Monday, October 22, 2012

First "Triathlon"

Big milestones! This weekend was awesome, after a great appointment on Thursday with my doctor who seemed more comfortable than usual with me. 10 months after surgery my glioma did not get worse, a great sign considering I had a grade 3 portion in my glioma. I was a little worried because he asked for a more detailed MRI but he made me feel much better after my consultation.
This made me confident that life is back to normal, despite the fact that I am occasionaly haunted by thoughts of what can go wrong. In any case I have to say that I invest 99% of my time thinking about what I can do right today.
On Saturday I had my first glass of wine after surgery, my future syster in law cooked a great meal and I could not dismiss a half glass of wine with it and it felt great. I figured that 5-6 bottles of non-alcoholic beer, the volume I drink at long social events, equal half a glass of wine, so I went for it. Big step and no side effects from Keppra!
Yesterday our kids spent the day with my in-laws so Livia and I went for a nice and easy bike ride. After a few miles Livia felt tired so I left her at a coffee shop and biked home to grab the car. Instead of coming back driving I ran to the coffee shop.
Instead of dragging the bike back we raced back home, Livia on the bike and me running. The day was incredible so we went to the pool and I swam for the first time since I was diagnosed. My fear of having a seizure swimming is over, I swam a few laps and did not feel anything, I think I can survive a short triathlon.
Once I got home I felt a little dizzy, probably from all the spinning in the "empty" part of my brain as I turned my head in the water to breath. I am a two-sided breather so the 180 degree turns in my head might make the spinal fluid in my brain spin a bit.
In any case I feel as healed as I can and biking, swimming and running in the same day felt great, all I need now is to get the sports in the right order and go for it!
Summer is back in Brazil and I am really excited with the prospect of racing a triathlon.
4 years ago I ran my first triathlon in Lebanon, PA, a triathlon called "Got the Nerve". The triathlon is organized to stimulate people of all abilities and disabilities to prove that they can do a lot more than what they believe at first, and from that point I went all the way to a Half Ironman, something I would not have dreamed about previously. The dream continues and I will be back, my mind is in the right place and this is the first step.

No comments:

Post a Comment