Tough Mudder (Half) Was Really Tough :-/

Evening folks;

I've realized over the last few days that I have a lot to write about and I keep telling myself "Oh I just need to remember that later today and I'll write about it."   Do I remember it once the day's work is done and I head home?  No.  So, hopefully as I write about this week that those topics will come back to me.  I actually did remember the two main things I wanted to write about (see Epiphany #1 and Epiphany (Realization) #2 below.

To begin - this past Sunday (7/23) I ran a Tough Mudder Half which is 5.something miles of running on different type trails with 13 or so obstacles.  I finished all but one; the slippery warped wall.  The Pyramid scheme I was able to walk right up thanks to my J41 high-tech water shoes I got a long time ago at DSW.   The traction was incredible!  As I walked up the wall and got to the top, I looked back at my teammates and yelled "My SHOES!!!".

A little later, there was a slippery warped wall that turned out to be more challenging than anticipated.  I had made it up the warped wall at the 2016 Rugged Maniac, but I had been road biking all summer long; miles and miles and miles.  So I was in much better shape than I currently am.  Well, I couldn't make it up the wall.  Grrrr.  I tried three times.  The first time I slid down and tumbled pretty hard.. but I DID NOT BANG MY HEAD!  

Well, Monday I noticed that my eyes are out of focus with each other.  My right eye felt like there was some pressure, it felt slightly warmer than my left, and I just couldn't focus both eyes.  I waited from Monday to Wednesday to see if it would improve.  Being a week away now from being done with work and not having insurance anymore, I know that this is the most inopportune time to have a medical issue!!  

A few friends/coworkers said I should see a doctor for these symptoms (I self-diagnosed a minor concussion).  So, Wednesday at 11AM, I called a doctor that had given me a physical about a month earlier and asked if they had any appointments.  They said they had one at 3:30 so I said ok, I'll be there.  Thursday, I finally decide to jump on the chance to update my eye exam and perhaps get some new glasses as well as have an eye doctor look at my right eye.  So, I ask my roommate and my former supervisor to recommend an eye doctor.  I got an appointment with an eye doctor at 8:30 Thursday evening.  Great!  I don't have to miss work.  

I visited the eye doctor and got several images of both eyes (mainly my right eye - the offending, irritated, wonky eye).  The general consensus was that I had a retinal hemorrhage. He recommended that I get an MRI but he would contact my primary doctor and get his concensus as well.  So, Friday (7/28), I got a call from my primary doctor at about 12pm saying that I should go to Valley Hospital in Ridgewood to get an MRI.  I didn't want to leave work because we're busy cleaning up the project folders but Doc wants me there before the "B team" starts.  So, ok fine I'll be at the hospital at 2:30.  I was supposed to go to lunch with my coworkers as a going-away for my one coworker Adam who is moving to Cali.  He will be missed.  As we were walking to get lunch, my stomach was in a knot from the call with the Doc and I just wanted to get the MRI done as quickly as possible.  So I turned around, walked to the office to grab my lunch bag, then caught the 12:37 train home.  

Got off the train at ˜1:30pm and head to Valley Hospital.  When I get to the hospital, there is a complementary valet service.  They parked my car and I headed into the ER; first time I've gone into an ER by myself for an issue.  Slightly intimidating but also just a new experience to handle.   They knew I coming. The doctor had informed them and they were expecting me.  They checked my blood pressure, pulse, weight, etc.  They get me onto a bed and I explain what happened to the doctor and why I'm here.  He looked in my eyes, talked to neurology department, calls a local retinal specialist.  They weren't really sure why it had been recommended that I get an MRI for a retinal hemorrhage.  Before I knew it, I was being registered/checked-in and discharged at the same time.  They were sending me over to the retinal specialist who could basically see me immediately.  I walk out, get my car, and drive the specialist.  

At the specialist's office, they dilated my pupils, gave me a few other eye drops, took some more complicated images of my eyeballs and then I saw the retinal doctor.   He looked at my eyes and then ordered a different set of images.  More drops in the eyes, more shining of blue and green lights, and then the doctor looked at them again.  Apparently I didn't have a retinal hemorrhage, but swelling of my right optic nerve.  And for this, guess what I needed!  An MRI!  So, back to the ER I go!  :D  

I got back to the ER, walk in, a different officer is at the door so I said I'm coming back for an MRI, I was here like 45 minutes ago, etc.  The nurses in the ER said "Oh yea, she's good, come on in. We'll get you checked in again."  They take my BP, pulse, etc again.  I see the doctor here at the ER again and he said ok, I know what you need now..."But FYI, it may take several hours to get up to MRI.  Do you have a book with you?"  Well, no I don't have a book.  I have a tablet that is running low on battery, a phone that is almost dead, and that's about it.  So, now you're up to date! The nurses, doctors, staff, etc. at the hospital were great!  I got to wear a fancy (not) hospital gown, sit on a gurney in the hallway waiting for MRI.  It's 5:44, there are two people ahead of me, so it's still going to be a while.   My phone was basically dead so I had it on airplane mode to conserve battery.  My tablet was on 34% charge so I intermittently turned it on/off.  I did not prepare my purse Friday morning to spend 12 hours in an ER. 

7:10PM - shift change at the hospital.  Hoping I wasn't going to get lost in the shuffle.  I'd be surprised... they've been very good so far.

I finally got up to MRI at 9:30PM.  Setting up on the bed with the camera (cage) type thing over my head, earphones in my ears, they get me in and the MRI started.  I was in the MRI for about an hour and a half.  I had to pause the MRI once because the earphones were super uncomfortable so I just switched to ear plugs.  That was so much better.  Then I just closed my eyes and listened to the machine do its thing.

Finally got back down to the ER about midnight where a little while later the doctor told me it could be a few hours before the "results get read" and I can go... and I thought I was about to go home.   So I asked one of the nurses to charge my phone a bit so I could let my roommate know where the heck I am.  I ended up waiting till about 1:45AM and all the sudden the handsome doctor came over and said "You're scans are crystal clear, you can go home now."  Thank you!!!

Finally got home at 2:15AM this morning (Saturday) and slept till 10:30AM.  

Epiphany #1:
I'm becoming more and more convinced that life is supposed to be about giving and being a service to others.  For those that really know my personal history, you know that we learned this growing up.  It's not that I didn't believe it; I have just been striving to be happy while focusing on my needs and desires.  Here I was running this Tough Mudder and I think I was the happiest and generally most energized when I was up at the top of the Pyramid Scheme obstacle reaching over the edge pulling other people up.  I know it sounds simple or simplistic but it's my truth.  And this isn't the only time this has happened... It's been a growing realization.

Epiphany (Realization) #2:
When I first started commuting to and working in the NYC office over a year ago now, I would notice that the people on the train and how they were dozing off, head bobbing up and down catching a few winks before arriving into NY Penn.  I would always think "Wow, those people must not have slept well..." or something like that.  I was all energetic and driven and ready to take on the day.  I used to get up at 5:00AM every day and would be to work by 7:00AM sharp.  These last several weeks, few months even, I have been struggling to get up by 6:15AM.  This is pretty late for me.  Now I have joined the club of people resting there eyes, their minds, and bodies before we arrive into Penn and the day is off to the races with the rush to exit the train and get to the office as fast as possible.  I look forward to turning in my "membership" to this club in 6 DAYS TIME!!!  

Only 6 days left!

Finally reached the finish line... the most anticlimactic finish line EVER! :(

Teammates...

Teammates again...

Feeling' Tough

Feeling pretty unglamorous in my hospital gowns... This was outside the MRI waiting for someone from ER to come and bring me back. 

Two Weeks Left!!!

Good evening folks!  (Note: This was written over the course of Friday evening and Saturday).  

Typing up this post on my Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 while I wait for my friend Firdaus to come into Penn Station.  She's flying here from Cali and will be spending the weekend with me.  Her, her good friend, and I will be competing in the Tough Mudder Half in Bethpage, LI on Sunday.  I am completely unprepared physically.   I haven't done any training in months.  I am a bit intimidated to say the least.  But, if it's anything like the Rugged Maniac 5k obstacle course that I did last year with a few good friends, I anticipate that I'll get all jacked up when we're coming up to registration, hear whatever jammin' music they happen to be playing (hopefully they're playing something), feel the energy and adrenaline of the crowd... that itself will hopefully give me at least a little boost.   Pictures will follow on Sunday. 

Only two weeks (well, 13 days as of Saturday) left!!!  The week has pretty much flown by.  I figured out where my mom and little sister would fly home from and priced up some flights using Google Flight.   I only learned about Google Flight earlier this week from a colleague that I had lunch with.  Great tool for finding reasonable flights.   Seriously, what would we do without google?  Another app that I found out about but haven't used too much is Hopper; another flight search engine. 

What else is new...
- I've decided to apply for the Vietnamese visa during my last week. 
- I'll apply for the Indonesian social visa a few days before I fly out of JFK which means I'll have to be in the city maybe mid-day on the 9th. 

Last weekend I went out to Long Island and went to Smith Point beach.   As I was driving into the beach I looked up and saw people skydiving!  It made me want to go skydiving again.

I've been skydiving four times now! 
- 1st skydive: My first skydive was during college... I think it was the summer after freshman or sophomore year.  I can't remember exactly.  I went to a place in Schenectady, NY.  We jumped from 7,000ft. 

- 2nd skydive: A few years later, my brother was home and wanted to go so we went to a skydiving place in Weedsport NY.   We jumped from 10,000ft. 

- 3rd skydive: A year ago this past March, I went on a pretty epic two week vacation to Australia with Contiki (a tour company) touring the eastern coast from Sydney up to Cairns.  Made 50 friends from around the world... some I still keep in touch with.  My first skydive during this vacation was in the Gold Coast (Surfer's Paradise) if I'm not mistaken.  It was a totally incredible skydive with Gold Coast Skydiving.  We jumped from 12,000ft. 

- 4th skydive (latest, greatest, and most EPIC): my latest skydive was also in Australia but a little bit further north in Cairns.  I mentioned to the expert jumper I was paired with that this was my fourth skydive.  He responded "Oh, what do you need me for!?!!"  Hahahaha.  So, before we got on the plane, he asked (with explitives) "Do you want to go bleeping fast?" Of course I said heck yea!  So, instead of freefalling with our bodies in a horizontal plane, we did a free-fly which is plummeting head-first towards the ground during the free fall period.  Completely EPIC!!  

It's been a good weekend so far catching up with friends and former coworkers...  Tough Mudder Half on Sunday.  Wish me luck... 😃

Me and Typo at work waiting for my friend to get into Penn Station.  If you look closely, you can see my countdown is at 14 days!  

It's all about scale.  In Port Jeff, there was a canoe on the water right in the path of the ferry that was backing out of the dock.  Who's your daddy?  Hahhaa.  Common sense would be telling me to back away (and paddle out) from the path of the ferry.  

Beach day!!!!  

Happy 4th of July!

Hey folks!

Hope everyone had a great holiday!  It was a fun but peaceful weekend at camp with very good friends (old and new) and family.  We went tubing and water skiing on the lake, hung out on the boats, went swimming numerous times (once at about 10pm ;-P  - that was fun), kayaked, napped, etc.  So refreshing.   (See Pictures Below!!)

It is so great meeting new people and being able to call them friends almost instantly!  So happy to have had some time together with great people this weekend (you know who you are - if you're reading this that is)!!  :-p   I got to share my travel plans with some of the folks I met this weekend and so hopefully I've gained a few readers.  :)

So, if you didn't know, I invested in a Samsung tablet and keyboard that will serve as my computer while I travel around.  I am really happy with the tablet so far - it's super light, fast, and simple.   I ordered the keyboard off of Amazon to save a little money.  The keyboard was heavier than I anticipated!  It's a tiny little thing!  What is in this?? :-p  But it works well for my purposes.  Thankfully, I have relatively small fingers so the small keys on the small keyboard aren't too big (or small?) of an issue. 

What else.  It's very hard to focus at work now that I've given my notice.   The end is now officially in site. 

Progress I've made since my last post:
- I printed out the Vietnamese and Indonesian visa applications;
- Saved the Cambodia visa application to my desktop.  Need to print that out as well;
- I got 10 copies of a passport photo* (see next paragraph);
- I printed the the international drivers permit application; and
- I think I told you that I got my vaccinations taken care of. 

Now, I need to actually fill the applications out (which I have partially), then go visit the Consulates here in NYC. The Cambodia consulate is located in Washington, DC. So, I think I'll end up submitting that one electronically.  

Last week I got my passport photo taken and I absolutely hate it!  I look like a pale convict.  So, I think I'll go back to CVS tomorrow now that I'm nicely tanned from the weekend in the sun and get my photo retaken so at least I don't look like I'm about to pass out.  

I think that's all at the moment.   I have another post drafted addressing questions that I've been trying to answer for myself on who I have become while working in the city but it still needs work to make sure I'm getting my point across appropriately.  I still have to think about that one.  

For now, have a good night!  Enjoy the photos below.  GET OUTSIDE AND ENJOY THE GREAT OUTDOORS PEOPLE!!!!

4 weeks left people.  July 4th - August 4th (last day).   Heck yea!!

View from my hammock (without the ENO mosquito net and Bear Butt Rainfly set up.  I took it down due to a planned bonfire later in the evening.   

Another view from my hammock.  I did sleep outside for a night.  

View from the dock this morning.  You couldn't beat the view and the picture doesn't really do the peace and quiet justice.  It was so amazing and the water was so inviting that after my brief kayak ride I went swimming in my pajamas.  Yup - I didn't feel like taking the time to change into a swim suit!  Just go GET IN THE LAKE!!! :D

Megan killing it on the water skis!    

Mr. Prezz ripping it up on slalom ski!  

Dad is another great slalom water skier.  He's gotten quite a few camp folks up on skis! 

Mr. Prezz also taking on the knee board and did a couple 360-degree spins.  Impressive.  Also took a couple impressive spills as well (hahahaha).  

I can't seem to get this photo down to the bottom of the  line of pictures so I apologize about the out-of-orderness of this photo.  Anyway - I've dubbed my dynamic tablet and keyboard duo "Typo" because there are bound to be typos in my blog posts.  Apologies in advance.  ***Be advised - if you're buying a Samsung Galaxy S2 bluetooth keyboard for your Samsung Galaxy S2 9.7" tablet, the CHARGE CORD for the keyboard IS SOLD SEPARATELY!!  Seriously?  Come on SAMSUNG!!

The little sis (not so little anymore) also ripping up the lake on slalom ski (and looking like our oldest sister in the process).  I've tried to slalom ski several times now and I keep face planting into the lake.