Finally!

It seems the cold that has been hanging around my body has finally decided to move on.  I've had a couple of really good workouts in the last week and got a good run in on Monday.  It was actually a really great run.  I planned a shorter one because I didn't know how it would go and because I didn't have a lot of time.  I was shocked when I realized I was already half done and wished I had longer to go.  I don't think that has ever happened.  I am looking forward to my next run!  I'm also looking forward to the weekend getting here.  It can't get here fast enough at this point.  I'm on the planning committee for a conference happening at then end of March and while most of the hard work is done the stuff that's left and the worrying about how it will all work out is exhausting!  One month from tomorrow it will all be done though and just in time for a long weekend.

Enough Already!

For longer than I can remember (since shortly after Christmas I think) I've been fighting a silly cough. It didn't bother me and didn't stop me. Two weeks (maybe 3) ago I started with a very stuffy head. It started not too bad but the last week has been terrible. I haven't been to the gym or running in over two weeks and I am dying! I want nothing more than to lace up my shoes and hit the pavement. I had hoped I would be able to start running again this weekend but that didn't happen. Today I am finally starting to feel like I might live through this and run again! Monday is a holiday so maybe I'll try to get out then and see how far I can make it!

Yay for Snow Day!

Yesterday Ontario (among other places) was hit with a wonderful snow storm.  The local news said the last time we had this much snow fall in one day was 1984!!  I was 6 and vaguely remember that snow fall.  I remember banks being taller than me.  This time around the news is telling me that we had the most snowfall in Ontario, with the highest amount at 44cm in the south end of our city.  I live in the north end and we got around 30 cm.  That's a lot of snow!!!

I have a love hate relationship with snow.  It's so pretty and I actually enjoy running after a nice snowfall (once the roads are clear).  I hate driving in the snow!  This time around I am fighting some ugly virus that has left my head feeling twice it's normal size, my voice has decided to go into hiding and my chest is full of cotton balls.  No snowy run for me:(  I will however try to have a nap this morning so I can play outside with the kids this afternoon.

I took lots of pictures of the snow and thought I would share some with you!

This was mid-afternoon looking from the front door

This was evening looking from the same spot

The snow was almost as high as our dog!
She had to run to get through it:)

The girls beside the snow pile in our driveway!  Almost 3 feet tall!

Happy Heart Month!

February is Heart Month which means there is lots of information about being heart healthy and heart disease floating around.  February 7 - 14th is Congenital Heart Defect Week, Adryanna has a Congenital Heart Defect.  When I realized that she has a cardiologist appointment during heart month I thought it would be perfect to post some information about her heart defect.  Then google failed me:(  I tried to find some links to share here but everything I found was very technical and even I, someone who knows how her heart works, had a very hard time understanding what I was reading.

A few statistics about Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) that I could find are:

• 1 in 100 babies are born with a CHD
• CHD kills more kids than all childhood cancers combined
• Aorta to Left Ventricular Tunnels (what Adryanna has) are incredibly rare.  One stat I found said 0.001% of all CHD
• Many heart defects go undiagnosed at birth
• A simple O2 test at birth can be life saving but is rarely done (that's the thing where the put sensor on your finger to check how much oxygen is in your system)

For those new to my blog Adryanna had a relatively normal birth and was quite happy and healthy.   The only issue we had after her birth was that when she got upset she would start to breath too fast.  The nurses would just take her to the nursery to observe her and when she calmed down her breathing would go back to normal.  They thought nothing of it.  Looking back there is a chance this was the first and only sign of her defect at birth.  When  she was two she got a cold, a really bad cold, and I took her to the pediatrician to get him to check out her cough.  While he examined her he heard a murmur for the first time ever.  Adryanna's heart defect is one that grows as she grows and because it is so small you don't hear it until it gets bigger.  She was sent for an Echocardiogram and that was when they confirmed that it wasn't just and "innocent murmur" but an actual heart defect.  Some murmurs are just a sound but there is no defect, this is what they call an "innocent murmur".  She was then referred to a cardiologist at McMaster Children's Hospital and the rest is history.  It took some time but eventually she was diagnosed with the Aorta to Left Ventricular Tunnel which means she has a tunnel from her Aorta to her Left Ventricle.  When blood is pumped from her Left Ventricle to her Aorta and out to her body some trickles back through the tunnel and makes her heart work a little harder.  Tomorrow she goes for her annual Echocardiogram and appointment with the cardiologist.  My hopes for this appointment are that we are told that there is no real change to her heart and that they decide it's time to repair before permanent damage is done.  The repair will hopefully be done by a catheter inserted through her wrist or groin.  It comes with some risk but much less than open  heart surgery.  To this point Adryanna has had little change and little damage has occurred   That will not always be the case and while she is doing very well, with no restrictions, that could all change with one simple cold or one flu.  

Hopefully in the future more and more children will be diagnosed early and less innocent lives will be lost.  Until then it's important to raise awareness.