Too busy to blog—F4LBR #1

Wow another 5 months gone… time flies when you’re busy.

This year I have biked more, run more, walked more, and everything-else more. And now, I’ve signed up for my biggest challenge yet—the Friends for Life Bike Rally! I opted for the three-day version, but that’s still ~300km of riding. Toronto to Kingston. Kill me now. 

Actually the real killer is going to be raising the funds—I need to raise almost two thousand dollars, and so far I have $35 (that I donated myself). So please! Donate! It’s a good cause!

Also, in the interests of not dying on my big ol’ cruiser, I got a new (to me) bike—a little red road bike. Red means it goes fast. Here’s me on my first lil ride, trying and failing to take a selfie with the timer on my phone:

Me and Lil Red

A Bike Party friend helped me find it on Facebook marketplace, and is going to help me get it kitted up with toe clips, new grip wrap, etc. Will it get me all the way to Kingston? Camping along the way?! I sure hope so… 

Up and down

Oh boy, haven’t posted in months, whoops.

Cough study was a bust, pretty frustrated with that for numerous reasons, more on that another time.

10k was also a bust, I decided again running because it was cold and rainy, but apparently it was terribly mismanaged again so I’m glad I didn’t waste my time. No washrooms, no traffic control, no water, no medals. Just shockingly bad.

A tooth that was supposed to be a root canal split in half, so I needed a bridge, and last year’s bridge broke, which is not supposed to happen. 

But in good news, I played tennis last week for the first time in forever, and have doubled my average summer mileage this month so far. The weather is gorgeous and it’s lovely to be outside. My garden is mostly planted (just need to sow some lettuce and other greens).

My ferritin is good (did I blog about that yet?), my blood pressure is low, my weeks-long period finally ended, and I’m sleeping better. 

Overall, pretty good! I have to remind myself of that sometimes...

Cough study update

Went for my first in-person appointment today! Was moved up a couple of weeks when I realized I had double-booked with my mammogram, and it turned out the clinic had a cancellation. Whoo!

This morning, I spent three hours getting bloodwork done, various pulmonary function tests, providing medical history, weighed and measured, informed consent, urine sample, blood pressure, oximeter, etc. etc. Now I’m wearing a device to monitor my coughing for 24 hours. Next, I will get a chest x-ray.

I have two or three more visits before I am “officially” part of the study. Then I start my medication (or placebo). Then we shall see what we shall see.

Got new tennis shoes!

So of course it's snowing!

Also made this hoodie to throw on after tennis or a group run on a cold day.

Three more weeks

Till my initial appointment! Wow this trial process is long.

In other news, they have asked me to keep taking the PPI for now. Meanwhile I only today made the connection that my crazy ravenous appetite seems to have begun when I started taking the PPI. Maybe will stop taking it now, whether they like it or not. Having bad heartburn again today.

Or maybe it was PMS... spotting today, which would be 26 days since the last one, which is pretty normal I guess. 

OH MY GOD I was thinking it seemed like a lot less than 26 days since the last one... I was counting from 3 February to 29 February, forgetting the period that started 10 days ago...

Forgive the histrionic formatting but if ever there was a reason to be histrionic this is it

The next steps

Heard from the researchers this morning, asking if “the GERD medication that was prescribed to you improved your cough partially or completely?”

Sigh. I wish.

I let them know nothing has changed; in fact this week has been terrible! Hoping to start the trial medication soon (crossing fingers I don’t end up as a “control” with a placebo.

Another Monday check-in

Yesterday was the worst for coughing. I went to bed last night thinking, “must remember to write a blog post about how bad today is so I don’t forget.” And I’m still coughing this morning!

I think my follow-up call with the doctor is supposed to be this week. I’ll reach out to them if it’s not. Because this does not feel good.