Each Day Is a Gift

With Karen and Wendy. Got help in reciting "The Living Christ". :) AP: 10:51

No running today.  Accompanied hubby for his second Rituxan IV infusion which lasted 6 hours.  I've been feeling discouraged because he is not showing any sign of improvement from proteinuria/hematuria with the treatments of high dosage of Prednison and Rituxan infusion.  I guess I need to be patient.  He is taking so many medications which have so many side-effects among which are muscle wasting, hair loss, tremors in the hands, overall fatigue, increase appetite and puffy (moon) face.  Sigh!

No running today. Up early to go to one of our sister missionaries sealing in the Bountiful Temple.

Karen rearranged her schedule so she could run long with me today.  Wendy joined us for the first 4 miles.  What a great friend to run slow with me.  She always has encouraging and uplifting words.  How grateful I am for her friendship. 

We ran on MCT west to the bathroom then east to bathroom by Lone Peak HS then down to the pond at Highland Glen Park then to Highland City Park and connect back on MCT west of MtViewJrH.  I was supposed to run 10-12 but Karen somehow got me running longer.  She did find the shortest more direct way to my house.  (The table was turned today as I was usually the one who sneakily make her run longer). 

My breathing was labored.  It was getting warm.  How did the temp went from 50s to 80s in an instant.  Summer hit us like a ton of bricks! I guess it is June afterall. Got a new blister on top of the old blister.  I like these new Altra Provison (2.0 in sz6) for the zero drop, except it gets hot and not as breathable as my Inspire 10.  Still struggling with PF.  My left foot/heel was very sore.  It didn't help that I spent two hours cleaning and sweeping out the garage floor. 

To Dry Creek bridge and back.  AP: 10:27

To west MCT restroom and back with Wendy.  AP: 11:30

To Dry Creek bridge via 1200E and back via MCT with Wendy.  AP: 11:18

Didn't run today.  Hubby went and got another lab drawn today.  His labs were bad on Mon and showed that he had another case of UTI.  Today the doc. talked to him about the possibility of another kidney biopsy.

Steven came over to mow the lawn.  Chris brought grandma over.  After a quick lunch Chris took grandma, Jia-fen and me to the airport. 

We got to Houston around 6:30pm.  Larissa had a nice chicken dinner for us.  We planned what to do the next few days.

Up early for a 2.5 mile walk with grandma, Jia-fen and Larissa.  We dropped Jett and Jade off for swim practice and went shopping at Costco.  After we got home and put away the grocery, we drove to Bellaire (Chinatown) for dim sum.  We walked around the Chinese market and visited the Chinese Temple.  Then we drove through horrific traffic to Galveston.  First stop was Rainforest Cafe.  It was an interesting place/theme restaurant where the food was ok but over-priced.  We then walked along the beach and drove around downtown Galveston.  Evenings temp along the beach is lovely. 

We got back from Galveston kinda late last night so didn't get much rest/sleep.  Set the alarm at 4:30 but was up before that.  Larissa and I left the house at 5:30am, met Elie who ran the first 3+ warm up with us.  My breathing was fine the first mile or so since I didn't do any talking. 

By mile 5 my GI issue became so urgent that I had to make an emergency stop in the wooded trail.  We were eaten alive by mosquitos.  Made it to the swimming pool restroom (mile where I stopped for 15 min.  My body was done after that stop but we still had 4+ miles to go.  I should mention that temp was in the high 80s with 95%humidity.  I drank all the water from the three flasks that Larissa had frozen the night before.  I can't believe she hardly drank a drop.  My shirt, shorts and socks were soaked with perspiration when we got home, gross!!!  

We had 30 min to shower, change and make it to Jett's first swim meet.  I took the most delicious COLD shower ever!  Grandma and Jia-Fen were out on a walk and we finished at the same time, but they wanted to go for a little more and got lost so they didn't make it to the swim meet.  My amazing 89 year old mother-in-law walked for over 2 hours in that hot humid, sunny weather, wearing long sleeve shirt and dark pants, with no water or sunscreen.  She didn't even break a sweat and was ready to help cook lunch for a crowd who'd be coming to attend Luke's baptism.

We made my "mission special", taco salad, for 20 people for lunch.  It was so nice to visit with Erica & Patrick, Seidi and her kids.  We then went to Luke's baptism at 4pm.  Larissa gave a wonderful talk.  She also accompanied Jade and Grace and Emma who sang a beautiful song called "covenant is a promise".  After the baptism and confirmation, we went to Jason Deli which is just a mile from the house for dinner.  What a wonderful memorable day. 

Tomorrow, June 12 marks 55 years since I was baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I am so grateful for my membership and the covenants I have made!

I didn't set the alarm and Larissa woke me at 6:05am.  We were supposed to leave at 6am.  Ran with Beth, Angela and Larissa all over their Kingwood neighborhood.  Overcast sky which feels cooler although it had rained all day yesterday so humidity was like 100%.  AP:  10:18 (10:47, 10:49, 10:29, 9:19, 9:27).  When we were done, we saw grandma walking by herself on the road in front of the houses so we walked with her for 2+ miles.

Went to downtown Houston Discovery Green for lunch at a Taiwanese eatery and splash pads for the grandkids. 

To airport for our 7pm flight home, flight was 30 min delayed.  Arrived home well past 10pm.  A quick but fun trip.  Hubby was asleep so will talk to him in the morning.

With Wendy, chatty run!

With Karen and Wendy.  We did hill repeats on Dry Creek west hill.  Well, Karen did hill repeats, we jogged and she did twice as many as us.  Hehe!

With Karen on MCT to PG Silo Rd and back.  We started at 6am, 58F partly cloudy sky.  The cooler weather made all the difference.  AP: 10:18 with couple of bathroom stops and brief water fountain stops.  Ate a package of shot blocks, 2 pieces at mile 5+, then one piece every 2-4 miles. 

After a quick shower, I drove hubby to the hospital to be admitted for kidney biopsy.  He had a previous one on May 9 (39 days ago).  We got there just before 10am.  They drew a bunch of labs.  His poor arms were like pin cushions.  He had 5 needle pokes yesterday just for labs in the morning and at the oncologist (Dr.  Chipman) office in the afternoon.  The nurse couldn't start an IV, so they had the PICC specialist came to start a mid-line on his right arm.  His INR was 4.1 yesterday, so they gave him two units of FFP which brought the INR down to 1.4.  By 6:30pm (nearly 9 hours of waiting and NPO), they gave him a unit of DDaPT and another unit of FFP and took him to intervention radiology.  The radiologist, Dr. Bonk, and nurse (Wanda) was the same team that did his biopsy a month ago.  This time Dr. Bonk only had to do one pass.  

At 9:30pm, I went to the cafeteria to get some food for hubby and I for dinner.  Dr. Cline called and said that he would push for the pathologist to read the biopsy by midnight and if all goes well we can go home and be treated on an out-patient.  At midnight the call came that the biopsy mirrored the first one to confirm that there is probably no acute rejection.  He stopped one blood pressure med that might be the culprit in damaging the kidney.  He will have lab tests MWF to monitor his kidney functions closely.  I will give him Lovenox to bridge the Warfarin. 

No running today.  We got home after midnight last night.  I got up early to go shopping for a few items that Steven and Jia-Fen didn't pick up for me last night.  Thanks to their shopping for me last night, I was able to get all the food I needed for the bridle shower this morning, and Father's Day dinner tomorrow night.  Jia-Fen stayed overnight so she was here to help me with food prep and clean up.

Sis. Giada Pagnin,  Samantha (Burnett) Holt and Britton (Ketts) Allen arrived 30 min early so they helped me finish doing the food for the bridle shower.  Giada's 4 other friends came later.  The bridle shower was a success, so FUN!

Then Gary stopped by on his way from the airport from HK.  Lily and the girls continued ahead to BYU to check Jessie in the dorm.  Can't wait to see everyone tomorrow for Father's Day!  Steven and Jia-Fen stayed overnight.  We watched a movie, Race, but I fell asleep and missed most of the action.

With Wendy down 3rd West and back up.

With Wendy to Mitch Hollow via 800E MCT and back via 600E.

Tried out the new Saucony Guide 8 wide.  Had to stop numerous times to adjust the shoe lace tying to keep them snug but the tongue on the left shoe seems shorter as it keeps sliding down.  Not sure if they're the right ones for me.

Am battling with major plantarfacitis, especially on the left foot.  Went to Wasatch Running Center to look for something inbetween the Altra (zero drop) and Mizuno Inspire (12mm) that I've been training in.  I think my PF started when I first came home from my mission two years ago.  At that time I felt like I needed to "relearn to run" and bought a pair of discounted Altra Torin (at the Expo of Timpanogos Marathon, first marathon I ran since returning home), which felt heavenly on my wide and flat feet.  I transitioned into them and felt that they helped with better running form.  However, I never ran a marathon in them even though I ran 7 marathons during that time.  I first noticed PF pain during the taper of the Kingwood Marathon (Feb 2015); and determined that my calves were extremely tight as I had not done any proper stretching, recovery, strength training, etc.  Anyhow, I then went back to running/training in my Mizuno Inspire.  I have been wearing the old version Inspire 10 and find that the newer versions a bit too stiff.  Anyhow I ran Boston this year in the Inspire 11 and got a big bloody toe nail on the 2nd left toe.  I thought that the high toe-heel off set combined with the downhill course was the culprit.  For Mt. Charleston I decided to wear the Altra Provision 2.  They are fine except the toe box is too narrow for my wide feet (Altra tault WIDE toe box, but not these, go figure!) and caused giant blood blisters (new on top of old ones) just underneath the big toe where it rubs on the shoe's insole. 

So Becca at WRC sold me this Saucony Guide 8 and I was really hoping that it would work.  Well, see tomorrow's post on the verdict!
 

Got up an hour early at 5 for today's solo long run.  Gary is in town and running the AF Canyon Half.  I didn't know the course other than that it finishes at Art Dye Park.  Took me a while to get going and had to make a 15 min pit stop at Mitch Hollow Park.  When I got to Alpine Highway emerging from the MCT, I saw lotsa racers goint north, same direction as me, so I joined in.  They were running really fast so I asked one of the runners and she said they're at mile 1+ of the 5Ks and 10Ks course.  The 5Kers split up and turned down to Highland Glen Park to connect on the MCT which is where I was going.  As we got up to where the trails merge (bathroom south of Lone PeakHS), I decided to run with them to Art Dye Park.  I saw some fast bloggers walking back up the course and realized they must've finished and won the Half marathon.  As I got close I saw the clock reading 1:40, and realized I had probably missed Gary's finish (if I hadn't made that long pit stop, ugh!).  I peeled off and ran on the grass towards rolls of tables and found Gary sitting by himself about to eat his breakfast of Kneader's French toast.  He finished in 1:30 and won his division.  I hung around and went to the finish corral to see Kelly pacing the 2:00 in.  Saw RAD and she picked me up excitedly. 

It's now almost 8:30 and the sun has peeked over the mountains and getting warm and since I still have 9+ miles to go, I said goodbye to Gary and ran back up the course to the MCT.  Saw some of my neighbors and Brad on their way to finishing.  My legs got all stiffened up after that 30 min stop.  I had to stop numerous times to stretch.  I headed east and turned back at mile 9.5, knowing I was about 7 miles from home.  I should've turned back sooner.  My left lower calf was so tight that each step was painful especially going downhill.  I was in tears by the time I reached the last drinking fountain on the MCT and hobbled home the last mile which took nearly 30 min.  Couldn't wait to take the shoes off and lay down on the couch to die! :(  I couldn't even put weight on the left leg the rest of the day!  Definitely goint to take these shoes back!