A Challenging Time of My Life
Some of you may be wondering, why haven't I posted in awhile? After 6 weeks in Mammoth, I went to Cuba for a missions trip with students at my school. While in Cuba, I picked up some sort of foot infection that destroyed me. My feet and ankles became so swollen that it hurt to stand or walk. When I returned to California, the swelling went away but my entire body felt very fatigued, loss of energy, sore, and very tired. I assumed it was due to the heat being in the 100s. But, when I would step outside for a run, my heart instantly pounded, I felt like I just couldn't get any oxygen to my leg muscles, and my whole body felt as if I just ran a marathon. Thinking I was just out of shape, I pushed my body to complete the workouts, but my body didn't recover the next day even after slow runs. This made me very frustrated and sad, as if I lost my superpowers and I wasn't myself anymore. Eventually, I saw a doctor and was told that I had iron-deficiency anemia. I began packing in iron-rich foods in my bowls at Freshii like spinach, black beans, and steak, and I added more iron-rich foods from the grocery store, taking an iron supplement, and running only 2-3 times per week. My bones began to ache because my bone marrow was working overtime to produce more red blood cells.
At the same time, I was adjusting to a new place where I moved. And, I was doing a very difficult Internal Medicine pharmacy rotation at a hospital. Being anemic made it difficult for me to think clearly and recall pharmacy information, and it took me twice as long to do anything. My preceptor was also not very understanding, pushed me to work harder and never gave me any positive feedback. The rotation overwhelmed me with stress and I was barely getting 4 hours of sleep. Somehow, with God's help, I got through the six-week rotation. I felt like a weight was lifted off of me. Over this past week, I have been able to tune into running and slowly get back to my rhythm. Yesterday, I went to see the doctor after 6 and half weeks since my diagnosis. She looked at me surprised and said, "Your bloodwork improved by so much, you are no longer anemic! How did you do it?"
Now, I'm getting back into the swing of training. With every slow, deep breath, I take in the cool, crisp morning air and let it fill my lungs and power my long stride for every mile and allow it to resonate within my soul.
Cuba Missions Trip
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