Friday, October 30, 2009

It is all in your perspective...



Last week was all about perspective. Is my glass half empty or half full? It might get deep. For about a second.

Where to begin... Let's go with the deep and then get to the squirrel. Yeah, I have you now, don't I?

So remember the whole saga about my thyroid? Well, I went back for the 6 month check up and my doctor this time was a little less vague about the direction I should take. She said (or I heard) that the nodule was 3 cm and really that was the size at which they consider removal. I know I am not crazy, I am pretty clear on the conversation. As any good patient, I have googled enough to be fairly well educated on the subject. Well, as educated you can be taking everything you read with a grain of salt. I was resigned to the fact that I would have someone cut into my throat, there would be a scar, time off work. Basically, convinced myself it was no big deal. So off to the surgeon we go. I get there and he is is of the opinion that it doesn't need to come out. According to his chart, the nodule is 1.3 cm and not large enough to worry about considering I have zero symptoms. Of course he left the door open if I insisted but we came to the conclusion that it really was not necessary. Hmmm... Back to square one. Initially, I was kind of put off by it. I had kind of resigned myself to the idea of the surgery and being done with the whole nodule thing. I had to catch myself for a second. Ummm, hello Mcfly? This is a good thing. No interruption in the training schedule, no scarves and turtlenecks to choke you all winter and cover the healing scar. This is good news! The side note is, I am scheduled for the "next available" ultrasound which is in December. I might put it off until next year, it has waited this long...

Perspective lesson 2. One of my eighteen or so tennis teams that I am on got an invitation to the state finals. The catch is you have to have at least 6 players to commit to going. We found out last week and the finals are November 14th. WOO HOO. For about a second. It turns out mid-November is a busy weekend for half the team and we couldn't scrape together 6 people off the roster. BUMMER. On the bright side, I can still get my marathon (marathong... there we go again) training in wihtout having to sit at the courts for 3 matches a day that weekend AND I can hang out with my new favorite running group. Downside, I miss going to state. Upside, I have PLENTY of other things to do.

Perspective lesson 3. I ran 10 miles at Stone Mountain on Saturday. I had not strung together 10 miles in several weeks (or maybe longer) so it was quite the feat for me on this particular day. It actually felt pretty decent all things considered. For those who are not familiar with Stone Mountain, the map doesn't really do it justice. Basically, it is a 5 mile loop around the base of the mountain. Think hilly. Very hilly.




ADHD moment. Check this out, I googled to try and find an elevation map for the run and came up with a picture of my shoes I took a couple months back when I made those sofsole inserts in the oven. LOVE THAT. LOL.




Back to the story. So I am on my hilly run at Stone Mountain, somewhere between mile 8 and 9. My legs are starting to hurt a little bit. Not enough to stop but the first time I had noticed them starting to tire in this run. I pass this guy in a wheelchair. Not a racing, running type wheelchair, this was a regular hospital issue type chair. He was by himself. He was missing a leg. It appeared to have been recently amputated only because he still had bandages on it. He was wheeling himself around the mountain. Insanely impressive. I wish you all could picture the hills to know how impressive that it is to be able to wheel yourself around it. He gave me a high five as we passed. My legs didn't feel so bad anymore.


The squirrel! I know you have been dying for it. It is actually pretty funny. We had a squirrel try to make his home in our fireplace one night last week. Had he not pulled down insulation, we probably wouldn't have seen him. I walked in the den and notice white stuffing in the fireplace and the door slightly askew. I immediately slammed the door shut and peered inside to see the furry tail of a squirrel. Much discussion ensued from Rick about he could get the squirrel out. My end of the discussion basically consisted of "that sounds like a bad idea, let's call critter getters". In the end, we barricade the squirrel in the fireplace so he couldn't poke the glass door open again and called critter getters. Crazy squirrel. It took them 30 minutes to get him out of the fireplace. Apparently, the squirrel enjoyed his new home and was as strong as Samson. He kept grabbing onto the grate and could not be pulled off. I think he eventually got tired and came around to our way of thinking. They toted him to another neighborhood. Hopefully they are a little more welcoming of squirrels as roommates. Me, not so much.

Have a great weekend! I will be up bright and early for the Silver Comet Half Marathon. They are encouraging costumes. It is supposed to be rainy so I am not sure how much fun a wet costumed run would be in those conditions. I may have to leave the tutu at home this time. I will let you know.

3 comments:

AZ said...

I remember playing golf and hiking up Stone mountain but I don't remember the hills. I must have shut them out of my memory. Also, do the tutu and post a picture. Think of how fun it will be to google and find that picture in a few months.

Unknown said...

Have fun at the half, I hope it doesn't rain and you can take a pix AND share it with us!
I had my thyroid removed about ten years ago. The nodule was larger than yours. I haven't had any trouble since the surgery and I take replacement medication but all is fine now. Good luck with your decision.

Lindsay said...

hmm, hope all is OK with your thyroid. glad you didn't have to have any surgery and hopefully it will continue to be ok! i laughed at your tennis comment - you do seem to be on every team in the south east ;)

hope your half went well!