Well, it's been a rough couple of weeks for sure. After the last post when I had visited the Duke Urgent Care and they told me that I had a case of bad sinusitis I stayed home for two days feeling miserable. I managed the workout with Lauren and Charlie and then went to Blake's funeral service the next day at Trinity School, but otherwise, bed-bound and sickly for 2 straight days. On Wednesday of last week, I decided that is was time to get out of bed, especially since I thought it was just sinusitis, and get moving.
I taught the TRX class early Wed morning and had extreme difficulty with breathing and started to get a little concerned. I finished off the morning and then headed to my primary care physician to get another look at the "sinusitis". While I was at the doctors office, I collapsed because I couldn't breathe and lost sensation in both arms. At this stage, I felt like I was in a House episode and was going to die. They called the ambulance and took me straight to Duke ER. They immediately took a chest x-ray and saw that the lower right lobe of my lungs had collapsed and flattened out due to the bacteria that was enveloping it. They caught it quick enough that I didn't need a chest tube and they placed me on high-powered antibiotics that took a few hours to start working while they monitored me in the hospital.
The bad news is that I can't do any vigorous exercise for at least 6 weeks. This is a huge setback in terms of training and I'm bummed because I was well on pace to get a 1:35 or less for the half marathon in March and easily break by previous record of 1:41 (the only other time I've run an open half marathon). My running was strong, my biking was decent, and I was looking forward to the spring. That is now on hold...
The good news, and perhaps the only news that I should consider, I'm alive. I live to see another day and will train again just not any time soon. Instead, I'm focused on getting better and trying to put some of the 15 lbs of weight that I lost in 20 days because of the Engine 2 Diet and sickness combined. It is really hard for me to put back on weight, but since I can't do much cardio I will focus all my energy into weights.
That brings me to the Engine 2 Diet. Many people have asked my take on the diet and so here it is... I think it does what it claims, weight loss and lowering cholesterol. My weight dropped 15 lbs in 20 days and cholesterol went down slightly (although I was at 140 total cholesterol before so I didn't want to lose much anyway for adequate cell functioning). What it did to a healthy and active male, though, was make me worse. The fat content was at 18-22% daily caloric intake before E2 and then down to 3-5% on E2. Even though the caloric intake was the same, I strongly believe the fat helped slow down my metabolism and make my immune system stronger. With less fat, my metabolism actually increased and my immune system weakened and I feel may have contributed to my pneumonia in the long run. In summary, good for a majority of obese America, bad for the healthy and already stable individuals. I will NOT be going back on it any time soon...
The last 2 weeks have really opened my eyes and made me realize that I'm not quite as invincible as I once thought. I've aged a bit and learned that I will need to pay closer attention to signs of sickness and fatigue. Furthermore, once I recognize those signs, listen to them and actually rest the body stopping the progression of various bacteria and viruses the kids might bring home to my lungs. I'm happy to still have life and glad that Carrie and the boys were also able to recover and rebound as well (Braden was also diagnosed with pneumonia the same day that I went to the ER). I have a new found appreciation of modern medicine and am glad for the antibiotics that have seemed to help up to this point. I still have a cough that I'll give 1 more week before I go back to the primary care physician for a re-check...
Showing posts with label Blake Hubbard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blake Hubbard. Show all posts
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Slow Climb
It's been a rough 4 day stretch here and I'm not sure where to begin...
Saturday, January 28th, a good friend and long time ActivEdge athlete/employee, Lauren Hubbard's little brother (also an ActivEdge alum), died in a tragic accident in the afternoon. I don't really want to discuss the details because people start to form their own opinions in situations like these, but Blake was a sweet boy with plenty of life left. Those who will read the news reports or have seen the story on TV need to know that Blake was fun, caring, and loving 14 year old son and sibling. Not known at all for taking risks and usually a very conservative in nature person, I can only hope that those who really know him will remember these things.
Sunday, the pastor at our church, Steve Breedlove, covered Blake's death in the sermon and moved the whole congregation to tears. Another long time church goer, Patrick Kelly, died the same day as Blake and so between the two of those individuals, it was a tough service to get through. I was ushering that day and needed to leave the sanctuary several times because I was crying so hard.
On top of that, I was getting sick, really sick. I had to go to Duke Urgent Care and they suggested sinus surgery and referred my out to an ENT surgeon. In high school, I broke my nose playing basketball and this caused a deviated septum. I have only been able to breathe out of one nostril since then but have managed to do just fine and didn't really notice it until my running and triathlons picked up these last couple of years. Unfortunately, when viruses get caught in the nasal cavity that does not drain like the other side, it becomes very difficult for me to shake the illness and I get even more sick than a normal person would with the same virus. The kids have been bringing more and more viruses back from school and play groups and for this reason it seems I have been constantly sick for the past 2 months. Time to get that fixed. I am trying to get the surgery scheduled immediately since there will be no activity after for 2-3 weeks. I will most likely miss the Tobacco Road half marathon but should be able to rebound for tri season and the Beaverdam opener. I was looking forward to going 1:35ish and was feeling great on my running... oh well, next year.
Today, Lauren came in to help take her mind off things and Charlie and I lifted with her. It was about all I could do though and felt terrible the whole time. I went home immediately after and got back into bed. Lauren is such a strong young lady and I will continue to pray and support her the best I can. Meredith and I plan on attending the services tomorrow, even though it looks like I'll still be home sick for the morning at least...uggghh. Let's begin the slow climb out...
WOD:
4 sets of incline DB press x 6
3 sets of SA cable rows seated x 10 each arm
3 sets of BOSU oblique abs x 12 each side
4 sets of hanging cleans x 6
3 sets of dips on the machine
3 sets of hammer curls x 8 each side
3 sets of DB split press x 4 each side
3 sets of DB raises 7,7,7
Saturday, January 28th, a good friend and long time ActivEdge athlete/employee, Lauren Hubbard's little brother (also an ActivEdge alum), died in a tragic accident in the afternoon. I don't really want to discuss the details because people start to form their own opinions in situations like these, but Blake was a sweet boy with plenty of life left. Those who will read the news reports or have seen the story on TV need to know that Blake was fun, caring, and loving 14 year old son and sibling. Not known at all for taking risks and usually a very conservative in nature person, I can only hope that those who really know him will remember these things.
Sunday, the pastor at our church, Steve Breedlove, covered Blake's death in the sermon and moved the whole congregation to tears. Another long time church goer, Patrick Kelly, died the same day as Blake and so between the two of those individuals, it was a tough service to get through. I was ushering that day and needed to leave the sanctuary several times because I was crying so hard.
On top of that, I was getting sick, really sick. I had to go to Duke Urgent Care and they suggested sinus surgery and referred my out to an ENT surgeon. In high school, I broke my nose playing basketball and this caused a deviated septum. I have only been able to breathe out of one nostril since then but have managed to do just fine and didn't really notice it until my running and triathlons picked up these last couple of years. Unfortunately, when viruses get caught in the nasal cavity that does not drain like the other side, it becomes very difficult for me to shake the illness and I get even more sick than a normal person would with the same virus. The kids have been bringing more and more viruses back from school and play groups and for this reason it seems I have been constantly sick for the past 2 months. Time to get that fixed. I am trying to get the surgery scheduled immediately since there will be no activity after for 2-3 weeks. I will most likely miss the Tobacco Road half marathon but should be able to rebound for tri season and the Beaverdam opener. I was looking forward to going 1:35ish and was feeling great on my running... oh well, next year.
Today, Lauren came in to help take her mind off things and Charlie and I lifted with her. It was about all I could do though and felt terrible the whole time. I went home immediately after and got back into bed. Lauren is such a strong young lady and I will continue to pray and support her the best I can. Meredith and I plan on attending the services tomorrow, even though it looks like I'll still be home sick for the morning at least...uggghh. Let's begin the slow climb out...
WOD:
4 sets of incline DB press x 6
3 sets of SA cable rows seated x 10 each arm
3 sets of BOSU oblique abs x 12 each side
4 sets of hanging cleans x 6
3 sets of dips on the machine
3 sets of hammer curls x 8 each side
3 sets of DB split press x 4 each side
3 sets of DB raises 7,7,7
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