Stoned

Warning--contains realistic, gross medical stuff

It's official--my kidney stone is free from my ureter. What? you ask. A kidney stone? In your ureter? Contrary to popular opinion, kidney stones don't start to become an excruciatingly, knife inside your back, angry squirrel gnawing on your pelvis kind of pain until a pinhead-sized piece of pain leaves the kidney enters the urinary track.

What does this have to do with running? It's not unusual for runners to have blood in their urine (hematuria)--usually it's caused by an empty bladder smacking against itself, and it will clear up after a few days of abstaining from exercise and hydrating better in the future.

A kidney stone, however, isn't going anywhere unless it makes its way out of the ureter and into the bladder. The first time I had a kidney stone it found its way out on its own--this time, not so much. I've been waiting for it to make its escape for almost three weeks now and this morning I decided I was sick of waiting--my kidney was blowing up like a urine-filled balloon and it was time to pluck that puppy out of there.

On the way to the hospital we stopped to vote for the school board members (this was 100% Laura's idea). The Kidney Stone Institute didn't open until 8 a.m., so we had time. On our way out of the polling place, an elementary school, Laura ran over a cone. The poor cone got caught under the fender, scraping and thumping as we drove along.

While Laura wondered aloud what was causing such a terrible noise coming from underneath her car, the assistant principal appeared in the rear view mirror, waving his arms and signalling us to stop. He was dressed in a suit, so I offered to climb under the car and pull the cone out.

He saw I was wearing my Get Lucky 21k sweatshirt and asked if I'd been on a run. Laura said, "Actually, I'm taking him to the hospital."

"Oh, are you hurt?" he asked as I wrenched the orange traffic cone from the underside of the sedan.

"No, just a kidney stone," I replied, nonchalant-as-I'll-get-out.

He wished us luck and as Laura apologized for her negligent and reckless driving, I was hoping luck wouldn't be involved as Dr. Portis did this a couple hours later:


Ureteroscopic stone removal
(warning--kind of gross)I'm not gonna lie--I felt way better after they pulled that thing out--though the drugs probably helped too. I also got to miss work (although I graded papers and wrote part of a unit plan anyway) and read part of Running Times. Then I spent a little time with Laura while she worked on some school stuff. We took a pause from our work and ate the crock pot beef stew I made yesterday (good thing I put it together yesterday).

The surgeon said I could run (well, he didn't say I couldn't run), but right now there's a little stent hanging out in my ureter for a few days. It makes my back pretty sore and turns my urine pink, so I'm not sure if I should be running. I guess I'll have to call the Kidney Stone Institute tomorrow and see what Dr. Portis thinks.

2012 Rewind

I don't care if it's cliche to do an end-of-the-year post. I like setting goals for the year, and I like seeing how I did with my goals from the year before. So, if you don't like reading these types of things, I apologize for exposing you to another ego-centric, westernized, tired blog post.

After hitting all my goals for 2011, I thought I'd set some tougher goals for 2012 to keep me from getting too full of myself. Mission accomplished (at least on the setting harder goals front--I might still be too full of myself).

I made 12 goals for 2012, and here's how they came out:

1. Write some different kinds of blog posts.
Though this goal was vague, it was just specific enough for me to meet. While most of my blog entries were pretty similar to those of the past (race reports, medical issues, etc.), I did manage to throw a recipe in there, a prayer, and a week long log of my first 100 mile week.

2. Pace Laura during her next PR-setting marathon.
Done and done. It was fun running with Laura for 26.2 miles--even with her swearing at me for most of the last three miles.

3. Get some misguided company to give me free stuff to review on my blog.
Mizuno won the misguided company award. I really need to review the pair of Wave Ronins they sent me.

4. Break 4:50 in the mile.
Here's my first failure. I missed 4:50 on three different tries. My best mile came in January at the Meet of the Miles where I ran a 4:51.

5. Break 16:45 in the 5k.
This one I got. The Med City 5k was one of those rare races when everything clicked. I came in at 16:17.

6. Break 1:20 in the 1/2 marathon.
I made this one too, clocking a 1:16 at Gopher to Badger.

7. Run over 2500 miles.
Ugh. I ran even less than 2011. Even with a 100 mile week, I only made it to 2,264 miles. Breaking my leg on November 7th didn't help--I haven't run since.

8. Finish a triathlon without drowning or falling off the bike.
Success! Though I was pretty worried about drowning, I managed to finish the Rochesterfest Triathlon without having to be resuscitated.

9. Learn more about running.
Another vague goal that I believe I met. While I was a clinic instructor at The Running Room, I learned a lot about running just from the questions the runners asked. I didn't read as much this year, but I got to listen to a lot of other runners, including a physical therapist at the Running Room Clinic, and another physical therapist after breaking my leg.

10. Make it a whole year without kidney stone removal surgery.
Thankfully I made it for this one--after the kidney stone of 2011, this may have been the goal I'm happiest about reaching.

11. Break 34:45 in the 10k.
Nope. It's hard to PR in the 10k without running a 10k.

12. Turn 30 and run 30k.
Yes. Another successful birthday run.


That does it for 2012. By my count, I was 9 for 12 in the goal department--a solid 75%. If you're looking to suffer through 2013 goals post, stay tuned.

Happy Running!

Taking a Break: Med City Marathon and 5k

Nate and Nate before Nate dropped. <photocredit>

Hello Readers,

Thanks to all of you who've followed me--it doesn't matter if we've met, if you're a close friend, an accidental reader who's looking for an effective kidney stone treatment or cold remedy. However we've crossed paths--thank you for stopping by.

Thank you to all the Med City runners, friends, family members, and all the people who've run with me since this blog started and before it began. Rochester has been my adopted hometown in Minnesota, and runners from Nebraska, Minnesota, Tanzania, and all over the world have become my extended family.

Running is a coping mechanism, and the 1,100 miles I've put on my running shoes this season ended with a painful 5k, followed by dropping out of the Med City Marathon after 23 miles.

I'm out of commission for a while, but will go into some rest and recovery mode filled with inspiration. Med City was my first DNF. I consider it a badge of honor to know that my body was physically and mentally exhausted. Twenty three miles was a long way to run, and I knew it was time to stop.



Writing is magic. There's no way around that. You'll imagine what I try to describe to you, or I'll try to explain and you'll try to understand, and we'll meet somewhere in the middle.

The stories I've heard while pacing have made my life's journey easier, and the inspiration I've drawn from other runners has been invaluable.

In the meantime, here's a few of my favorite blog topics:

Kidney Stones 

Races

Pace Reports

I'll be working on making this blog more useful, so check back now and then.

Kidney Update – Warning, more gross stuff

I embarrassed myself a bit at work yesterday—namely by showing up. I honestly thought I felt well enough to come in, but after being there a couple hours it soon became clear to me that I was not going to make it. Several coworkers noted my ginger steps and my pale pallor. My co-homeroom teacher happened to come into the bathroom as I was emptying evidence of my surgery into the urinal. Fortunately he’s a guy’s guy and was able to laugh about it rather than run from the bathroom to look for another bathroom to throw up in. 

Somehow I managed to drive myself home. I spent most of the rest of the day reading, sleeping, or listening to NPR on the recliner while wrapped in a blanket. This morning I felt worse than yesterday morning, but I think I’ve found the perfect combination of painkillers, antihistamines (opiates make me itch), and coffee that I may be able to make it to work tomorrow.

It looks like running is out of the question as walking and standing seem to exacerbate the pain of the stent holding open my right ureter. I woke up several times last night with some pretty gnarly pain, but as of right now I’m feeling much better. I am, however, thinking that a run’s probably not the best idea until they pull that plastic piece of tubing out and I can not longer feel sharp jolts of pain coming from my side.

In the meantime I can keep reading and typing blog posts in my more lucid moments. I might even try to do some planning for school. With Laura working there’s no one to proofread my typing or tell me that my writing’s too gross to publish so I apologize to anyone I offend with my tramadol-induced typos and lack of couth.

May, 2015 Update
I didn't make it back to work for several days, and stent inside of me never became more comfortable. The only thing I did for about a week was to read The Hunger Games trilogy. The night before I was finally suppose to have the stent remove, a stomach bug found its way inside me gastrointestinal track. A night spent of vomiting, the subsequent removal of the stent (please Lord, never again), and I have been relatively free from kidney stone issues for the past four years.

 

Paying attention to my sodium and oxalate intakes have helped, and avoiding processed foods, the kind that make Americans the highest consumers of sodium in the word, is a reasonably healthy diet. 

Year in Review

It was a great ending to 2011. Laura and I got up early-ish, went to the YMCA where Laura ran on the track while I swam, and then had a snack on our way to the Minnesota History Center. The History Center had some cool exhibits on Minnesota History and the CRAZY year of 1968. I only got through February so we're going to have to go back so I can find out what happened after MLK got assassinated.

We cut our visit short so we could go to Laura's preschool. She stayed to do some work while I went for a glorious run home. Even with the wind coming out of the SSW (the direction I was running), the air temperature of 42 made it super-pleasant. I even stopped at historic Pilot Knob to grab a brochure on some improvements going on there.

Now, eight miles from Laura's preschool, after reading about Michelle's 2011, I'm all pumped to write the year in review.

January
Started off the year running a sleep-deprived, eyelash freezing 5k with Jared. I was fortunate enough that all the fast, sane runners skipped the Resolution Solution, allowing me a victory for the second year in a row.

February
Ran my first snowshoe race, coming in first in a field of nine. The course took place on White Bear Lake, a frozen field of snow and ice, blanketed by a thick fog.

March
I paced Get Lucky Triple 7k while enjoying the company of Leah, another member of MN Running Wild. I was tres impressed at how she chatted with me for 11ish miles before bolting off for a PR. Then, I got to give my medal to one of my nieces!

April
The Craziest Running Month Yet. I raced Boston for the first and possibly only time, setting a PR of 2:59:42. Then, twelve days later, paced Brainerd Jaycees Run for the Lakes Marathon in Nisswa.

May
Ran the TC 1 Mile in 5:01, missing my goal of breaking five minutes.

June
Ramped up my training for my first ultra pacing the 3:15 group at the Minneapolis Marathon. It was so hot and the course was so tough Don, another MN Run Wild friend, had to see his friends at the med tent after he successfully paced the 3:10 group.

July
After the state government shut down, the Afton Trail Race was moved to the Afton Alps. I ran a 50k that, while tough and somewhat painful, was actually a pretty good time. Started a streak of consecutive days running 10 miles or more.




August
Laura crushed two hours in the half marathon with the help of Juli two days after saying she didn't think she ever could run that fast. My ten mile per day streak ended at 11. I ran my first Ragnar Relay ultra-style.

September
I started a new job teaching at a charter school. Running took a backseat as I figured out what the heck I was doing, but did manage one blog post about pacing the Graniteman 1/2 Marathon.

October
Laura kills her PR in the marathon while I run my first 10 mile race.

November
I started the tradition of running a corresponding kilometric distance with my years lived by running 29k for my twenty-ninth birthday. I had my second kidney stone in five years and this one doesn't come out on its own (warning: gross stuff).

December
We enjoy a mild winter so far and Laura and I decide to do a spring triathlon. We splurge on a road bike with Christmas money and I start trying to learn how to swim.



Well, that does it. Tomorrow, if I get inspired enough, I'm going to review my goals from last year and come up with some new ones for this year. If you're lucky enough to read this before midnight on New Year's, be sure to start this Mariah Carey video at 11:56 and fifteen seconds. Mariah's still got it. Happy New Year.