(Ironically, not being in control is also a theme expounded upon during Jurassic World. Which despite being depressingly non-feminist, was super fun)
So this week's adventure: I got bursitis in my elbow and it got infected. Lord only knows how on earth this happened. I didn't even know what bursitis was (it's this), and then suddenly my left ( and dominant, of course) arm was in excruciating pain and I could no longer bend it.
But what? This diet is supposed to REDUCE inflammation in my body! WTF! Also, this apparently happens mainly to elderly people...and I'm 30.
My sister's wise answer: "Bodies do weird things sometimes."
Why did she get a tumor in her jaw a few years ago that ruptured and became infected? Why did my mom need knee surgery when she never had a noticeable incident or accident to injure it? Why do otherwise healthy, vibrant, fabulous people get cancer?
It doesn't mean throw in the towel and don't work hard on your health. It's actually all the more reason to take an active role in your health and well-being. That way, the things that diet, sleep, exercise, etc can help, prevent, or control are as taken care of as they can be. As for the rest? Bodies just do weird things sometimes. The better your baseline health, the better shot you have at dealing with the weird curveballs.
It's been a frustrating and humbling few days. I think Monday evening was one of my strongest moments in terms of temptation - lord, how I wanted tortilla chips, wine, and chocolate. It was all I could do to keep from polishing off an entire bag of dates when I got home after the weirdness and pain and stress and frustration of the day. I'm thankful Marc was home yesterday during the worst of it to help dress me and feed me and bathe me and try to give me perspective and to do pretty much everything for me. I'm thankful to live in a country with access to antibiotics - this would totally have killed me on the Oregon Trail, but instead it's just a temporary injury that will hopefully get knocked the hell out as soon as possible.
Tempted though I've been (and man, being home alone from work is prime breeding ground for boredom-eating for me) during this little curveball, I've stuck to Whole30. Buying a $5.00 grilled salmon at a grocery store Monday after Urgent Care and awkwardly eating it on the subway - holding it arm's length in my immobilized left arm while stabbing at it with the fork in my nondominant right hand - was worth it to stay on plan and probably hilarious to everyone around me.
I always get very angry and very frustrated when I get sick or injured and my best laid plans get knocked around. It's good for my control-freak to be shaken up like this, as much as I hate it. Once I get over it, it always helps when I'm humbled with a bit of perspective. I don't need to eat through a straw for weeks on end like my sister, I don't need knee surgery like my mom, and I don't have frigging cancer. Time to suck it up and heal and move on!
To that end...time to end this entry and ice my elbow. I've got a 5 mile race to run on Sunday (and possibly a woman to help through labor between now and then!) in celebration of my hamstring's PT "graduation." Though it's totally like me to get totally randomly injured before a race and just keep pressing on like an idiot, I'm going to not push it and just cross my fingers that come race day I'll be healthy and 5-mile ready.
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