I'm so thrilled! I went for a run today. The first real run in over two weeks. And my ribs didn't hurt. Joy of joys! I can run.

I liken this wonderful experience to the "you don't know what you have until you've lost it" syndrome. Running hurt, so I didn't run. I couldn't run, so I became grumpy from lack of exercise. (yes, yes, you're thinking, but you could have walked or rode a bike, and yes, I could have. But neither is my exercise of choice, and so I chose not to exercise.)

Of course, number 5 of the year is raging close, so the run wasn't as long or pain-free as I would have liked, but at least it was a run. Joy!

I became one of them today, without trying much. I became one of those women walking along the street towing dog with one arm and kid with the other. The type of women that single women give the wide berth, new mothers smile at in comradery and mothers with older kids gaze adoringly at the young child with you.

And all I had to do was take Liza for a walk around the block to receive all this attention.

Mike needed someone to distract Liza and Rozzi while his old house was being shown to prospective renters. Since Kate is out of town, he asked if I could take Liza for a walk. Sure thing. Especially since Liza smiled so brightly at me yesterday!

We definitely had issues at one point. We had stopped at the Buffington House, a historical landmark showing the type of houses that lined Lincoln before the shopping district took over. Liza was playing in the grass, when a creepy fellow came up and started talking to me, asking me what the house was and why it was there. I say creepy, and I mean creepy. He kept eying Liza, and had actually circled back around to talk to us, after passing us a while before. I was a bit nervous, but ready to beat the crap out of him if he so much as took a step towards Liza.

At one point, Liza decided to lie down and drink the milkshake we were sharing. Being used to her sippy cups, she didn't realize what would happen, and spilled most of the remaining shake down her front. I cleaned it up quickly, but was unable to suppress my humour. Poor Liza held her shirt up for half the way back home, to keep the chocolate off her tummy. It was cute.

How many ways can I hate the current medical system? Here's the conversation I had yesterday, trying to get the results from tests I had done last week. Doctor's office = DO. I spoke to Debbie yesterday.

Me: Hi, I'm calling about the results for tests I had done 
    last week.  I'm wondering how they turned out.

DO: Your doctor will mail you the results of your tests.  
    If there are any abnormal results, he'll call you.

Me: My doctor is out of town until the end of the week.  Can
    you just tell me if the results are positive or negative?

DO: No, I can't do that.  The results will be mailed out.

Me: Look, the tests were checking for intestinal parasites.  
    I have a referral to another doctor if the test is 
    positive.  Can you just tell me that?

DO: Oh, okay.  What's your chart number?

Me: It's [chart number]

DO: The results aren't back yet.  They were sent out on the
    first of September.  Can you call back tomorrow?

Me: Sent out?  Good to know.  I'll call back tomorrow.  
    Thanks!

Well, here it is tomorrow, so I call again. This time, Cynthia answers the phone.

Me: Hi, I'm calling to see if my test results are in.  I was
    told yesterday that the results can't be given out over 
    the phone, but I just need a positive or a negative result.

DO: I can't do that.  I can leave a message for your doctor to
    give you a call back.

Me: My doctor is out of town until the end of the week, so 
    that won't work.  Can you see if the results are in?

DO: No, I can leave a message for the on-call doctor.

Me: To see if the results were back?  Can't you just look it 
    up?

DO: I don't have access to the records.

Me: Okay, can you transfer me to someone in the lab who does?

DO: The lab is closed from 1 to 2 for lunch break.  I can have 
    the on-call doctor call you back.

I hung up. I'll call back after 2:30. Maybe someone else will be able to help.

My trip to Indiana has been cancelled. That would be my "invited on Tuesday, tried to leave on Friday, and again on Saturday, discovered Dad's bike didn't run on Sunday, decide against it at 9:00 on Sunday night" road trip to Indiana.

The original plan was to get all my work done by Friday (no small feat: with work for the UPA, GCP, Mike and Greg), drive down to L.A. on Saturday, drive to Phoenix on Sunday, and be ready to drive to Indiana on Monday. Dad was going to drive his bike from Flagstaff to Indiana, and I was going to drive my car behind him.

There were various permutations on this theme (drive Kris' car, take Bella with me, leave on Friday, etc.). The latest variation was drive to Salt Lake City and meet Dad, who would drive up from Flagstaff. A hard day for me, a better day for Dad. The detour added an extra day and 300 miles to Dad's trip home.

Well, Dad spent the better part of today working on the bike, cleaning out the carberators. When he talked to Linda, she wanted him home by Wednesday, as she covers for him and needed his help. She suggested he sell the bike, and just fly home.
When I called, I suggested the same.

We talked a while, and the end result was Dad bought a ticket to fly home on Tuesday. He suggested I drive to Flagstaff and the two of us would drive back to Indiana together. I was so tempted, but the drive is 750 miles to pick him up, then another 1670 miles to Indiana. Dad was a little surprised at that number. He thought the distance was 1000 to 1100 miles. Not by car. So, for my health, we decided he'd fly.

I'm sad I'm not going to spend a week with Dad. But we'll fix that by my visiting for a week soon. I'm looking forward to the trip. I'm also a bit relieved: my hamstring and ribs could not handle 36 hours of driving in 3 days. I'd be popping Advil like candy, wishing I'd brought the codeine.

Went to see Marina again today. Mostly as a followup to Monday's appointment, where we discussed my ongoing health problems, and may have finally found the root cause. I had ultrasound done on my ribs, for both theraputic and diagnostic reasons. Essentially if it hurt, I had a fracture. If it didn't, I had damaged ligaments. Turns out, the rib that hurt didn't have pain when the ultrasound wand was rubbed over it (yay!), but oddly enough the rib below it burned when the ultrasound was rubbed over it. I don't think that we realized that the next rib down could be fractured, all I know is that it hurt, and I teared up from the pain.

The downside to the appointment is that I'm not to run or, as a result, play ultimate for another two weeks. Two Weeks! Bah. Stupid rib. Who needs them anyway? Walking and stationary bike riding are fine. Running and swimming (!) are not .

So, as I'm on the mend, Kris stepped in with a doozie.

He messenged me around 1:30, telling me he had bad stomach pains, and that he was coming home. I told him I'd come get him if he'd like, just call me. Around 2:00 he did just that, and I drove up to Oracle to pick him up. Instead of our usual trip to the emergency room, we went to his gastroenterologist first. He was, thankfully, in and able to see Kris. We immediately high-tailed it to the emergency room of the hospital 100 yards down the street. An hour later, Kris was in la-la land, drugged beyond easy speech.

So, we're quite the pair. If both of our issues (tummy and head) collide on the same day, well, we'll be in trouble.

My ribs are still really, really, really sore. I think I was especially excited yesterday that I was feeling good, and over-exerted myself in my enthusiasm. I'm really uncomfortable sitting. I'm uncomfortable standing. I'm really uncomfortable lying down. The problem with lying down is that I need to lift my right arm to stretch my ribcage so that my ribs are comfortable. The stretching isn't the problem so much as the injury I have to my shoulder, making lifting my arm over my shoulder for a long period of time also quite painful.

Sigh.

I went to both Marina and my general practioner yesterday. My main complaints were of:

• achy joints

  You can't tell me my joins are achy because I'm old or because I exercise, because I'm not going to believe you. The onset of said achiness was quite sudden, about a month ago, and the sudden onset of anything is a symptom of something, be it illness or trauma)

• pain after eating

  Anything. After eating anything. Even after drinking water, my stomach hurt. My lower stomach always hurts about 20+ minutes after eating. It's to the point where I don't want to eat, and find myself going longer and longer between meals because meals hurt.

• general malaise, fatigue

  Sure I'm getting old, does that mean I should be tired all the time?

• inability to recover after exercise

  Sure, I'd have plyos on Monday and Wednesday, track on Tuesday, practice on Sunday and Thursday, but sheesh, I should be able to recover somewhat.

Unfortunately, I've had a few other experiences that I'll not relate at this moment, that have made me suspect the root cause of all these problems. I have two tests to take to confirm the self diagnosis, so we'll see if I'm correct.

Here's hoping I am, as I'd really like to be healthy again.