Health update

Okay the big news this week is that I went to the doctor.  Yes, I am getting old when "I went to the doctor" is the lead into this story.  I'm going to bullet point this because why not, I'm old and it's easier to read.

• Thyroid-my PCP and the doctor I see for my yearly appointments are different but in the same group. I prefer a woman over men, especially because my PCP is a runner and we've run together in the past and could in the future.  While he is a total professional, I don't want him looking down there and then looking me in the face on a run.  Weird, maybe.  Anyway, all of that to say he and the female PA I saw are both totally in dissent with the radiologist about my thyroid.  They feel like more needs to be done and more follow up needs to be done.  I have my endo appointment in March, so stay tuned.  They hope she is going to put some parameters in place for either testing or monitoring, but if she doesn't, they are.  I feel like it's getting bigger and people now notice it, so it's changed.  I still don't think the worry is cancer but as to what it is, the jury is still out. I did tell them needles are a no go, and they are prepared to have my ass knocked out or at least super out of it for any needles.  

• Anxiety-back to is it the chicken or the egg that comes first.  Is it the fact that I have no estrogen or a huge lump in my neck the reason I have anxiety or is it just anxiety.  I want to treat the underlying cause not just the symptoms.  Many women go on anti-depressants during perimenopause and menopause, and my doctor thinks for now it's a good idea.  I am willing to try it and see if it helps, but I still would like a re check of my hormones to see if I am truly at zero so that we can start to add estrogen back in. Then therein lies the problem, if we do add in hormones, how will I know if they are working if I am on medication for anxiety/depression.  Sigh.

• Menopause-yes, I am firmly in it.  No, the little spotty spots I randomly have are not periods.  I can start the countdown.  YES! That also may mean I can get on estrogen.  Bonus!

Okay off of health, onto the good stuff and done with the bullets.  I got three runs (4, 4, and 5) in this week and two lifts (upper body and lower body).  The weather was slightly nicer again, warmer but without the humidity.  Then winter said hold my beer and came roaring back BUT I had planned for it, got my runs done, and all I had to do was lift in the shop in the warmth.  I had planned for a longer long run on Saturday as well but the farmers in my area and on my route had a better idea.  Let's all collectively inject anhydrous ammonia at the same time where Michelle and Ollie are trapped happened.  Lucky for me, my hubby was driving around and came and picked us up and we got to spend the rest of the morning downtown sipping coffee from the Brew and eating homemade pizza at Bird's Creamery.  Support local!

 

  

I also got some news at work that didn't surprise me but also made my week quite interesting.  Our QC department had been dwindling as of late due to people getting other jobs, but the leadership decided to go ahead and fire everyone and start over, which means that our RD department had to fill in.  It's not hard work; it just has to be exact as it directly affects product being released.  There is TONS of paperwork, tons of places to sign and date and no room for error.  Just what my nervous system needs right now.  No pressure, right?  We had several 10 hour days and one 12 hour day, but we got it done.  Can I continue at this pace, no, but also, I just got a raise and a bonus so keep my mouth shut and get it done is the vibe.  Right now, there is a pissing contest between two departments as to who is going to work when and I just want to get along and all work towards a common goal.  Can I just find a job where everyone there wants to work hard for a common goal like when I was in my lab at KSU?  Sigh.  

Have a great week y'all!  I am hoping and praying things calm down and I can just focus on being the best person and mom I can be, working out on working on me, and providing great results to whomever is my boss on that day.  

Worries but hopefully not

You have to love some BrittanyFrostdesigns.  This was the first thing on her page this morning and it's so fitting.  I got a little personal in my last blog post but I'm not sorry.  I have to get these things out of my head, or I will go crazy (or maybe I am already there).    I have a planned yearly physical with my doctor next week as well as therapy and I need it.  Things have been very rough this week for me mentally and I don't see them getting better anytime soon, BUT I will make it through this.    I do need to be able to do my job and function as a mom, so I am going to need something to help me with that and there is nothing wrong with that.  I have some medications I would like to discuss based on things that have helped others in my life.  They may not be a great fit for me, but they may be.  Who knows till we try.  I will say, there has been lots of good too sprinkled into this week, so let's continue with those things, because those are the moments I have to cling to mentally to get me through this speedbump.  

I got two strength work outs done this week with some modifications from Tony.  I do love when he looks at my work outs and gives me suggestions.  When I do upper body, I like to have a variety of exercises, not just shoulder, shoulder shoulder.  To me upper body is all things upper including core and biceps/triceps.  My app apparently likes to just work my shoulders.  Sigh.  He subbed out to include some concentrated curls for my biceps and some close grip bench presses which he spotted me on to work my triceps.  I wish he would work out with me more.  I really enjoy that time together and he is a treasure trove of tips and tricks due his is background in lifting and body building.   I've had some knee pain in my right knee and I am not sure where it is coming from, so I've really been careful about running this week.  Who am I taking care of myself and not literally running myself into the ground????  I did get two short runs done and called it good.  

Tuesday was Fat Tuesday.  I love all things Cajun and New Orleans and would seriously live there if the crime wasn't so bad and hurricanes liked to visit.  I love the culture, the music, and most of the food.   Im not a huge seafood fan but andouille sausage in gumbo is my jam.  My next trip with Andrew is going to be down to the big easy.  We aren't Catholic, so we don't go through the whole process of Fat Tuesday/ Ash Wednesday and Lent, but I explained the significance of all days to Andrew and then we celebrated Fat Tuesday at Manhattan Brewing Company with hurricanes, beignets, king cake, and gumbo.  There was also a jazzy type of band that came and played with a very famous guitar player jamming out (Wayne Goins) and Andrew whispered to me best night ever as we left.  Yes, I totally regretted the two hurricanes I imbibed in, but I made it through work and only felt like poop from about 2 am till about lunch time.  The experience was worth it, and I would do it again in a heartbeat to see my kiddo smile and enjoy the live music.  

Wednesday was Andrew's music lessons, and I swear if I have to get a third job, I will support his habit no matter what.  He's been talking about getting an electric guitar and I think that would be so much fun for him to dabble in all things stringed.  He was wailing away the other night in his room on his ukelele.   It's just such a fun journey to be on with him.    I seriously can't wait to see where this goes for him in the future.  

We ended the week with we are getting old.  Tony had his first colonoscopy and boy was that not fun.  I think worse than the prep of cleaning out was the not eating for over 24 hours.  He had a few polyps, but the doctor didn't seem concerned.  We are currently waiting on the report but again the doctor was not worried much at all.  What he was a little concerned with is that his small intestines were very inflamed.  He has no symptoms of anything bad like Crohn's or IBD, but his intestines looked like he either had one of those or he took Advil too much.  Stay tuned, we have a CT scan planned for next week with orders to check his small intestines a little bit more.

Seriously y'all, I may be struggling but y'all have a great week! This too shall pass and if it won't, better living through chemistry it is!

Day of Love

 

Not going to lie, loving brief hits of warmer weather without humidity.  I can take heat any day but leave the damn moisture out of the air.  Plus, having just a tiny bit of light later in the night lifts my spirits after so many dark night runs.  

Two lifts this week including upper body and lower body and three runs including a rain run that was a tad bit short of my 4 I've been aiming for.  Bad Bunny is still jamming in my ears and pushing me through my work outs and runs.  Damn his music is so good for getting you going and keeping you going.  Plus, they keep me dancing between sets and I love a good salsa!

Happy Valentines Day y'all!!!!  Woke up to heart shaped donuts on Friday. Mine was quite delicious and I shared it with my coworker bestie and my boss since she needed some chocolate love.  

Andrew got some chocolate and I got some roses day of and we spent the night eating heart shaped pizza and chocolate covered strawberries.  It was the perfect day to spend the day of love.

I want to end on a serious note, and I know I've talked about this before but here I am again having serious anxiety due to many things in my life.  I'm not to the point of puking in garbage cans, not sleeping, not functioning period, but I'm pretty damn close and I don't want to get to that point.  I am going back to therapy every 2 weeks, but the cause of the anxiety is not going to go away because I live with the cause every day in my house.    I'm not sure how to fix this.  I don't want to get to the point of flight again but it's there bubbling under the surface.   I try not to worry about things that I can't control like when people pay my hubby and how he runs his business, but I can't stop it.  At the end of the day the debt he brings into his business and if he loses it period will ultimately affect me, especially since my parents are now involved financially as well.  It literally is driving me nuts and consuming all of my thoughts.  I'm watching stress slowly kill my hubby and it's only a matter of time before it turns on me.  I'm trying all my tricks, all the things that have worked for me in the past (including writing in this blog), and they just aren't working.  I've left medication as the last resort and here I am at the last resort.  All of that word vomit to say stay tuned and send any positive vibes/prayers/good feelings/whatever you can give me my way.   I know I can get out of this, just got to get there in one piece and get it figured out.  

Sorry for ending on such a bummer note but truly have a great week y'all.  

Super Week

Three runs and one strength training work out this week.  Didn't get legs in this week, but you know what, I run so that should count for something strength training wise.  I am super excited to see daylight later into the evening for our runs.  Something about having light just makes me run a little lighter and faster.  Although it does also mean the return of humidity very, very soon.  Yuck.  This is going to be short because I have lots to do today including welcoming part of our racing family to work on Andrew's car!

I did have my yearly review with my boss this week.  I was dreading it, not because I did anything wrong or haven't worked my butt off all year, but because I hate hearing the things I need to work on.  I know my weaknesses already but hearing them from others just hits differently.   Learning how to be critiqued is part of science or any job for that matter so I guess I need to work on that (add it to my list LOL), but also, I put more pressure on myself than anyone else can.  There were no surprises other than we are going back to if this is your area, stay in your lane and do your best.  It seriously changes each year and that's fine.  I love staying in my lane!  My specialty is diet and calf milk replacer as related to how if effects our products and plating, and I enjoy that even though I can do whatever needs to be done in the lab including PCR and the in vitro system.  I'm a team player but (and I feel like I've written but way too many times) I do like to do what is comfortable to me.  Here is to hopefully another year of a job as I don't know how much longer they will have an RD department once they decide they are comfortable with their line up of products or the sell the company.  

The Soares and Wood's family came to town Superbowl Sunday to get the car put together.  They mostly got it done with maybe one more days' worth of work to do.  The boys Jaxen and Hank worked hard to get all of Tony's quarter midget stuff together to categorize and sell.  It's the end of an era and I am so sad to see it end.  It's also really weird to not hear anything from anyone about buying any of our stuff, but I have my theories on that that I shall keep to myself at this point.  This is around about the time last year we tried to get Andrew stuffed back in his cars and realized it wasn't going to happen so I am hoping people will be calling soon.  

Superbowl Sunday was spent with one of my most favorite people in the world Brandy, while the boys worked on the car.    We had the town all to ourselves since I guess everyone was at parties.  We had coffee and soup, did some shopping, and spent time at the brewery.  It was like 70 degrees outside, so we sat on the patio and had a few tasty beers.  I did watch the first half of the Superbowl, mainly for the commercials and the Bad Bunny concert as I am a Chief's fan and have no interest in either of the teams playing.  I had recently become a fan of Bad Bunny after I was curious about his music post grammy's.  I was instantly hooked upon delving into his albums, and I will say I absolutely loved the half time show and how they presented it.  Music doesn't need a language as it's music and it flows and moves and covers you up in sound and beats.  Andrew and I danced out butts off and thought that the way they moved through the scenery was amazing! Plus, Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin singing was just icing on the cake.   I would definitely go to a Bad Bunny concert in a heartbeat because the music just fills my soul and makes me want to move!  Congrats to the winner and the fact that the QB was a red head.  Go GINGERS!

Have a great week y'all!

Let's get it started

I went into this week full of dread.  Full of what ifs.  Lots of things going on that weren't great.  Got an unexpected bill that was super high that I wasn't ready to pay at this moment.  Cash flow in my hubby's business was severely affected thanks to the holidays.  Boss had to have emergency surgery and be out more after just getting back from being gone.  And then there was my thyroid journey starting.   I'm trying to be the brave strong person I've been for a while now, but I feel that person is slipping a bit.  Let's dig in, shall we?

If you remember last week, I had found a knot that ranged from golf ball sized at times to egg sized with swelling going all the way up to my ear and down to the middle of my neck at times.  I tried not to go to the worst-case scenario but if you know me, that is exactly where I went.  I do have amazing life insurance thanks to Barry Luck (Federated Insurance), so my family is protected and yes, I did just do a plug for him because he really helped me understand how important this is so that your family is covered. Plus, he runs and lifts and just gets me and my craziness, so he gets some flowers!  Our first step was to have an ultrasound done on my neck to see what we were dealing with.  At the time it could be anything from a nodule to just a pissed off swollen thyroid so no use freaking out till we knew.  Spoiler alert, I still did freak out, but it a much calmer way than I normally would.  I was lucky enough to get an ultrasound planned in Wamego so I wouldn't have to miss much work.  It was quick and painless and while I wanted to ask a million questions, I knew the tech couldn't truly answer them, so I kept them to myself.  My only thought was that she sure was taking a lot of pictures on all sides of my thyroid and when I could have my head tilted to the side she had the screen on, I sure could see what looked to be like some tumor/nodule things.  I hate when I am right.  According to the nurse who called me from my doctor's office, there are five nodules.  According to me reading the actual report from the radiologist, there are three nodules and two measurements of my actual thyroid lobes.  Sigh.  I am going with what I see on the report, not what the nurse claimed.  I really feel like she misread the report.  The good news is that they are all smallish and at this time not looking like cancer or ready for needle biopsies.  I am to follow up with an endocrinologist who of course is booked out till April, but she's really good and I am willing to wait.  I am putting my panic about needles and worry on hold till I need to bring it back out again :)

Outdoor work outs were done with the consideration of the cold.  I don't mind running longer in the cold when the sun is out but something about it being dark and cold just gets to me mentally.  I did an upper body work out and a lower body lifting session during the week and only one run.  I gave up one of my running days to go watch Andrew have his bass lesson which I will discuss next as I was blown away.  I got my other two runs done on the weekend even though the temps were subzero or very low.  Having the sun allows me to do hard things for sure and I got four done easily on the gravel.   There is still a lot of ice due to the freeze thaw going on and the majority of the snow hasn't melted yet so it's going to continue to get worse.  That just means black ice will continue to be a problem and it's one I hate.  

Okay Andrew and his music lesson!!!  Where do I start?  Holy smokes I was blown away.  The format was him and his two teachers jamming out.  Then they would stop and discuss technique or a certain way to play a certain song then right back to it. Yes, I was singing in the waiting room and no I don't think I will be missing anymore lessons.  They have a plan to work two lessons a month private and two lessons a month with another kiddo same age actually same school jamming with him and the teachers with them.  There is also a kiddo a little bit older that plays guitar and sings that if it's a good fit, they are going to mesh them all together at some point.  This is truly Andrew's dream come true and I am here for it!!!!

Have a great week y'all!  This will be a big one and pray for me that it is a good one. 2026 isn't being very nice right now and I need it to turn around!

Snow time!

This week has been all kinds of interesting.  Let's just start with the fun health stuff first and then go to snowmagedon.  I was getting ready to run, turned my body at a funny angle in front of a mirror and saw a knot in my neck area.  Upon further investigation, I found a very large squishy knot about the size of a small egg to the right of my thyroid.  No other symptoms luckily and labs all normal.  I've been following my thyroid very closely due to unexplained weight gain that I feel like is excessive and I know sometimes the thyroid can be a culprit.  Lucky or unlucky for me, it hasn't been.  Living in a small town has its perks as my doctor actually had several morning appointments the day after I found it, so I was able to quickly get in for an exam and to start planning how we are going to approach this whole mess.  Labs were first, then an ultrasound planned, and then talks of additional plans made once we knew more.  Spoiler alert: my labs were normal.  That made me feel a bit better about the C word.  I also posted on FB to get all the information I could, both good and bad about this kind of issue.  Mostly I've heard great stories of cysts and lymph nodes being pissed off and how easy the biopsies and surgeries have been.  I'll take the good.  As of typing this on Saturday, my body does seem a bit confused and seems to be mounting a response to whatever this is. I don't feel sick per se, but I don't feel 100 percent, almost like my body is fighting something off.  As always stay tuned.  

Since I wasn't feeling 100 percent this week and we had a major snowstorm hit, I got one heavy lift for upper body and three runs in.  I cut one of my runs short thanks to not feeling great and the wind chill not being very nice.  One four miler and one 5K for the runs before snow and a 3.25 miler post snow in some really slick dry snow.     I also did a home work out with my BOSU ball and Tony's 30 lb dumbbell that he had at the house.  Holy moly batman, I can barely walk as I type this.  I used my Peleton app and just told it I had nothing other than my body weight and I added the dumbbell and BOSU in as I could.  Since it was legs, it was more just holding the dumbbell while I did lunges or squats but for upper body, I will have to make my way to the shop to my different weights and kettlebells for sure.  

She didn't love her little booties, but she left them alone once we got started and they did the job of protecting her tiny little feet.  I had Tony drop us off on the gravel and pick us back up after I hit 3ish.  In town they had bladed the roads which just makes them slick messes to run on.  I did wish I had put on my yak tracks as I had them with me but left them in the dang truck when Tony dropped me off.  I was able to kind of straddle the ruts and keep one foot on fresh snow while the other stayed in the rut made by the tire tracks.  As long as I have one point of stability, I seem to be okay.  Still had a couple of OH SHIT moments where one foot slid a little too much but overall, not bad, just slow. You forget how good a workout snow running is.  It works so many muscles you don't normally use for sure!  

Pretty sure she's going to murder me in my sleep.  We tried on a bunch of Stella's old winter stuff, and all of her dog coats and booties were just too big.  These blue booties came from non-stop dog wear I think, and they did the job of keeping the snow from balling up on the bottoms of her feet.  She has such a tiny foot!!!  I think I will invest in some better booties for her since she seemed fine with them once we started going.  I've been using a little coat for her that my mom found somewhere that has fleece in it.  She seems to tolerate it well as well and it keeps her nice and warm without her overheating.  

We ended up getting about 5 inches of snow and luckily no ice, but more than that we had super cold wind chills.  We spent all weekend under blankets and cozied up to stay warm with all outlets dripping and our laundry room with a heater going constantly.  I am pretty sure our gas and electric bill this month will be at least 400 dollars if not more each.  Sigh.  Hi winter, glad you finally showed up, I guess.  Kill all the creepy crawlies please and thank you.  We did get out when the snow was coming down to play a little bit but due to the fact that it was such a dry snow, you couldn't build a snow man or even make snowballs.  Oh well.  

Have a great week y'all!

Ollie takes over the blog year end post!

Hi hi hi hi hi hi.  I'm Ollie/Ollie gurl/Good golly miss ollie/Ollipop/Olive COLEMAN.  Mom said the other doggies got to make blog posts and it's my TURRRRNNNNN!  

Here are some things you have to learn about me.  I made a bullet point list because that's the kind of girl I am.

1.  I live life at 100 mph.  Nothing should ever be slow.  EVER.

2.  Cars are the devil.  I know this to be a fact.  I would like to kill them all because they are evil and I think they might try to get mom and me.  Mom doesn't appreciate the fact that I would like to catch and eat one no matter how she tries to convince me that they aren't the evil and we should just keep running and ignore them.

3.  Warm up?  Who needs that?  We start out at an 11 and we don't back down.  Every run is a speedwork work out thank you.

4.  Birds/Planes/leaves/other dogs are also see bullet point 2.  Anything that moves might get us and I need to get it first.  

5.  Puddles are 5 stars out of 5.  The muddier and yuckier the better.  Clean water in a cute little kiddie pool is for sissies.  Even on a hot day.  Mud, water, bleh = best.

6.  Squirrel watching is the best.  I MUST patrol the yard 24/7 just in case one of those furry terrorists drop into the yard.  I will annihilate them if so.  This requires my mom's assistance so that on days she is home and working at her computer that I go in and out a minimum of 150,000 times to patrol.  

7.  I love my daddy more than anything in this world.  He is my earth, and I am his moon.  I worship him.  Mom, eh, she feeds me and takes me on runs but my love is with my daddy.  

8.  3 am is the most acceptable time to wake everyone up.  It's time to rise and SHINE family.  For some reason they don't ever seem to want to get up at that time, so I opt for chewing one of my bones right next to their heads for the next 3 hours till their alarm goes off.  It's how I show my love that I would let them enjoy chewing as well if they wanted to.  

9.  Cats are the best to terrorize.  Heck, they remind me of just a bigger version of a squirrel.  My cat Elvis can dish it as well as he can take it, so we are cool.  Sometimes we like to lie right next to each other and stare at each other to see who will make the first move.  He wins mostly because he has claws and I don't.  I've really worked hard to relax more around cats because they do really set me off.  Mom says Elvis is the perfect dog training cat and he has trained me well.  

10.  I am a racetrack dog.  Mom almost named me checkers because of my black and white spots.  I thought it was dumb at first that the little cars went in a circle and made it easy for me to catch them but then I understand why they went in circles and mom said I couldn't bark at them anymore.  

11.  I am so glad that my original family realized I am a bit too much for the average family.  I have a lot of crazy energy that is best kept for a family with dogs like me and people who can expend that energy daily.  The biggest sacrifice of love that a family can do is find a better fitting home for a dog and while I miss and still love them, I am where I need to be.  Mom shares photos all the time so my original mom can see what I am up to.  

Mom says we "may" do some races in 2026 if she can find some dog friendly ones that are suitable for me.  I also plan on going to some dirt races with Andrew this year as hello, I'm a racetrack doggie.  Mom says we are also going to start doing long runs again on the weekends and that I will at least get up to 10 miles on a run meaning I need to slow my happy butt down.  Mom says our word for the year is adventure so let's see what we can get in to!  Here's to more miles, more puddles, and more adventures!