I spent this Thanksgiving realizing what I’m truly thankful
for in life. Life has thrown a lot
of curveballs lately. Though this
blog is, and always will be, about running and raising money for National
Psoriasis Foundation, there are a few life updates you need to understand at
the moment.
The short story is that life has gotten crazier every time I
expected it to calm down. Some
were personal choices, some were unexpected traveling, and then – well, the
rest. Renovations at my current
apartment building caused them to try to kick us out in less than a month
(which, by the way, is illegal), and after many difficult conversations led to
us moving out in about two weeks with some concessions. If you’ve ever dealt with the Arlington
rental market, you know it’s not the easiest. I’m glad to say that despite the stress and tears, we now
have a beautiful apartment – much nicer than our old one – and are happily
settled.
Just as we got settled, I was enjoying our beautiful new
kitchen and tripped into the cabinet.
It wasn’t the hardest fall, but apparently enough to cause a
concussion. However, since it
wasn’t that bad, it went undiagnosed in the beginning. Being totally confused and unable to
think clearly is a terrifying feeling and I must admit I was pretty scared,
which just made it worse. As
things continued to get bad, I ended up going home early for Thanksgiving to be
with my parents where I felt safe that they could care for me and get me to the
best doctors. My mom, even though
she felt terrible herself, was in the car within thirty minutes ready to head
to Arlington to bring me home. She
and my dad took turns taking care of me, driving me to doctors appointments,
getting a CAT scan, etc. Though
you can’t officially diagnose a concussion, my symptoms all make sense and the
tests have ruled out anything worse.
I’m slowly getting better – I’m confused less often, less
dizzy, and the “fog” in my head is going away for more hours of each day. Even though it was a scary experience,
it made me realize how thankful I am for a wonderful family. My parents dropped everything and made
sure I was OK. Adam was and still
is being absolutely supportive and kind as I recover. Yes, it took me a few tries writing this because I can’t
stare at a computer screen. Yes,
it means I will miss my final, awesome race in Las Vegas next week. But at the same time, it made me
realize how lucky I am. As a 25
year-old, you start to get this crazy feeling that you can do it on your
own. You’re paying your own bills,
living your own life, ready for anything.
But the second you’re terrified, there is nothing you want more than a
hug from your parents to remind you that you’re safe and everything will be
fine.
Thank you all for understanding why our “grand finale” race
won’t happen next week. We’re
still deciding if the rest of the family will go (someone would stay on the
east coast to be near me – just in case).
That said, even though this blog is slightly behind, the Challenge will
be a success! I always had a weird
feeling that something might happen (I thought injury, not concussion), so I
planned 13 races for the year.
That means that I have now finished 11 half marathons and one full
marathon, actually exceeding the goal for the year! What a wonderful experience this has been and how lucky I
feel to have been part of it. More
updates and thoughts to follow as I feel better, but thank you to everyone!
