Ringing in 2011

Ready to ring in the new year?  Already have?  I'm certainly looking forward to it.

It has been a challenging year with recoveries from breast cancer and reconstructive surgeries, significant work issues, and helping the kids navigate "growing up" events.  The successes earned during all that adversity have sparked a new year that is sure to be full of life, health, productivity, and learning.  I'm looking forward to so many exciting things in 2011.

Life

• I am honored to join podcasters and other members of the run net community at the Poco Loco in Boston on April 30, 2011.  We'll meet each other, run the event, and hang out all evening at a pub/restaurant.  It will be great to meet these people who I only know online. 
• My 7th Race for the Cure is on May 14, 2011.  I should be well trained from the Poco Loco!
• After the Poco Loco, I'll spend the rest of the year training for the Disney Princess Half Marathon.  Although I could never be mistaken for a princess, Becky has convinced me to run this all-women event with her in January 2012.  I've only run the 13.1 mile distance once (2008) so it will not be a walk-in-the-park for me.
• We'll be helping my parents get their retirement house ready by assisting with the construction of a new garage on the house they bought in Ohio.  They plan to move from Nebraska to Ohio in 2012.
• A family vacation will be planned for the summer, possibly to a lake in Canada again.
• As the kids get older and more responsible, Ken and I are able to get away more often to spend quality time, even if just for a few hours.

Health

• No more visits to the plastic surgeon!  I've decided to forego the optional reconstructive steps and will not get the nipple creation or areola tattoo this year.  I just don't think I need them and am worried they would get in the way of comfort/modesty while swimming and wearing braless outfits.
• My physical therapist group (Lymphedema specialists) is moving to a much more convenient location in January and I pledge to use their services more regularly in this new year.

Productivity/Work

• The second week in January, I will welcome a new manager to my team at work.  Welcome, Christina!
• A reorganization of my department has begun and the result will be more people to do what I have been trying to do alone.  We didn't actually get more people, but the work has been reorganized to add business analysts who will make a significant difference in our ability to select the best solutions and get the job done more effectively. 
• I am cautiously optimistic that I'll be hiring the other manager position on my team during the first quarter of the year.  I'm worried the budget shortfalls might cut the funding for that role, though.  I hope not!  The reorganization was designed with that role and doesn't work without it.

Learning

• Once we get the new organizational structure functioning effectively at work, I plan to finally put in the time required to learn about new technologies we can use to further the aspirations of OSU.  I've got a long list of things I need to research.
• Ken, the kids, and I will continue to learn together as we navigate through Valerie's early teenage/Junior High years and Jason's move to Middle School.
• We'll also learn much about basketball and travel baseball since Ken will be assisting Jason's coaches this year.
• I'll continue to learn from my OSU staff, colleagues, and leaders as we strive to simplify our processes and more effectively develop and leverage our talented faculty and staff.
• And I expect I'll figure out that I know less than I thought I knew about some things . . . and more than I gave myself credit for about other things.  That's the joy of continuous learning and challenging myself to be open to discovery in both the new and familiar.

It feels wonderful to toast the successes of 2010 and to move on to the many happy times 2011 will bring.  Cheers! 

From Valerie

Hi everyone!  It's Val.  I'm taking over Mom's blog for this post.  I would just like to start out by saying that this is my first time on a blog and to post something world-wide.  So I hope everyone likes it.

I would like to tell everyone that being an early teen is great, fun, exciting, cool, and amazing.  Sadly, that's not exactly correct.  Sure there are times where those things are true, but other times it's the exact opposite. 

Being 12 and a half, I've had lots of experiences.  One of them being friends.  I've learned that some friends are real, and others give you fake compassion.  Some friends will always be there for you and like you for who you are, others, not so much.  But let me tell you, that even when you get into fight with a friend, try to be the better person and try to make things better.  I have lots of great friends, and we always have each other's backs.  I'm very grateful to have friends like them.

Another experience that I've had is, life with my bro Jason.  Sure we fight sometimes, but we still love each other.  One time when we were real little, I hurt his feelings and wrote a note to him and tapped 4 quarters to it.  We've been getting along alot better in the past couple months.  We're starting to understand each other better.  Even though he can get on my nerves, he's my bro and I love him.

Just recently I've learned that in 5 more years (not counting this year) I'll be graduating High School and getting ready to go off to college.  In 5 years my childhood is over and I start early adulthood.  I have to admit that I'm pretty nervous going out on my own into the world.  No.  Wait.  I won't be alone.  My friends and I have been talking and we all are planning to go to Ohio State University.  Well, I already had my college picked out for me since I was a baby.  See, both of my parents work at OSU on Campus, so I get 75% off the price if I go there.  I want to though! They've got a great facility and a good amount of classes.  My brother and I swim on a swim club there called OSSC or Ohio State Swim Club, so we're on Campus a lot.  Going out into the world will be scary but fun.

I got to go now. Thanks of reading my post and I hope everyone liked it.  I might write another time.  By the way, "when life gets tough, the tough chose to go on".  That is a quote from some where, but the next one is one that I made up and it sums up this post.  'Life is an adventure, for which I am up for'.  Thank you again!!! Bye!!

Poco Loco in Boston on April 30

I had a great workout today.  The weather was crappy and about to get worse, so my brother took us to Cottonwood Recreation Center where I ran on a tiny track (17 laps = 1 mile) and swam.  I ran most of 5 miles (only walked once during the 4th mile) and the splits were 10:17, 9:59, 9:40, 10:10 ,9:41, and 10:10.  The 5 mile time was 49:57, so I ran just about a 10 minute pace for the whole thing. That's really good for me, even in a track setting.

After the run, I swam laps in the pool and put in 1200 yards which is almost 3/4 of a mile.  The swim was slow and easy, though, with lots of resting at the 50 yard intervals.  I swam almost half of it freestyle, a quarter of it breaststroke, and the other quarter backstroke.  I attempted a 25 yard fly, but it was pitiful and I would have disqualified myself if I'd been officiating - I slipped in a breaststroke kick several times.  However, it wasn't all sad because I think I did a couple of legal competition backstroke turns.

The others took advantage of the inside ice skating ring while I was running and we met up at the pool afterward.  The kids played in the fun pools and went off the boards, but Ken made them do a few laps before we left.  Val did a 450 (mostly free and back - and a 50 breast).  Jason did a 250 (breast and fly - and a 50 free). 

I feel 100% better after the workout. I even felt pretty good during the workout, too. So why was I dreading doing it?  I really don't understand this motivation thing.  You'd think I'd be psyched to workout all the time since I almost always feel better when and after doing so.  Yet, about 80% of the time, I have to drag myself to change into workout clothes and to the venue. 

Today, it was a little easier to kick myself out the door because I'm officially training for the Poco Loco in Boston on April 30, 2011.  I'm so excited to be running this event and meeting up with others in the runnet community!  To get the most out of the weekend, I need to be adequately trained to run 6.55 miles without walking and fast enough to hang with others doing the event.  I know I can do it.  What a great feeling that is!

Running in the mountains

We're in the Salt Lake City area visiting my brother and his family this week. They live in a beautiful gated community on the side of a mountain and have spectacular views of the mountains from their house.

Today I decided to run and take in the scenery so I got all bundled up in a fleece, gloves, stocking hat, running tights, and shorts. After just a mile, I stopped to swap the fleece for a long sleeved tee and pocketed my gloves and hat.  It was in the mid-30's, windy, and spitting snow/rain, but it really wasn't as cold as I expected. It was actually really nice.

I took off from my brother's house and was drawn toward the wonderful mountain view.  It wasn't immediately obvious to me that in doing so, I was running up hill.  And the up part got more and more pronounced as I got closer to the large mountains. On the way up, I had to walk quite a bit. On the way back down, I walked just once. As a result, my miles were very erratic:  11:40, 11:25, 13:43, 9:11, and 10:12. 

I'm pleasantly surprised I got in a 5 mile run today - and surprised I did so in about 56 minutes.  Initially I was very discouraged because I didn't realize I was going up a very long hill and I blamed the elevation and poor fitness for my pitiful performance.  It was very discouraging initially, but got much better later.  I'm sure the elevation played some role in my run today, though.  At Ohio State, I run at an elevation of about 765 and the elevation at Bryan's house is about 4,900. 

Tomorrow, we'll be skiing at a local ski resort with a base elevation of 7,700 that rises to11,000.  I'll never get to the top.  As a novice, I'll be on the bunny hills.  And I'll probably be overdressed again.

I think the elevation is messing with my lymphedema. My hand has been pretty swollen since I got here. I wore the custom glove and wrapped an ace-type bandage from my hand to my elbow during my run today. I'll probably do the same on the ski slopes tomorrow.

So sore!

As predicted, I was able to workout while the kids were at swim team practice yesterday.  I ran 4 miles with a few walk breaks and then walked a 5th mile.  The whole process took an hour and I was warm and toasty on the RPAC indoor track.  My miles were 10:28, 10:33, 10:29, 11:00, and 17:28. 

I followed up the track workout with 20 minutes of stretching and another 20 minutes of upper body weights, mostly benching and curls.

Today I am so sore - everywhere.  My legs are wobbly, my back is stiff, my abs hurt when I laugh, and my arms don't want to move any directly very quickly.  What a wimp!

We're packing today, going to church tonight, having a family Christmas in the morning, and then we're off to Utah to see my brother and his family.  My parents are meeting us in Utah where we'll have an extended family Christmas/Hanukah celebration.  We'll also be celebrating my nephew's birthday and the New Year.  Party central at Bryan's house!

I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a new year full of hope, health, happiness, and love. 

Vacation starts today!

I'm now on vacation until Jan 3, 2011.  Yea!  Work has been insane lately and I certainly can use the down time.

With the extra hours at work and holiday preparations, I've really let my running slide significantly.  On Sunday, I played 90 minutes of volleyball, but other than that, I haven't exercised in a week.  Yikes!

Today I got in a 5K on the indoor track at RPAC while the kids were at swim practice.  Tomorrow, I'll be taking them to practice too, so I may be able to run again.  It seems like it always works like this for me:  I can't squeeze in a run for days and then I have several days in a row when I have the time and opportunity.  It's the perfect recipe for injury. 

To be safe, I stopped at 5K today even though I had time and energy for another mile or two.  My miles were 10:11, 10:18, and 10:06, but I had a few minute break between the first and second mile (off the clock) to stretch and work out the kinks before finishing the run.  I also took about 20 minutes after the run to stretch and do a little ab work before picking up the kids. 

Steverunner is talking about doing a relay running event in Boston and I'd really love to go.  We'll see if he has room for another "poco" runner and if I can make the date they pick.  It would be really cool to do that.   

5 miles yesterday

I put in 5 miles on the indoor RPAC track yesterday. 

Using the run-walk-run method (3 minutes running to 1 minute walking), I ran the distance in about 53 minutes.  I wasn't really speedy, but it was a good run and I'm glad I went the longer distance instead of stopping at 5K (3.1 miles).

My running has been very inconsistent lately, which is evidence of the kids' inconsistent attendance at swim practice.  We've been busy with holiday concert practice and performance, extra hours at work, basketball, homework, swim meets, and Christmas shopping and planning.  It's the same for everyone right now, I'm sure. 

In addition to the time crunches, winter has hit us hard.  It has been snowy and in the single digit temperatures every morning this week.  Even before these insane temps, it was too cold outside for a fair weather runner like me.  I look for upper-30s and sunny before I get excited about running outside.  So I've been inside when I have been able to put in any miles. 

The kids made it to swimming tonight, but Ken took them.  I had to stay late to get a bunch of work done.  I have deadlines to meet before I go on vacation to Salt Lake City for Christmas.

New Albany swim meet

I haven't been getting much exercise in these days.  I ran on Wednesday this week and put in a 30:40 5K.  My miles were 9:33, 9:42, and 10:19.  I walked a little during the second and third mile.

Today I played 90 minutes of hard volleyball.  We played two teams and won against the first but lost against the second.  I was running all over the place and felt a step behind all the time; out of shape, no doubt.

The big sports news for us today, though, was the swim meet.  Both kids swam in a B meet, which means the participants' best times have to be ABOVE a BB time to swim.  Therefore, all of their friends who have qualified for State or are close, couldn't swim in this meet.  The results of the meet are on the New Albany Aquatics Club web site and a summary of the Orr performance is below.

Jason is age 9 in the 9/10 age group and beat all other 9 year olds in every event except IM:

• 1st in 200 Free Relay (swam first leg)
• 2nd in 100 Free
• 4th in 50 Free
• 4th in 50 Back
• 4th in 100 IM (another 9 year old beat him by .1 second)

Val is 12 in the 11/12 age group and was seeded first in her 4 individual events - and she delivered:

• 1st in 50 Free (by 3+ seconds)
• 1st in 50 Breast
• 1st in 100 Breast (by 2+ seconds)
• 1st in 200 IM (by 16 seconds - really, 16)
• 2nd in the Free Relay

The blocks were really low and the pool and air were quite warm, so it wasn't a really fast pool today.  Even so, Jason beat his personal best in the 100 IM by almost 2 seconds.  Val slightly bested her times in the 50 Free and 200IM.

Annual appt & Lymphedema treatment

My first ever annual appointment with my surgical oncologist was very uneventful, as anyone would hope.  He did a physical exam that lasted maybe 3 minutes and then was done.  He didn't find anything and said he'd see me next year unless I found something of concern between now and then.  I guess I should be doing self-exams, though it seems overkill with no breast tissue.

The more impressive part of the visit was with the Lymphedema specialist.  First, I must give the James breast center huge KUDOS.  I didn't have an appointment to see the Lymphedema specialist.  I'd been meaning to make one for months.  So I called them from the waiting room and told them I was in the office for an appointment with Povoski and they squeezed me in immediately after I saw the doctor.  They were fabulous! 

The specialist (who is a physical therapist) did all the measurements and said everything looked really good.  I was slightly down from the last time I'd been in (which was . . . gasp . . . September).  She said I had been managing the swelling very well and that I was due for a new glove in February.  She did a really long treatment on my hand and arm which consists of a massage technique designed to activate the lymph system and get the fluid moving.  It really helped and when she was done, you could hardly tell my hand was swollen at all.  On my self-created swelling scale, it's probably a 1 out of 10 now.  Going in to the appointment, it was about a 2 or 3.  For some reason, I'm not very swollen this week.  I have no idea why.

The PT and I talked about their group's pending move to the campus area which will be much more convenient for me.  She also talked about the workout room they will have, the extra PTs, and some other services I may be able to get there, including some upper body workouts tailored just for me.  I'm really looking forward to seeing them next time in mid-January at the new facility. 

Ken noticed a sign in the doctor's office asking for volunteer survivors to give feedback to the James.  The location for the feedback interview is in the same building where we work.  I'll call the number tomorrow to see if they want to talk with me.  I've got quite a bit of feedback to offer.  I was much more impressed with Riverside's holistic assessment and consultation (that's where I got my second opinion) than the James' linear process (which I thwarted by making appointments I was advised not to make).
 

Tomorrow's appointment

Tomorrow I have my first annual follow-up appointment with my surgical oncologist.  I've been so busy that I forgot about it until today.   I have no idea what to expect. I know I'll have a physical exam because I can't have mammograms anymore.  We'll probably talk about the lymphedema but I don't expect to learn anything from him about that.  It may be just a quick check for lumps that might be hiding in any breast tissue he left behind.  There should not be any breast tissue left behind, though - that's the whole intention of the bilateral mastectomy, after all.

This will be my first post-mastectomy appointment with a doctor who is not my plastic surgeon.  It will be strange to have someone else seeing my breasts now.  The scars are large and still very prominent, which means they will probably always be that way.  It's been more than 6 months since my last reconstructive surgery. 

Thursday and Sunday

On Thursday, I ran while Val was at swim team practice.  I wimped out and ran inside on the track because it's cold outside now.  I know it's not too cold to run outside this time of year (20's and lower 30's), but I'm really a fair weather runner.

I decided to run a 5K and then stretch a bit, so I ran the whole thing instead of alternating running and walking.  I did the 5K in 29:41!  That's fast for me.  My miles were 9:40, 9:42, and 9:16.  I was winding down very quickly the last half mile, at least, but I hung in there.  Then I stretched for 30 minutes which was really helpful because my back has been acting up from tight hamstrings, IT bands, and hips.

Today Val had a birthday party all afternoon, so I only had the hour that Jason was at swim practice to get in a run.  I ran inside on the RPAC track again (cold, snow, and lack of time were all factors in that decision).   I put in 4 miles in 40:23 using the run 3 minutes and walk 1 minute method throughout.  My miles were 10:13, 10:04, 10:05, and 10:01.

My back is still bugging me a bit and needs stretching.  I'm headed to volleyball tonight which might make it better or worse, I have no idea. 

The great news is that my hand has significantly reduced in swelling.  The Lymphedema was running a self-reported 5 or 6 on a made up 10 point scale.  I'd say it's down to 2 or 3 today.