Morning Person

I ran again this morning. It was dark at 6:30am and a bit chilly at 41 degrees.  Actually, for running, 41 is not chilly.  It's just cold enough that I wore a long sleeved t-shirt but I was too warm during the second mile. The same thing happened to me on Tuesday, but I just couldn't bring myself to get out there with short sleeves. 

My back was tightening up during the second mile so I had to stop to stretch it and catch my breath before finishing the last .5.  After the 2 miles (11:18 and 11:27), I did the virtuous thing and walked a bit to cool down. Although it's often my habit to run right in the front door and to the shower, I'm trying to follow the general wisdom of runners all over the world who insist that adding the cool down helps avoid injury.  Besides, it's really annoying when I get out of the shower and am still sweating.

I'll bet you think I'm one of those crazy morning people because I'm often a pre-dawn runner.  Those who know me really well know that I am certainly not a morning person.  My parents will attest to the fact that, as a teenager, I would have totally missed all mornings if I was allowed to sleep undisturbed.  And when I was in college as a late teen, I often did just that.  

No, I'm not a morning person.  It's just that if I don't run before I start the craziness of my day, I almost never get the run in later.  I also feel much better about the day if I start it with a run.  And once I get out there, it can be great to be out when the sun comes up.  Hmmmm, well, I guess sometimes I can be a morning person, afterall.

I went into work this morning and had meetings pretty much all day until I had to get the kids to take them to swimming.  Then I worked on the laptop while there. 

On the health front, I have a consultation scheduled with the "plastics" people (reconstruction) for October 27.  I also heard back from the nurse practitioner who said it wouldn't help me to do a second opinion visit with another doctor in the same practice because they use the same criteria for their recommendations.  She suggested I go to Riverside. I'm not thrilled about that idea because of the hassle of getting everything to the other doctor and because they aren't in my medical plan so I'd have to pay out of pocket and I couldn't feasibly go to them anyway. 

While I had the nurse on the phone I also expressed concern about the date of my "plastics" consultation.  She didn't think it was an unreasonable wait, but I'm concerned about scheduling the surgery.  They won't let me schedule it until I've had the plastics consult and my surgeon is already booked until Nov 17.  Waiting until after Oct 27 will push my surgery back even further.  I don't want surgery at Christmas time and waiting until January is too late, according to the nurse. I finally talked her into calling and begging to get me in earlier.  She'll call me back tomorrow to let me know either way.  I hope I don't end up with a less desirable plastics guy as a result.

Some good news on the financial front, I talked with the health plan people today and whatever surgery I choose is covered with a $300 or $350 co-pay, depending on outpatient or inpatient status.  Reconstruction is covered also - regardless of which method I choose.  Radiation and chemo, if I need it, is only covered at 80% though.

I think that's all the news I have for today.  I've been talking with trusted friends to gain support and to find out if they know anyone who has been in my shoes.  I haven't found anyone with a double mastectomy yet, but I have a few possible next steps in my search for knowledgable support.