Chicago

I was greeted in Chicago on Saturday afternoon with giant snowflakes. It was so beautiful and not nearly as cold as last time. Had lunch with a friend and by that evening wasn't feeling so well. By 10 PM everything inside of me had been removed in some violent fashion. I didn't stop vomiting until around 3 AM when my friend, Josh who is also a patient, brought me some Gatorade, water, and Imodium. Thank goodness he was still awake and not sick himself. I felt well enough to go see Slum Dog Millionaire on Sunday (love it), but not well enough to be to far from the restroom. Therefore, sit seeing in Chicago was out, again...I did get to see a friend from my tennis team who now lives in Milwaukee. So good to see her and she is coming with my old tennis partner to the race in April, Yeah.

My visit with Dr. Citrin went as planned and he reduced my meds to one week on/one week off instead of 2 and 1. Hopefully this will help my side effects and i will start feeling better. I also spoke with the mind/body person who helped me realize what i was feeling was grief. I have been grieving my old self and not sure what to do with the future. She helped me figure a few things out and hopefully i can reinvent myself since i mostly likely will not be marathon/ironman Laura anymore. I also started taking about 20 more vitamins a day and that should help my immune system, fatigue, and bouts of nausea. Love my natural path. I also had a Raki treatment. It may be the most relaxing thing i have ever done in my entire life. I think Travis needs to try it. I was also able to get my nails done for $5.00. Not bad for a medical manicure.

Wednesday came and i have been dreading it for a week. I had an appointment to see the podiatrist. Turns out his wife is a breast cancer survivor and he is funny as hell. He shot me up with Novocaine and cut out my nails. The pain really didn't hit until 3 hours later, but he gave me Vicodin and all was good, for the most part. I was so worried someone would step on my feel especially Gavin. Although i could barely walk i did manage to get myself together and see Cirque du Soleil with my babysitter and her family (thanks for taking me). Travis is taking Sammy Saturday night for her 9th birthday, it was that good.

Back to Sammy's birthday...I cant believe my baby is going to be 9. Time is going by way to fast.

Hope all is well with everyone
Love the X-Ironman Laura

PS The Dr said i couldn't get my Ironman tattoo until my immune system improved. I just cant do anything these days.