Dewns Fitness Tales: March 2011

So yesterday I had PT. I always worry when I have my first session back after time off - even though I only missed one session. And I was a little worried about how I'd cope with the cold. When I got up, my head felt like a cement weight and I REALLY didn't feel like training. But along I went.

I was so incredibly relieved when I didn't see the tow rope laid out ready for my torture. I REALLY didn't feel up to it. Especially since my back had been sore enough on Monday to warrant my more serious pain meds (half of why my head was heavy - they leave me so hung over!). Instead, we warmed up with a short hike uphill to a nice grassy area where we did 15 min of boxing. I did not feel like boxing. I felt like crawling into a hammock in the sun with a big sombrero and going to sleep. Dale had other ideas.

10 quick squats and some basic limbering moves followed by a serious of boxing combo's including ducking and back bends. The ducking was fun. The back bends were not.

After that we moved back to the gym where he tortured me with seated bench presses at weights not previously conquered. I sucked so much that he actually had to spot me for once. It was challenging. But I didn't quit - I surprised myself actually. After that we moved on to leg work. Lunges. I love lunges... but not yesterday! Nonetheless, I lunged away and then we included a kick and then added weights. By the end, I was REALLY struggling! It was a great workout!

This morning my legs were killing. But I loved it! It was fantastic! It's the kind of pain and burn I was getting when I was training for the stair climb. It is a good pain. It is brilliant!!!

This afternoon? Not so brilliant. LOL stairs, inclines, attempting to sit - all result in PAIN! LOL But I secretly love it ;)

After work today, I grabbed DD and took her for a walk. She loves to "train" with Mummy which is really just me making her walk at a fast pace and not stop to look at every leaf on the sidewalk, every insect or bug we pass, to pick every flower in the neighbourhood. LOL. She doesn't do too bad. We walked around 2Km in 30 min. It wasn't overly fast for me but I doubt my legs could have handled much more. They still hurt a lot and I'm stretching like mad to keep injury at bay and to prevent a relapse like I had in Nov. I am loving it though! I feel like I have a little more of my groove back :)

Ok, so I've not been as good at keeping this blog up to date as I would like. I'd like to say it's because I've been busy exercising and making myself into a svelt sexy beast... but that would be lying. Don't get me wrong - I HAVE been training. I've done some brilliant sessions... just none on my own. I can't recall the last time I trained on my own. No, actually, I took DD for a walk a few weeks back and found some ace training stairs. Other than that, most of my training sessions have been at the gym with Dale.

Gym sessions have been good. Dale has stepped up and increased my sessions as per my request. We've been doing some very different and unconventional activities. Using these massive towing ropes as you would when skipping in the school play ground. Sounds easy but those things get heavy! I've been burning as much in a 30-40 min cardio (rope, boxing, squats) and 15 min weights session as I was previously in a 60 min full on cardio session! It's great!

But then I had a bad week. Nothing too detrimental but I was sore. Now my confidence is shot again. That week we did a session similar to my previous ones - very boring and barely broke a sweat. Actually, I didn't break a sweat. That was a hard session to endure after all the fun I'd been having!

I have made a massive improvement though. I've dramatically reduced my intake. I no longer eat when I'm bored. I'm only eating when I'm actually hungry. No mindless eating. Sounds like I'm on a winner huh? Well, despite the decrease in consumption and the improvement in the foods I'm eating - I'm still not losing weight :( My weight remains unchanged yet my body size has increased. UNFAIR! The sexy jeans I bought not long ago are now too tight :( DEVESTATING! So it is time to kick things up another notch. Lets combine the training and the food.

My only issue is I'm sick. Two weeks ago I got a head cold. Not enough to stop me from training (No, I had other things to prevent me from training which I will get to shortly) but it was there. The cold has developed into an upper respiratory and sinus infection which has my head feeling like a lead weight and me coughing like a trouper. The coughing scares me as I have previously put my back out coughing and I always worry I will repeat that. So I'm ensuring I brace well when I cough! The thing the cold has developed into is enough to stop me from training. I am hoping to get out and do some today though!

The last few weeks have been manic and very stressful in the Dewy household. Actually, the last 6 weeks. It was DD's birthday last month which was a very busy week. There was dance, her party, a friend's party, her actual birthday, another friend's party - the social life of a 4 year old! But of course, that was only part of it.

On the 9th Feb, I had a serious of frantic calls from my DH as I drove home from work. DD had swallowed a coin. She was breathing fine. At first I laughed it off saying she'd pass it. After all, it happens to millions of children each year. Right? Well, I spoke with one of the Dr's at work the next day who said I should get her X-Ray'd to make sure it has moved to the stomach and isn't blocking her airway lower down. Made sense as DD was crying all night the night she did it. So I organised the X-Ray which showed it was in her small bowel... so she should pass it. Our GP told us that if it hadn't passed in her stool by the Sunday (day 4) we should take her to hospital. So the joys of checking her bowel motions began. Some parts of parenthood are just too gross to include in the job description! Lucky for her Mummy is a nurse and deals with poo all the time!

The coin hadn't surfaced by Sunday so I rang the local ED to get their opinion. They said that since she was still having pain we should come in. Unimpressed at spending hours upon hours in a waiting room, we tried a semi-local 24 hour super clinic first. We were seen surprisingly quick. And left just as quickly. The Dr held the X-Ray upside down instantly shooting my confidence in his abilities. He said go to hospital. I suggested another X-Ray first. He declined (I get the impression he really had no idea what he was doing) and we headed for RCH.

The triage nurse in ED at RCH was an old friend of mine and he got us through pretty quickly. We saw a Nurse Practitioner who seemed stressed and annoyed. There was lots of huffing and puffing and sighing from her. With a non-committal glance at the X-Ray she told us that these things happen all the time and that they don't do anything for swallowed coins, open safety pins, or thumb tacks. Now, considering we do in adults, I'm not entirely sure why they wouldn't in children! She then went on to tell me that the only reason DD is telling me she is in pain is because she did the wrong thing. Ahhhh, excuse me?! We left very quickly, DH feeling like an idiot and me fuming at the attitude we got. In the mean time, DD (who was continuing to play like her normal happy self) was complaining of stomach pain. We went home and continued life.

Two days later, Tuesday and Day 6 post swallowing the coin, DD woke later than normal and was instantly complaining of stomach pain. She was pale and distressed. She could hardly walk and was unusually clingy. She told me she was just hungry and then proceeded to eat two bowel of porridge. In the meantime, I continued getting ready for PT. Then all hell broke lose. DD suddenly began projectile vomitting. Nice. I almost literally threw her into the shower whilst I rang DH and cleaned the couch at the same time. I ordered him home NOW. She was showing the classic signs of a bowel obstruction. After soaking up the vomit and cleaning her up, I left her in the shower whilst I packed a bag for hospital (sorry about the water restrictions!). As soon as I had her bag packed, I got her out and dressed her then headed for the local hospital. We got in straight away and they were great. They actually looked at her and assessed her. We actually saw a Dr. By this time DD had perked up and happily playing. They ordered an X-Ray (her second one) and we went off for that. She was slightly less scared than her first one. The X-Ray showed the coin hadn't moved but they didn't think it was in the small bowel. We were told they'd like to scope her to remove the coin but needed to talk to the boss. The boss said to let it pass but it might take a year. Again, we were sent home. How did they think she would pass this?!

Every night DD would wake with pain and crying. On the Friday I spoke to a gastroenterologist at work who said it might pass from the small bowel but could easily get stuck and to keep watching her. A week later he asked how she was doing. I told him she hadn't improved and he told me to speak with his boss. They both looked at the X-Ray and told me it needed to come out. I was given the name of a Dr at RCH to try and get in with and told to tell my GP to order another X-Ray.

I saw the GP the next day and we organised an X-Ray. It showed that in three weeks it hadn't moved but this report said it was now in the stomach near the duodenum... how exactly had it travelled UPWARDS?! Frustrated, I rang the specialist the next day but couldn't get in. I spoke with his nurse who was astounded at how we had been treated to date. She suggested I get one of work's Dr's to call RCH. The only issue was that the right people weren't available for another two days. I kept an eye on DD and on the Friday of week 3 one of the Dr's at work rang RCH and spoke to their oncall gastroenterologist. When they heard DD's symptoms, they tried to get us a bed for that day. When that failed, they asked us in to review her. The end result was her being booked in for a gastroscopy on the Tuesday. 1 day before 4 weeks.

Relieved that someone was finally listening and assessing DD, I took her home and thought about how to prepare her for the day. Knowing how scared she was over the X-Ray, I elected not to tell her anything until the day before.

Monday after work, I told DD that we were going to see Dr Tony again the next day and that he was going to make her tummy better by removing the coin. That we'd have another X-Ray in the morning and then we'd go see some nurses like Mummy. That she'd be asked some questions and then see a different Dr who would put a magic straw into her hand and later she would have some magic fairy dust through the magic straw. I told her that Mummy would go with her to a special room and the magic fairy dust would make her sleepy; that whilst asleep the fairies would help Dr Tony take the coin out of her tummy and she would feel better. That when she woke she'd have to be careful of the magic straw and not pull it out.

The day was very stressful. DH was trying to be stoic and not show his concern. Knowing his history of not coping in emergencies or with hospital staff, I had earlier told him I'd take her on my own. But his behavior and concern had me reassess that. I asked him to drop us off and pick us up so he was included and felt useful. That wasn't enough for him. I told him to come to X-Ray with us (which he refused to take her in for. He just wanted to sit there and LOOK like he was helping - annoyed much?) and then go to work. I didn't want DD to freak out by having us both there. Then she wanted him to come to day surg with us. No problem. He was fairly well behaved and didn't ramp up DD's anxiety. He wasn't rude to staff (I may have given him a talking to and reminded him that I am also a nurse and he wouldn't like it if I was treated that way). The only issue I had was when he began to work in the waiting room. At that point I suggested he go to work. He quickly put it away.

DD was fantastic all day. No complaints about fasting. She got scared a few times and kept asking for a nap. But she was brilliant. She freaked in the anesthetic room because there were so many people in there. But she was brilliant. So brave. She even got an award for her bravery :)

The Dr saw me afterwards and said the coin was in the stomach. An easy retrieval. It might have taken 2 years for her to pass it and there was no way it could have staid there. We did the right thing. It was a relief to hear that.

DD was sore for a few days afterwards but, a week later, is fine.

So, the last 6 weeks have been a nightmare. Hopefully now I can refocus on my training and get somewhere with it!