Category Archives: Life

Friend Makin’ Mondays: Thanksgiving Plans

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OK I know it’s really Tuesday. I read about Friend Makin’ Monday (FMM) on Carrie’s blog late yesterday and I really wanted to participate. The idea is to answer a question of the week on your blog, then post a link to your response on www.alltheweigh.com. This is a great way to discover other blogs out there. This week’s question is fitting given the upcoming holiday. I love to hear how others celebrate holidays.

FMM: Thanksgiving Plans

What are your plans for Thanksgiving this year?  Does your family have traditions?  If so, share them…(I know that some of you live outside of the US so  feel free to fill us in on other holiday traditions!)

My family always celebrates Thanksgiving at my Mom’s house. She cooks a huge dinner with all the usual fixings, turkey, gravy mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetables and lots more. I am from a big Italian family so no holiday meal would be complete without some kind of pasta. This year it will be stuffed shells with homemade marinara sauce. The dessert table boasts pumpkin pie, apple pie, Italian cookies and various other treats. There is always way too much food.

Sadly we don’t have any family traditions other than eating dinner together. My parents divorced when I was ten years old. As children, my sister and I would spend the morning at the local high school football game. In my college years while living off campus I often rolled out of bed in the late morning hours and drove home just in time for dinner. I missed four Thanksgivings while living in Mozambique as a Peace Corps Volunteer. There was usually some kind of celebration in honor the of the holiday. The American volunteers would get together at someone’s site and create a Thanksgiving feast to be shared with Mozambican friends. Upon return to the United States in 2002 Thanksgiving is still hosted by my Mom.

I started my own tradition two years ago and I treat myself to a run on Thanksgiving morning. Last year I made it a 10 mile run and I plan to do the same this year. There are no Turkey Trots or other races in my area so I just get out there and run on my own. The best part is that I can taste a bit of everything including dessert later on at dinner without feeling guilty.

We have started urging my mother to allow more time between dinner and dessert. It was always eat dinner, quick clean up and then get dessert out. There was no time to relax and digest. Now my sister, my son and I usually end up taking a walk after dinner if the weather is decent outside.

For the first few years I worked as a nurse at the hospital I had to work both the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving and the Thursday night of Thanksgiving. Once in 4 years I had the Thursday night off. Since transferring to the unit I work on now I either work the Wednesday or the Thursday night, but not both unless I choose to pick up the extra shift. This year I am working Thursday night but I don’t go in until 11pm so I won’t miss anything.
My food tastes have certainly changed over the years. I no longer eat meat, though I was never a huge fan of turkey and I know that I skipped it most Thanksgiving in favor of the delicious side dishes. I like to bring a side dish and a dessert that are somewhat more healthful though I haven’t decided what to bring yet.
I love Thanksgiving. It is my favorite holiday by far because there is no commercialism attached to it, just pure family together time. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I look forward to reading about how others celebrate the day.

Rib Revisited

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It has been almost two months since I broke my rib. I can’t believe how great I feel. I have no pain or discomfort during or after a run. I don’t even really think about it anymore except to marvel at how the human body heals itself if given time and TLC.

So while I’m ready to lay the event to rest the billing department at the hospital is not. Upon arrival to the ER I was asked to present my health insurance card. A photo copy was taken and information was entered into the computer. I know this as a patient and a nurse at this hospital. I handle many admissions. The patients have to come through the ER and their insurance information is collected and entered into the system.

About a month after the accident I received a notice from the hospital’s billing department alerting me to the fact that they hadn’t been able to process my claim because my insurance information was invalid. They had the wrong ID number, wouldn’t you know it. So I provided the number once again. Next I received a form from the insurance company to determine the nature of the ER visit (car accident, work related injury, etc.). I filled it out and returned it right away.  A week and a half later I received another letter  from the hospital’s billing department indicating that they tried to process the claim but it was denied. I spoke to the same woman. She took down my ID number again and said that she would re-issue the bill. A few days later I received two separate invoices for the ER visit and the chest xray.

My husband is in the bricklayer’s union so I never actually speak to the health insurance company. I call the union representative who handles the health insurance for us. The woman is very nice, efficient and on top of things. I called her to find out what was going on. She said she had reviewed it, approved it and sent it off. I believe her. I have never had a problem with medical bills getting paid.

I gave it a week and called the hospital’s billing department again today to follow up on the issue. I spoke to a different woman this time. She claimed, once again, that they did not have the proper insurance information. “For real?!” “Seriously!” “Are you freakin’ kidding me.”  No I didn’t really say those things, but I thought them along with other thoughts. Instead I patiently repeated my ID number AGAIN! She had nothing. No record of my previous phone calls, no indication that I had ever spoken to anyone and of course no payment.

I had a lovely chat with the woman although I wanted to burst into tears and scream. She agreed to bill the insurance again. She also said that she would call me if there was a problem. I gave her the union rep’s contact information though I doubt she’ll call. I called the union rep again and she assured me that there was absolutely no reason all of this should be going on as the claim has been approved.

Now I just wait. I wait until I get another bill in the mail saying that I owe X amount of money and my payment is overdue. Then I start the phone calls all over again.  This is so frustrating and it’s not the first time I’ve had to go through this. Why the run around? I have insurance, good insurance.  I should not have to be tracking the payment of these bills. Yet it seems like there is not communication between all the different people involved. They keep mailing things but no one is talking to each other. I truly don’t understand why this is so difficult.

 

Winter?

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Winter decided to make an early appearance over the weekend as a fierce Noreaster whipped through Massachusetts taking down trees, branches, power lines, cable wires and utility poles leaving hundreds of thousands without power or heat. My son and I escaped to my sister’s house in the eastern part of the state which didn’t get hit nearly as hard. My wonderful husband stayed home to tend to the disaster that was our yard. He also helped out at my mom’s house. Fortunately we have a wood stove so my husband was toasty warm at night.

Our power came back Monday night. The worst of it for us was the damage in the yard, a refrigerator and freezer full of food that had to be thrown away, and flooding in our basement. We are very lucky considering how much damage and destruction there is in our area.

Of little importance is the fact that we do not have cable or Internet. My iPhone service has been questionable as well. As soon as things improve I will be back with posts.

I hope everyone is safe and warm. See you soon.

Five Friday Fun Facts – 10/21

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1. I love to read but sometimes I get a little ahead of myself. I have three library books on my nightstand. Want to know what they are?

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin by Kathy Griffin

I would like to finish them all by the end of November so I can dedicate the month of December to reading books about running, specifically marathon running. I’m pretty sure I will need a little inspiration and motivation at that point.

What are you reading?

2. The Disney Marathon is 75 days away. The website says, “the marathon course runs through all four Walt Disney World® Theme Parks starting at Epcot®, continuing on to the Magic Kingdom® Park, Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Park, Disney’s Hollywood Studios™ and then back to Epcot® for an exhilarating collapse finish.” Can’t wait!

3. Did you know that you should replace your running shoes every 300-500 miles. I just got a new pair. I keep the old pair for running in the rain or when it’s muddy or wet out since most of my running is on trails. This is my third pair of the same Nikes. I went to a running store and they fit me for running shoes based on my gait and how I wore out my previous pair of sneakers.

New Running Sneakers

4. I saw this the other day while running at a different reservoir

Snake!

I zoomed in to get a photo so I was quite a distance away. The snake scurried off into the woods.

5. I quit coffee! About a month ago I stopped drinking coffee. I really only drink it at work anyway. So I started bringing tea to work. I feel much less dehydrated after a night at work. I also don’t get a headache when I’m off for a couple of nights because my body is craving coffee.

My favorites at the moment are the mineral tea I bought to aid in bone healing, Holiday Chai and Vanilla Cinnamon teas from Stash. A couple of years ago my sister spent a few weeks in India and brought me a box of Indian Vanilla Green Tea. I loved it so much I contacted the company in India and ordered 4 more boxes. I’m now down to my last box. Too bad I couldn’t visit India myself to replenish my supply.

Work

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I don’t mention my job much here, but I am a nurse. I’ve been a nurse for five and a half years. It is my second career, the first being a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) teacher. I began my nursing career on a standard Medical/Surgical unit aka Med-Surg. I learned so much in my nearly three years there. I saw a wide variety of cases. I confronted most of my nursing fears head on as I delved into patient care which included post-op patients, pre-op patients, patients with drains, tubes, dressings, etc. I learned to manage my time with an often overwhelming patient assignment including admissions and transfers. The experience prepared me well. Med-Surg nurses are often overlooked and underrated. I have great respect for Med-Surg nurses who have dedicated their careers to this demanding, specialized niche of nursing that really serves as the backbone for all of nursing.

After being floated numerous times to the Intermediate Care Unit (IMC), a monitored cardiac unit, I knew that the time had come for a change. The great thing about being a nurse is that there are so many areas I in which to practice. The switch to cardiac care initially proved to be a challenging yet rewarding change for me. My co-workers were incredibly supportive and knowledgeable. However, my training was severely lacking and I trudged along for a year feeling as though I was not quite cut out for the critical care setting. Aside from the frequent staff drama there were also some major administrative and management changes that had occurred a few months after starting the position in IMC. I had an erratic schedule and I was leaving later and later each day. I loved the patient care aspect but the rest of it weighed heavy and caused a great deal of unnecessary stress both at work and home. I got talking to one of the nurses from the Psychiatric Unit and after numerous chats she told me of a night shift nursing position available on her floor. I went to Human Resources that morning after work to apply. I didn’t even need to think about it.

Did you ever just feel right about something? I knew instantly that this was the path I was supposed to take in nursing. Needless to say I have been on that unit for almost two years. The time has flown by and I have never been happier in my nursing career. I absolutely love what I do. I work with a terrific group of people. I have a supportive boss. I get out of work at 7 am on the button which makes bringing Carlos to school possible and going for runs immediately after work on the weekends a lot easier. I have a set schedule and no mandatory holiday schedule. Though we are required to work some holidays there is a sign up sheet that is posted for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. The funny thing is the slots get filled without any difficulty or argument. Some of us like the extra money and don’t mind working those holidays, others are so grateful to be able to have the time off.

It isn’t hard to believe that while working on the previous nursing units I was unable to lose weight and though I tried to run I didn’t stick with it. Since I started on the Psych Unit I have lost and maintained an 8 pound weight loss. I have been able to commit to running. I find sincere support and interest from my colleagues. They actually let me blab about running amongst other things. It’s a two way street as I love hearing about their lives too. We all lend an ear when someone has a dilemma or had a bad day. We work great as a team. I truly enjoy going to work at night (oh and believe it or not I love working nights!).

Being content at work has translated to other areas of my life. I always believed that my career would be a priority. That was until I had my son. I am a hard worker with a very strong work ethic. I’m motivated and driven to succeed, but not in the same way I once thought was important. Ultimately caring for Carlos is my primary job and one that I am blessed to experience. People often ask me if it is difficult to work nights. I reply, “my night job is not nearly as difficult as my day job.” When I come home in the morning grinning from ear to ear it’s not only because I’m happy to see my family, it’s because I’ve had another great night at “my other job.”

Weigh In Day: Week 1

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I started this blog to chronicle my marathon training. I don’t focus on my weight or my history with weight struggles, but I’ve mentioned it here and there. In the last few years I have lost weight through a healthy diet and increased activity, plain and simple. Over the past year I have been stuck at about the same weight. To me this is still somewhat of a success because I never before had a handle on maintaining my weight. Despite staying at the same weight my body changed as I trained for a half marathon and began to strength train on a regular basis. I was starting to feel comfortable in my own skin. However, in the last four or five months not much has changed and I am not entirely comfortable in my body. I still carry an extra 20-30 pounds on my 5’2″ frame.

I saw my primary care physician in the second week of marathon training for a physical. He assessed my vital signs, looked over recent lab results and we talked about my health, my diet, my training and lifestyle. He agreed that everything looked great, but he wanted to do an EKG as a precaution. I have never had an EKG before. The EKG picked up a slight irregularity, T wave inversion. Without getting too clinical this reading on the EKG is insignificant in and of itself and since I was asymptomatic (no chest pain, no difficulty breathing) there was no reason to panic without further examination.

I was sent to a Cardiologist. A repeat EKG was performed with the same results appearing. The Cardiologist sat with me for 45 minutes at the end of a Friday. We talked about my health in-depth including family history. He reviewed my labs. My cholesterol levels had improved over the last few years. I had lost over 60 pounds since giving birth to my son in 2006. I have eliminated meat and most dairy products from my diet. The Cardiologist was pleased with all of this information and he enthusiastically gave me the go ahead to train for the marathon under one condition: that I continue to make weight loss a priority and strive to get down about 20 pounds. This would put me at the high end of normal on the BMI scale. I greatly appreciated that the doctor was not placing unrealistic expectations on me yet he was holding me accountable to myself to keep up the work I had been doing to improve my health. As for the EKG results, the doctor encouraged me to go forth with life without worrying about the irregularity because it is likely benign, but obviously stop activity at the earliest sign of chest pain or shortness of breath and call the office.

From early adolescence weight loss was about appearance for me. Since the birth of my son, weight loss is about creating a healthy body and a healthy lifestyle. I don’t want to simply lose the weight without understanding how to keep it off. I don’t want to necessarily get thin I want to get healthy.

Right now I am participating in Biz’s Holiday 2011 Challenge and I am really committed to it. When I signed up to do the challenge my goal was to lose 20 pounds by New Year’s. I got off to a slow start and then broke my rib which brought my physical activity to a screeching halt. Instead of giving up I decided to journal my food and track calories as much as possible. My weight has hovered at 161.5 for the last few months. It fluctuated a bit in the first week that I wasn’t exercising. I weighed myself one morning and was really disappointed to see 163. Once I got a handle on my limitations I stabilized back to 161.5 pounds.

I have been exercising again for a week. I continue to journal my food as often as I can. I have been really trying to limit my snacking especially at work. Yesterday was my first official weigh in for the Holiday Challenge.

Weigh in #1 = 160.4 pounds

I am beyond thrilled. I have re-evaluated my goal for the challenge and as of right now I am committed to losing enough weight to put me into the 140s by New Year’s. That is 11.4 pounds in 11 weeks. This is a manageable goal. I feel like I’m back on track and I’m ready to lose this weight. I know that I will feel better, run a little faster and be closer to optimal health.

My weigh in day was Thursday this week but next week it will be Saturday because of my work schedule and will alternate that way. I prefer to weigh myself in the morning after a night off.

Sorry for being so wordy tonight. I have been wanting to write this for a few days, but had to wait for the weigh in. Thanks for reading 🙂

Marathon Training Week 11

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I did not do any physical activity last week because of my healing rib. I was very compliant with doctor’s orders to rest as much as possible. As a result I am feeling so much better.

Here is what was expected during week 11 of marathon training:

Sunday, 9/25/11 – Rest Day

Monday, 9/26/11 – 5 Mile Run + Strength Training

Tuesday, 9/27/11 – 7 Miles Run

Wednesday, 9/28/11 – 5 Mile Run

Thursday, 9/29/11 – 3 Mile Run + Strength Training

Friday, 9/30/11 – Rest Day

Saturday, 10/1/11 – 14 Mile Run

It has been exactly two weeks today since I last went for a run. I am taking it slowly to ensure that my rib heals properly. However, this morning I feltl up to a little activity so I went for a 1.5 mile walk at the reservoir after bringing Carlos to school. I felt absolutely fine while walking and thereafter. My heart ached a little as runners passed by me, but I will be back in action soon.

This afternoon Carlos and I walked to the library, well I walked, Carlos rode his scooter. I have to admit that on the way back I began to feel a little sore. So I just took a couple of Tylenol and I’m resting on the sofa. The amount of medication I take is greatly reduced to Ibuprofen three times a day and Tylenol or Aleve as needed as well as vitamins and a couple of homeopathic remedies.

Carlos and I were both really excited to see some signs of fall on our walk. Everyone (except me!) has their mums decorating their homes and we saw a few Halloween decorations too. There were quite a few crisp leaves along the sidewalk. The air is noticeably cooler. We love it!

Carlos and I did some baking over the weekend. We made Mama Pea’s Chocolate Chip Cake from Peas and Thank You, but since I didn’t have a cake pan (I know – Shame!) I used a brownie pan. It didn’t matter, our brownies cake was delicious. My husband and co-workers agreed!

Have a great Monday!

Raindrops

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It was a rainy weekend here, but despite the raindrops we had a fantastic family weekend. My son had his first and second soccer games, one on Saturday and another today. The rain broke long enough for them to play on Saturday and out of a gloomy morning came a sunny afternoon today. Carlos plays on a 4 year old instructional soccer team. The kids are absolutely adorable to watch. The coach is a saint with more patience than even a preschool teacher.

Pay Attention Carlos!

Game day was a hoot. I have not laughed so hard in ages. Picture a bunch of fidgety four year olds chasing a soccer ball around a field in a cluster. There were two nets on either side but no goalies! Most of the time the kids couldn’t remember which goal they were supposed to shoot into and ended up shooting at the wrong goal. Then much to their chagrin after half time they switched sides causing mass confusion as parents hollered “other way, turn it around.” The referees certainly got a work out as the ball was out of play more than it was on the playing field.

The Cluster - Carlos is #23 in the white shirt

At one point Carlos stopped and turned in the direction of the ice cream truck that had just made an appearance in the parking lot and yelled “ICE CREAM TRUCK!”  Suddenly parents were promising ice cream treats if their child would just shoot the ball into the goal. Most of the time Carlos looked as though he was practicing a dance. He was fascinated with a plane flying overhead, the grass, the string on his shorts and really anything but the ball unless it rolled in his direction.

Carlos kicking a corner kick

Unfortunately the Ghosts lost both games. Bottom line though, everyone had fun especially us parents. Of course we treated Carlos to ice cream at Friendly’s after the first game. Watermelon sherbet for me, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup for the evil “can eat what he wants and never gains weight” husband. I gained three pounds simply looking at his!

Rib update: I am feeling fantastic. I am in virtually no pain unless I reach, turn or stretch the wrong way, but even that has dulled considerably. I have been diligently resting whenever possible. However, I am going to try to resume some type of exercise tomorrow while Carlos is at school even if it is just a walk with purpose. I do not intend on pushing myself too hard. I know my limits and I am also very cognizant of the fact that although the physical pain may be gone the bone itself is not likely to be fully healed just yet. I do not want to re-injure myself. It hasn’t even been two weeks but I am definitely moving in the right direction and I am very hopeful that I will be running within the next two weeks.

I’ll be back tomorrow with my usual Marathon Training update and information about a few challenges I’m participating in to keep me on track with my diet goals. Hope you had a great weekend.

Patient

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I’m not good at this. I don’t nap. I don’t “relax.” Sure I take time for myself to get a pedicure or to go for a run, but take time to rest, that just doesn’t happen. I’m busy and I love it that way.

They say nurses make the worst patients. I’ve taken care of a few and they weren’t so bad. I’m really not a bad patient either because I will do what I’m told, but no one says I have to like it.

I hate this. I swore I wasn’t going to write about “the rib” today, but it’s all I can think about. I have forced myself to rest as much as possible since this happened. Monday and Tuesday were spent primarily on the sofa with breaks just to make meals and believe me they weren’t fancy meals.

Yesterday I took my pillows and heating pad outside and got comfortable on the deck so that Carlos could play outside for a while. He kept asking me to play baseball, in his sand box, cars, etc. My answer got redundant. He was hot, tired and apparently a little fed up with me and my “rib.” Suddenly he burst into tears and said, “I want the old Mommy back. I don’t like this one. I want the fun Mommy the Mommy who likes to do everything.” I couldn’t help but cry too. I grabbed my little boy so he wouldn’t see me crying and silently sobbed as I agreed, “I miss that Mommy too.”

I’m crying now as I write this. I know that I have to be patient. I’ve researched broken ribs on just about every reputable medical website I could find and some not so reputable websites (hey you never know where you might find a miracle!). The one common thread of advice for healing a broken rib is the same throughout – REST.

So rest I will. Who knows, maybe I will even learn to like it. Hopefully not too much because I have a marathon to run in January!!!