(above Santa Anita Racetrack 5 k April 2012) 

 

   Still a bit queasy from stomach flu yesterday.  Well I don't know whether it was the stomach flu or because I drank a chocolate protein shake with banana, and coconut oil. . . AND then I took some supplements I don't normally take...  green coffee extract (to help burn fat), a memory pill (to help prevent Alzheimer's supposedly) and some old "leg vein" supplement I had but kept forgetting to take.

     I figured wow, I spent so much money on these supplements (at different times) I might as well try to remember to take them.  Well, so much for that. I am never drinking that protein drink again because that was all I could taste when I was "losing my cookies".

Hoping to at least do a mile today.  We'll see.



Hope you all are having a great day :)

Random pic of Santa Anita 5 K Race in Alta Dena California last year in 2012--- Beautiful day...

Husband coming up to the finish line...

Husband and boys :)

stomach flu! ughh!

Yesterday (had to force myself to exercise)..

Time: 32 minutes
Ran 1 mile walked 2nd mile:  (did less because of pain) 
Pain scale prior to running: 4 (ball of feet) (shoulder) 4
                   during running: 8  "                                 " 4
                      after running: 8   "                                " 6
       one hour after running: 1  "                                  " 0  :)




I believe my new shoes irritated the balls of my feet.  I am going back to my older pair until I can find the right ones.  :o


Keeping up with at least one  mile a day in March, yay :) 
(Still doing the 5 k from 3 to 5 times a week though)



Random pic of my twins :) graduated 2012 

 

 

Hope to do a 5 k today.  :)  Talk to you later

RA hits you in the darnedest areas.

I've not only had swollen and painful joints in my toes, balls of my feet, ankles, knees, hips, hands and fingers and shoulders but I've also had it in....

               My jaw, very painful and unable to chew food

               My rib cage, making it very tender to touch

               My sternum, throbbing severe pain in my sternum has actually
                      makes me feel like I was having a heart attack!  (The only
                      reasons I know I wasn't having a heart attack was that my
                      Dad used to get it all the time there, so I just knew)
                  

               My eyes are affected, as I have not tear production at all in one
                      eye and just a tad in the other eye. Opthomologist said this
                      was from my auto immune disease RA.  Also blurry
                      vision at times she said from iritis.

               Fatigue.  My RA has caused me much fatigue before I was
                      treated with Enbrel. I felt like someone gave me a
                      sleeping pill.

I am positive for Epstein Barr though as well but the doctors aren't to worried about that.

I don't know if it has anything to do with my RA but I also have PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) which puts you at a much higher risk for heart attack and diabetes.  So, this is one of the main reasons I don't want to stop running despite RA.  Got to keep exercising!

Anyway, it's beautiful day here in California, have many errands, talk to later.


Random pic of my beautiful sister-n-law and brother-n-law.

:)


"Keep on keeping on"

              
       
              
              

Ran:  3.2 miles today on treadmill
Speed: 5.0 to 5.5 mph

Pain before running scale:  2/10 on the balls of my feet/  shoulder pain 2/10
Pain during running scale:  7/10 on the ball of my right foot 2/10 on the left  shoulders 2/10
Pain after exercise:  5/10 , 0/10 and 0/10 respectively
Back pain (from old injury):  0/10

Wahoo made it my 4th day of "running everyday during March" madness.  :) :)

Just got off the treadmill feel really good!


Just some info for you.  A real motivating book to read is called "NO Excuses" by Kyle Maynard.  A young man with congenital amputee who played football and wrestled to the championship. :)

Thank you Kyle for sharing your most motivating story!!!



Hope your day is going fantastic.  

Going to work now. :)

My Story of First Symptoms of RA:


First symptoms started when I was 44 years old.  I kept getting tingling in my arms. I recall one day at the beach sitting in a chair , talking to my sister, and both my arms began to tingle strongly.  I knew it probably wasn't a stroke because it was on both sides. So I ignored it at the time.

When it kept returning on some days,  I went to my primary care doctor at the time and he sent me for an MRI of my spine looking for MS I guess.  Said I was normal and acted like it was all in my head and due to stress. :( 

(Later I learned it was because my RA was swelling in my shoulders and although I didn't have pain quite yet it was enough to press on the nerves and cause a strong tingling in both my arms).


  One day on the set of "A Night At The Museum" where my son was a "stand in" , I went to get up to leave and I had severe pain in my right ankle.  I couldn't even walk, had to get a cart ride to my car. :o  Went to the docs and they put me off for two weeks for a "sprained ankle".  THE ONLY THING WAS the pain was completely gone in two days. Hmmmm. Well I enjoyed the two weeks off.

One night I woke up at 3 am with a knife piercing pain in my right hand. I was in tears. I turned on the light and saw that my entire hand and wrist were swollen and red. I was thinking , is my circulation cut-off or something?................ I ran down stairs and got ice and taped it to my hand, took a Motrin and after 30 minutes of writhing and wondering if I should go to the emergency room I fell back to sleep as the pain subsided.  My hand was completely normal when I woke up later.

One day I noticed my skin was turning red and heated on my wrist and was starting to swell. I went to the docs and they said "you have cellulitis (a skin infection) of the wrist"  and they gave me antibiotics.  The next day it was gone. Knowing what I know, cellulitis does not go away that fast.  So I was baffled.

Another day I couldn't walk at my kids school open house. It was after sitting and listening to the teacher my right knee swelled up and it was very painful.  That lasted about 2-3 days.  The doctor said well you may have "polyarthrits" a arthritis that goes from joint to joint not on both sides. I didn't think much of it.

When I realized I obviously had something wrong with just my joints was when I woke up at 3 am with severe shoulder pain and stiffness. I painfully and barely got myself dressed.  I was in tears.  Realizing I could not even turn a steering wheel on a car I called my friend Laura to take me to the doctors. There I just cried and said "Obviously I have something wrong with my joints!"  He wasn't a very warm and fuzzy doctor, he seemed very annoyed that I was in tears and in pain.  The weird thing is, he could lift my shoulders up for me and it didn't hurt, but when I tried to lift them it was searing pain!

He prescribed me Prednisone. 

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh   I never felt so good in my life. I felt so good and had so much energy for once, that  I cleaned my entire house the next day.  He also sent me to a Rheumatologist who did some testing.   I was not RF positive, but I was VERY positive on the
ANTI CCP test, which is known now I guess to be a better indicator of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

I cannot believe how clueless I was !!!!!   My father had suffered since age 50 from RF positive RA and his fingers were severely disfigured AND my grandmother (his mother) was bedridden with disfiguring RA for the last 13 years of her life from Rheumatoid Arthritis!!!

I just want to say.  If you think you may have RA don't be fooled by some of the descriptions of RA like "characterized by stiffness lasting more than one hour in the morning" more like "severe onset of pain at 3 am in the morning with red and swelling joints".

Also, another description is "a stiffness in the joints that is on both sides of the body at the same time"  Well, if you read the above you would know that it takes some time to get where it is on both sides of your body.  It may not start out that way.


Random pic of me and my husband on vacation for our 25th wedding anniversary in San Diego...

 

Hope my story helped anyone who may think they have RA. 

Remember to get your anti-CCP done if your RF is negative!

see ya'  :)

Random vids of my son Garrett...








Hello all. Hope you are having a great day. 

 

 

 

 

I am keeping up with running everyday in March at least one mile a day.
:)


Did 3 miles today on the treadmill, it was difficult today due to a flare up in the balls of my feet and both my shoulders. :o

I ended walking with incline 2 miles and running at 5 mph for one mile which was much more difficult then usual due to the pain. :o

BUT.... as usual felt much better afterwards and I would say my pain scale now is only about a 1 of 10  (4/10 when I walk).

Trying to figure out a quick format on these blogs.  One that is short sweet and to the point.  So, I will be trying out different formats.

BTW I have been working more hours lately and I was sooooo glad to finally have a day to just sit and relax with my fam....so I forgot about the "gait analysis" at Sports Chalet!  :O   So mad at myself. 

I will call and try to reschedule.

Just joined the ACSM The American College of Sports Medicine. Love their conferences. :)




"Focus on what you CAN do not what you cannot."