Back in the land of the living

My blogging has been at a stand still.  On October 26th, my mother became ill and many lives were changed, including mine.  My mother was diagnosed, for lack of a better word, with Guillian Barre' Syndrome.  It is rare.  So rare that only 1 in 100,000 are diagnosed with it.  So what is it? It is basically an auto immune issue where your body starts to attack your nerves in your spinal cord.  My mother went from a healthy fairly active person to being paralyzed from the neck down...within 24 hours.  It's sudden onset catches any family off guard. I hope that my weekly post about how we deal which it, will help others. So one blog post a week will be about GBS. If you found this blog because you or your family member were diagnosed with it, know that you are not alone and that there is a light at the end of tunnel.

Chain reaction 

My mother is struck ill---->New living arrangements have to be found for her two siblings that she cared for  -----> Family begins to bicker about who needs to share in responsibility of my aunt and uncle ----> my brother and I are small business owners so when we don't work, we don't get paid----> budgets are created----> hobbies and vacations are put on hold-----> my brother and I become detectives and try to figure out my mom's finances> we learn her medical benefits----> forms are filled out so that we can talk to her credit card companies, bank, physicians----> our world evolves around caring for my mom and her home -----> and I have to drop training for marathon.

That is right.  I would not see the fruits of my labor.   My mother was in the hospital until mid January and my brother and I shared the duty of seeing her and helping her.  She had become quadriplegic and needed our help and support.  In mid January she moved in with me and I no longer had the freedom to go run when I wanted to run.  If I thought taking time out of my week to drive to see my mom for  a few hours was hard, I was wrong.  Trying to be her caretaker 24/7 was harder.  Don't try this at home.  I rarely slept or ate. Doing work was impossible and the idea of leaving the house, even for an hour, was something I could only dream about doing.

But I am back.  We have a caretaker that comes in a few hours a couple of days a week. This allows me time to work and start enjoying life again.  My first run was Monday and I loved it. So what if  my pace was not the same as it was before or that I felt really sore the next day.  What a great feeling that was...soreness. I missed it. I know it sounds crazy but I did.

So here is to my first run and my first attempt at a normal life again, to be among the living.  Over the next few weeks I'll share my experiences on running and the balancing act I must do in order to be a full time care take for my mother and a full time me.

Be ready because here I come.