echo test.  Basically its an ultrasound on my heart at resting state, then walking/running on a treadmill to get my heart up to a certain rate, immediately followed by another ultrasound while my heart rate is still up. Like this:

 **Except I am younger and MUCH cuter ;) 

***Oh, and the treadmill I was on started at an incline lol.. and it just kept getting faster and steeper!

Well, I kept expecting to feel like I was gonna pass out or like I couldn’t breath…. and although I was breathing hard and I could tell my chest and breathing aren’t back to 100%, I didn’t have to ask them to stop the test.  My legs were a little tired, but they actually felt good after I started running.

After the test the doctor told me some good news

Awesome news really…

IT’S NOT MY HEART!!!

He actually said that I was in really good shape and that although he doesn’t have the official results, from what he could tell, my heart is really healthy!  The next words that came out of his mouth almost made me cry with joy!  “I want you to start running again… but cut back a lot this week leading up to your half and if it goes well, I don’t see why you can’t run next weekend! He did say that all the lack of sleep leading up to the chilly festival 5k a few weeks ago probably didn’t help matters any and that he thinks it may just be a chest cold.  Then he proceeded to ask me if I’ve ever been checked for asthma. I told him I hadn’t but I’ve never had any problems in sports and running growing up. So…

I don’t have to wear the halter monitor for 2 days now and I go back to see him Wednesday the 23rd (the day before we leave for Tennessee) for a follow up and official results.  And with that… I’m heading to bed… trying to sleep a lot more and take in more Vitamin C and Iron!

PS – look for a giveaway soon!  A little thank you of sorts for being so caring and supportive during this downer time in my life!  You guys are great! :D

Health Update: Exams Scheduled

I was on my way home from job #1 today when the hospital called to schedule my tests.  After being on the phone for about 30 minutes (on hold for about half of that time because I told them I wanted the SOONEST time possible and I would change my schedule to whatever they had available) we finally got a date set!!

TOMORROW MORNING!!!

That’s right, Thursday September 16, I finally get in!  I am, as of 10pm tonight, no longer allowed to drink or eat anything and have to be at the hospital at 9:30 tomorrow morning.  The lady told me to come prepared to be there all day long and that I would probably not get out of there til after 3pm.  So, I’ll probably take a book and some knitting/crocheting to do.  I really dont know what all I’ll have to do or will be done to my body, but I’m ready for it!

I am feeling much better than I was this time last week though!  So… HONEST MOMENT TIME… I have been thinking “What if there is nothing wrong with me?”  I’ll look like such an idiot!  BUT, the chest pain is real!  The shortness of breath is getting better but is real!  So, if nothing is wrong, I look like an idiot/liar/crazy person/loser…  I really do want it to be nothing though!  I’d rather it be nothing than something!  I’m actually kind of nervous lol… 

I guess in the long run (tehe) I’d rather get it checked out and it be nothing than not get it checked out and it be something… make sense?

My follow up appointment with the cardiologist is September 23rd… the day before I leave for Tennessee!  I hope I can run in my half!  Please continue to keep me in your thoughts and prayers!  I really have appreciated all of you!  You have made this time in my life TONS easier to go through!

An Evening Spent in the ER

Well, I have been MIA this week because I have not been feeling well at all!  Monday evening after I got off work, I decided to head to the track to get in my speed workout.  I was supposed to do 1mi warmup, 4x1600 @8:35 pace with 800 recoveries between, and 1 mile cooldown = 8mi… well, I did the warmup and I got the first 1600 with 800 recovery done.  After that, I just couldn’t do it… Maybe it had to do with being on my feet at work all day or that it was kind of hot but I finished with an 800, 400, 200, 100 working on speed… I really dont know how speedy I was, but probably not very lol.  I started not feeling good but said “Zaneta, you can do a 1 mile cooldown… seriously!”  so I slowy did my last mile and cut my workout short by only doing about 4.5 miles.  I went home feeling yucky… headache, slight cough, feeling nauseous, and kind of like I couldn’t catch my breath. Soo…

Tuesday, I decided to take a rest day and I stayed in bed until I got a text from my boyfriend that said “someone’s here to see you!” He had had class that morning and had the rest of the day off so he came over to chill with me all day… we played games like mancala and guess who and read the latest runners world, then we made french toast for dinner…  I was still feeling a little weak and tired and still like I was short of breath, but felt like it was getting better.  I really enjoyed the day despite being sick.  Then…

Wednesday, I woke up feeling OK, so I got out of bed and met my running partner at my door at 8:30… our plan was to run 9.5 – 10 miles but we only got in 8.25.  We had to stop a couple times due to me feeling a little nauseous and I couldn’t catch my breath… we walked a couple times and cut it short because I just couldn’t do it!  I went to work for 2 hours at my sitting down job then came home and rested the rest of the evening.

Thursday (yesterday), I went to my “Stand on your feet all day” job and actually ended up leaving early because I just couldn’t catch my breath and my chest was hurting on the left side a little bit so I came home and my dad took me to the ER.  My boyfriend met us there and they got me into a room right away which is weird for the ER…  They had me standing and sitting for some of the time and my hands and feet were tingly and my lips started tingling… so as soon as they let me lie down, I started feeling a little better but still was short of breath.  They did blood work, gave me some anxiety medicine thru an IV, did an EKG, and took some chest xrays all of which came back ok.  Also, I had no clue I was anxious about anything?! lol… anyways… They ended up telling me no training until I could follow up with a specialist… which Im doing today!  I was really surprised he could get me in today at such a short notice!  I’ll let you guys know how it goes!  Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers!

Twin Update

Thank you so much everyone for praying for my twin!! She just got back after being at the ER for 5-6 hours and the tests and spinal tap came back NEGATIVE!! The doctors said it was good to get checked out anyways since her coworker was diagnosed with it! Thanks for praying, it meant a lot!!

Please Pray!

My twin is at the hospital right now... she complained last night and all day today about neck pain, fever, headache among a few others... we found out that a girl she works with is being quarantined at the hospital since yesterday and just last week a 19 year old girl died of meningitis... so please keep my twin in your thoughts and prayers that she doesn't have meningitis!! Thank you so much!!