Only the Good Die Young

"It is not length of life, but depth of life"

Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Today I received bad news from some former teammates: one of the girls I played varsity water polo with in high school passed away yesterday.
From what I understand, she stayed home from work on Monday with a headache.  On Tuesday, at work, she lost her ability to speak and was rushed to a local Emergency Department.  After running some tests, doctors realized that she had experienced a stroke.  I believe at that point, they put her into a medically induced coma and transfered her to a hospital that specializes in treating stroke victims.

Her parents flew from Northern California to Colorado on Wednesday where they received the terrible news that their daughter would not recover.  On the eve of her 30th birthday, Liz Doherty was taken off life support and passed away.
I have lost grandparents, and parents of friends, but Liz is my first friend who has passed away.  I am in a state of shock.

We played together my sophomore year of high school, when our team won the North Coast Section.  It was a tumultuous season for our team: we had younger girls playing more than older girls, our coach was inexperienced, and we didn't stand a chance on paper.  But we became a team despite the barriers to success.

I remember one night, Coach was riding Liz pretty hard.  We were all feeling a bit exhausted and nobody wanted to be there.  Coach said to Liz, "How'd you miss that shot? What are you? Blind?" To which Liz replied, "Yeah, actually, I am blind in my left eye."  Boy.  That was a fast lesson in smart-assing a coach.  One I took to heart and put into practice many years after Liz had graduated.

I remember her giving me advice on not caring too much about the sport- it was character building, but wouldn't mean much out in the real world after college.  Liz lived each day to the fullest.  She lived fast and died young.  But boy, did she have a helluva time doing it.

Tonight, on what would have been Liz's 30th birthday, I am thinking back fondly on that season at Campolindo.  I am remembering her smile, her laugh and the way she could always lighten the mood. Thank you for the memories, I will always think fondly on our time together and wish that it didn't have to end so soon.

"May your glass be ever full.

May the roof over your head be always strong.

And may you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead."

Irish Proverb

Diagnosis

Earlier this month I finally went in to Kaiser to meet my new doctor and she reviewed some blood work I had done in February with me. 

Long story short, the diagnosis has been confirmed.  I have a form of sublclinical hypothyroidism called Hashimoto's thyroiditis or Hashimoto's disease. 

What does this mean?

• For the rest of my life I will take a daily thyroid horomone supplimen
•  Hopefully the weight gain, hair loss, exhaustion, and lethargy I have been experiencing over the last 9 months will go away with treatment.
• My body breaks down thyroid hormone and my brain has to tell my thryoid to work overtime to create more hormone than I can breakdown to keep my levels normal

I am currently in the normal range, on the low end, but my doctor explained that my thyroid will eventually 'burn out' and stop functioning, at which point I will officially have hypothyroidism.  By prescribing medication now, the hope is that my thyroid will continue working longer.

I can't wait to hopefully feel better in the next couple of weeks and be able to get out of bed when I wake up instead of feeling the need to doze and snooze for half an hour.  That's the biggest difference I have noticed in the last 9 months- all through college and until this year, I have been someone that wakes up and is awake.  Lately, I have started having serious trouble getting up in the morning.  First, I thought it was because Hunter needed a midnight potty break, but then he started sleeping through the night and I was still having trouble getting up.

Fingers crossed that the symptoms start to reside!

Go Gauchos!

This was another very fun weekend.  My grandparents drove down from NorCal to watch my cousin Ali play volleyball for UCSB against UCI on Friday and CSULB on Saturday.  I arrived early to work on Friday morning and skipped my lunch so that I could leave early and spend as much time with my grandparents as possible.

We grabbed sandwiches at Boudin SF on our way to her game at UCI.  Sam timed everything perfectly and met us at will-call where Ali had put us on the Pass List and given us VIP tickets.  Inside the gym, we found Auntie Lori.  She had flown in from Hawaii on short notice when she didn't have to announce the UH college football game.  It was REALLY good having her with us because I have very limited volleyball knowledge.

Saturday, we walked Hunter to Einstein Bros Bagels for breakfast and then went grocery shopping.  The beautiful thing about having my family stay with us is they usually treat us to grocery shopping.  :-)  So off to Whole Foods we went and picked up some lunch items as well as a litany of items for me to make Weight Watchers meals this week.  WOOHOO! 

Saturday afternoon we headed up to Long Beach and met Lori for dinner at the Crooked Duck- which was FAR better than we had imagined.  I brought along a Boudin sando for Ali to munch on after the game when the team drove back up to SB since she wouldn't be stopping for dinner. 

Sadly, the team lost both matches, but it was really good to watch Ali play regardless of the outcome of the games.  I could not be more proud of her! 

Sunday morning, we repeated our breakfast routine before Hunter and I went to his very last Therapy Dog training class.  Do I think he could be a great therapy dog?  Yes, someday.  But he's currently too much of a puppy and has unpredictable ADHD.

We came back to the apartment and watched the end of the 49 defeat in Minnesota before Nona and Papa hit the road and headed home.  Sam got back from being on call and was so exhausted he passed out on the floor from 5-9 PM, only waking up when I told him he should go hop under the covers and call it a night.  The poor guy has to take call again tomorrow night!

27

So, I am 27 years old today.  What does this year have in store for me?  I don't know, but I'm ready to find out! 
After all the partying this weekend, Sam and I ordered sandwiches and ate on the couch with Hunter.  Much better than my last birthday- I was sick and Sam was in Atlanta. 

Birthday Weekend

This weekend has been a great start to my birthday week...

Friday
Sam and I went to dinner and karaoke with the first couple we made friends with here in Orange County.  These two friends have been through the ups and downs of medical school, residency (so far), and our relationship.  I cannot express how thankful I am to have these friends in my life.

While we were together, I was finally able to open up about the health issues I have been dealing with this month.  It was really good to have the support of friends.  And after a few glasses of wine and cocktails, I hopped up on stage and sang some karaoke.

Saturday
Sam and I met up with another couple, definitely keepers, for drinks and dinner and barhopping.  She had secretly baked cupcakes for my birthday and snuck them into the restaurant we were eating at so that it was a big surprise after dinner when the waitress came out.  So amazingly sweet!  Kevin, our friend and Sam's housemate at UCSB, happened to be in town and joined us for the post-dinner drinking portion of the evening.  It was very fun all-around.

Sunday
We hosted a very low-key dinner and watched the 49ers beat the Lions.  Who could ask for a better birthday week kick-off?

Long Day

The work keeps piling up, and there's still only me to get everything done.  I feel like I need to hire an assistant either at work, or at home!

I had the best intentions of making Sam a nice, home-cooked dinner tonight.  Instead, I got stuck late at the office and left close to 5:30... I called to check on him and he was still making his way home.  Ooops.  Needless to say, I stopped and picked up the pre-roasted chicken at Ralph's along with a bagged salad, an avocado, and 3 tomatoes.  Let me tell you, it tasted damn good.

And then I put in close to 3 hours of work while Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix played in the background, Sam dozed on the couch, and Hunter brought me his ball for an intermittent game of fetch.

All in all, I clocked over 11 hours working today.  When I finished after 9PM, I put Sam to bed, cleaned the kitchen and walked Hunter.  Then I did some organizing of my desk and am heading to bed immanently.

Tomorrow, I am headed up to Sherman Oaks (LA) for an 11-2 meeting.  Thankfully, Pete and Margaux lent me Invictus on tape and I will probably knock out 3.5 of the 9.5 hours while commuting in traffic.  Ah, the life of a young professional.

PS- Too tired to even process this, but I officially got word that I have satisfied the requirements for the UCI Extensions Program Marketing Certificate.  Woohoo!  I set out to accomplish this and start a career in marketing back in January 2011 and 21 months later I have accomplished both things.  More about this later!

RIP Giselle

Throughout our puppy class experiences over the last 7 months we have seen a lot of familiar faces and made a few friends along the way.  We received the sad news that the sweet English Bulldog, Giselle, was the victim of a tragic accident and had passed away.

Giselle and Hunter completed their Intermediate & Advanced Training Classes together and were currently enrolled in a special advanced class with trainer Kate.  In the last few months we had done a lot more puppy-trading in class to familiarize our dogs with strangers and I always loved Giselle.  I am so sad for her mom, Rosalyn, who adopted Giselle from her vet after losing one of her two pugs to old age. Ros had told me how devastated she was at losing her dog last year and what a help it was to have Giselle brightening up the house.  In fact we had spoken last Sunday about getting together for a play-date so that Hunter and Giselle could rough-house and burn off a little energy.

I know Hunter has only been a part of our family for a little more than 7 months but I cannot imagine how I would cope with something happening to him.

REST IN PEACE GISELLE!

Football Season

It's no secret that my family is Forty-Niner Faithful-  we bleed Red & Gold.  It has been a long wait this off-season, but the day is finally here: today, the 9ers faced the Packers at Lambeau Field.  And boy did we deliver.

We looked great- cohesive, together, practiced.  It was such a great way to get things rolling. We have a lot of people talking about how we're Super Bowl bound in 2013, but I think it's too early to make those predictions.  We have a much tougher schedule than we did last season, and the league stats show that it's unlikely that a team comes out of a slump with back-to-back conference championship performances.  We may have to wait until 2014.

I flew back from a wedding and arrived home at 3pm today.  Unfortunately, Sam had to work today so Hunter was the only one waiting for me at home.  We cuddled on the couch, talking to Mom during the last quarter of the game, as we all watched Alex Smith stave off Aaron Rogers to get the victory.

I think it might be time to make good on my threats and order Hunter a 49er jersey to wear on game day...

Blood Test

Last Spring my doctor found evidence that I may be suffering from Hypothyroidism, but, because I had just changed my health insurance, I told her I would follow up with my new primary care provider at Kaiser.

Fast forward to July.  I finally got tired of the fatigue, stress, hair-loss, and lethargy.  Sam and I sat down and reviewed the female Primary Care Physicians in our area and settled on one for me to see.  I couldn't get an appointment until September, but at least we would soon have a second opinion about the Hypothyroidism and find something to alleviate the symptoms I have been suffering from.

Fast forward again to this month, I finally went in to see my new doctor today.  Luckily, I really, really like her and felt totally comfortable with her right away.  She sat down and reviewed the previous two blood tests with me and she decided that I should probably have one more to confirm the diagnosis.

I actually really liked that Kaiser had the pharmacy and the lab right in the same building as my doctor... I just walked down stairs and took care of everything right then and there.  I now will have to wait for the results to see if this is in fact what my issues are from.  The bummer is that the medication for hypothyroidism could increase the anxiety I have been feeling, and, if that's the case, I will possibly have to go onto some kind of low-dose anti-anxiety medication.

Honestly, while I don't like the idea of being medicated, I do like the idea of not feeling so overwhelmed all the time.   Sometimes I am so overwhelmed and stressed out I feel like I could cry.  It can be so much that I want to curl up on the couch rather than do anything... and I really hope that's going to be resolved with these hypothyroid medications!

Rollover

Hunter's currently enrolled in a special Advanced Training class offered by our trainer, Kate, on a invite-only basis.  She is working on relaxation techniques and also therapy dog exam skills.  We have a couple of repeat offenders in class with us, Giselle, the French Bulldog from our Intermediate and Advanced classes, and Belle, the adorable mini-poodle from Intermediate class.  

At the beginning of class, 3 weeks ago, Kate told us all that we needed to teach our dogs a trick on our own.  Something that requires us to work with our dogs and communicate to them what we want them to do, and have them understand and obey.  So I chose to teach Hunter to rollover.  The past 4 weeks, Sam and I have been working with him, luring him to rollover while teaching him the command. 

Finally, this past weekend while Justin was playing with Hunter, he rolled over on command.  It was so rewarding!  Sam and I have been working on it, and sure enough, he kind of gets it after you lure him to do it once.  I am so freakin' proud of him!  We have two more weeks, and we'll have to keep working and working and working.