The week has been tough so far. I am in survival mode trying to get through. Last weekend I went to calgary to see my GI doctor. I have been suffering from various stomach issues since I can rememder, however, over the past two years I have had such severe stomach pain that I have had to go to the emergency room several times. After months of seeing my family doctor and feeling like I am going a little crazy, I was finally referred to a GI doctor. They poked, proded, injected, scanned, and did all the most unpleasent tests that they could do. For those of you that have never had a colonoscopy, endoscopy, or never had to drink 4 liters of barium or colite.. you are most fortuneate. Anyways, after several trips too and from calgary to get these various tests, I finally got to see my doctor for the test results. Well, thankfully I do not have a serious condition like chrones, colitis, or cancer. However, they have diagnosed me with IBS- Irritable Bowel Syndrom. A condition that should be called "we dont know what the hell is wrong with you" syndrom. In fact my brother has been diagnosed with the same thing, however our symptoms are very different. When I first met with my doctor he reassured me that even if it was IBS, we would come up with a game plan to make me feel better which left me optimistic and hopeful. Well I left his office on monday with a much different feeling. It was pretty much a waste of time. He came in told me my tests were clear (thank goodness) and that I have IBS. Then he ratteled off about how they dont know what causes it, and therefore they dont know how to treat it. He explained that they could put me on medication but he doesn't believe in medication. He told me they could do food allergy/intolerance testing but often in IBS it's not always the same foods that makes you sick. Which I could have told him. I have driven myself crazy over the last few months trying to figure out if it is any sort of food that makes me sick. Poor ben listens to my "well maybe its dairy, or maybe corn allergy, or maybe soy, or maybe gluten.. blah blah blah." But none of those things really make me consistently sick... mind you alot of them are really hard to cut out of your diet without meeting with a nutritionist. Perhaps that should be my next step, along with keeping a food diary and recording what I'm eating and how i'm feeling.
Anyways, back to leaving the doctor. I felt very conflicting emotions. Obviously glad that I do not have anything life threatening or requiring surgery. But at the same time, I was deflated. I left with no direction of how to feel better or that I was ever going to feel better. Aparently the most diagnoised GI condition is IBS, and yet there is so little information about it.
So that is how my week started. By the time I got back from calgary it was 4:30 and I was exhausted. I headed to pick Ben up from work but his work schedule has changed. He is now working 10 hour days (7am till 5:30 pm) which has disrupted our training a bit too. We only had an hour after dinner to relax and wind down before bed. But now Ben's work is cutting into that precious hour and effectively cutting it in half. Now we're not home until 7pm after the gym, eating by 7:30 and in bed by 8! not to mention going to bed on a full stomach which makes you wake up feeling disgusting. Also, I'm walking home from work now and I'm home for a half hour before ben. Just being home for that half hour between 5 and 5:30 is a challenge to our training. The last thing I want to do is go back out to the gym, instead , I just want to eat dinner and relax. And when ben comes home he is tired and hungry and definitely doesn't feel like going to the gym. Discouraged by this we have skipped a few evening workouts.. actually all of them. Which has lead to a vicious cycle of "well start fresh tomororw and we'll take tonight off." Unfortuneatly it is now Thursday, and I have only done one of the workouts I was supposed to do this week. Darn. Oh well, its not like taking a week off over 7 months before our race is going ot make it or break it for us.. hopefully.
Like I mentioned before, it has been a rough week. The weather here is definitely not helping. It has warmed up, and instead of snowing it is pouring rain. Rain ontop of 6 feet of snow makes for a very messy walk in the mornings. It is gloomy, which is not helping the mood. Not to sound like an Eore. Here's to hoping that we force ourselves to the pool tonight.
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