Chasing My Joy

My journey to becoming an Ultra Runner and Ironman

  • Home
  • About
  • Current Gear
  • Race Reports
  • Pregnancy//Baby
  • Travel
  • Bucket List
  • Hikes

November 2, 2011

Two trips to the Hospital

Our poor baby boxer Bailey was very sick today


By the time I got home from work today she had bloody diarrhea (sorry if that’s TMI). She was acting perky but I have never seen her do that before so I packed her into the car and rushed her to the vet. They think that she has an infection and will be fine as long as she takes her antibiotics and eats bland foods. They also gave me probiotics to help her tummy. We left with our meds and instructions to keep an eye on her, looks like either Cory or I will be working from home tomorrow.


Please send healthy happy thoughts to Bailey, she really is the sweetest most sensitive boxer you will ever meet.

The other trip to the hospital was much less dramatic and for a scheduled appointment to see a respiratory specialist. I was “diagnosed” with sports induced asthma about 15 years ago. I use quotes because I told my doctor at the time that I was having trouble breathing while running, he listened to my lungs, said they sounded fine and sent me home with an inhaler. Over the years complained that the inhalers didn’t help I was given different medications, told I was doing it wrong and was sent off. After enduring this again with my current doctor I took it upon myself to seek out a specialist. National Jewish is the best respiratory hospital in the nation and is just down the street from me. I had my first appointment yesterday and they tested my lung function (not under stress) and listened to me about my symptoms and struggles over the years. The lung capacity test showed that I have great lung function, better than most people my age, height etc. and this did not support a asthma diagnosis. The doctor thinks I actually have Vocal Cord Dysfunction. The site says:

The vocal cords are located at the top of the windpipe (trachea) and vibrate from exhaled air to produce noise and voice. Breathing causes the vocal cords to open, allowing air to flow through the windpipe (trachea) and into the lungs. With VCD, the vocal cords close together, or constrict, during inhalation or exhalation. This leaves only a small opening for air to flow through the windpipe and causes asthma-like symptoms .

I won’t know for sure until I go back at the end of the month for a laryngoscopy and a lung function test while under stress (i.e. while running on a treadmill). They also want to test me for allergies and told me that my nose was partially blocked and wasn’t taking in enough air. To help my nose I was given a sinus rinse.

I am NOT a fan of this thing. I will spare you pictures of me using it, but it gives me a headache. I was also given a steroid nasal spray that should help me breath through my nose.


I am happy to finally feel like there may be some progress on my breathing difficulties but man I better be really fast when all is said and done. This is a lot of time, money and effort for this little hobby of mine!

What do you put up with to keep on running?


Posted by bethcurtis 4 Comments
Filed Under: Health

Comments

  1. Heather @ Just a Colorado Gal says

    November 2, 2011 at 2:47 am

    Ugh, not being able to breathe is the worst! I actually have moderate asthma and supposedly breathe at like 60% of what I should be doing…it can be a huge pain but what are you going to do, right?!

    Reply
  2. Julie says

    November 2, 2011 at 12:45 pm

    My “baby” boxer has been having lots of problems of late too…hope yours is doing better.

    That breathing thing sounds like maybe the same thing a friend of mine had. She ended up having them “stretched” somehow I think..It’s been a few years so I don’t really remember. Hope they get it all figured out!

    Reply
  3. Christi says

    November 2, 2011 at 1:17 pm

    I am so sorry about your puppy. I will be sending positive healing vibes your way. Our puppy has a parasite right now and must also take some drugs. It is not fun!

    I was diagnosed with asthma in 2011 after having bronchitis. I do pretty good with an inhaler but not perfect. I notice that I have the most problems during the winter months and mostly when I am at altitude. I seem to do much better at sea level. Of course, that doesn’t help me here in Colorado Springs. I wish you the best of luck. I hope they are able to fix you up so you are as good as new!

    Reply
  4. Meaghan says

    November 2, 2011 at 2:05 pm

    Hope the pupster feels better soon!!!

    One of my friends has asthma, and she’s a long distance runner. She manages to stay on top of it, but it’s a lot of work. Hopefully they’ll get you all healed up!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Meet Beth

Follow

Search

Instagram

Follow on Instagram

Tag Cloud

Baby Baby Update Book Nook Bumpdate Cannon Disney Disneyland Emerald Europe Family Family Adventure Favorites Friday Favorites Gear Goals Hike Hikes Holidays Ironman Ironman Canada Ironman Training Kids Hikes Marathon Marathon Training Moab Monthly Update National Park pregnancy Project 366 race report Races Run run streak trail race trail running training Travel Ultra Ultra Training Ultramarathon Update updates Utah Weekly Recap Weekly Rundown

Monthly Archives

  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • August 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • May 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • May 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010

Easy Instagram

Loading...

Instagram Slider

Theme by 17th Avenue · Powered by WordPress & Genesis

← Denver Gorilla Run Race Report ← October Recap and November Goals