After a fairly long hiatus from strongman, I decided to get back in there and compete. I cannot really remember the last strongman competition I did but over the past couple of months I have redefined myself as an athlete and started back to event training. I am pleased with my progress and continue to adapt to my recent rather large weight loss. My next competition is United States Strongman Nationals on June 11, 2016 in Kentucky.
Oh Lordy this past week has been a ride! We are all on the other side of things where things are looking up and summer vacation is in full effect. So for now we take a deep breath and try to make it through nationals next week.
The Gimpy Girl
Last week The Girl was throwing preparing for her middle school invitational. She blew out her knee throwing discus and called me in hysterics to pick her up from the park. Of course my gut reaction was, "Drama." Until I got there and the aftermath that followed.
Once I was able to heave her up and into the Jeep, I had to crawl over any bump and she starting crying she had to throw up. As long as she did it out the half door, we would all be good. The tears were expected, the cries of, "Oh my God! Oh my God!" were unexpected so we rushed right to Immediate Care. Her pain was excrutiating. The next day we got right in to Sports Med and no firm identification if it was an ACL tear or what. The plan was an MRI.
A Very Sick Bruiser
The day was topped off with a trip to the vet for Bruiser The Naughty Dog. That's a whole other story and I may have even introduced him in a log way back when we got him from the Humane Society. In short, he's crazy with other people and animals. With us, he is the kindest, sweetest and loyal companion you could imagine. Friday we did x-rays but things weren't clear. He's been in the dumps lately and has been pretty sick. On Sunday the vet called back and said things were far worse than anyone thought. She asked that I get him in right away.
At that point he looked like death and she confirmed internal bleeding likely due to a tumor. We made the tough decision not to do surgery because if he was full of cancer, she would put him down on the table. Nobody was prepared to hear any of that and everything seemed hopeless at that point.
Based on everything, she gave him two days max to live. She wanted to put him down but everything was such a shock to us all, we wanted to bring him home to say our goodbyes. He wasn't in pain, he just wasn't there at all. Completely out of it. We covered the contingencies if he started having seizures and brought him home to die.
Things Are Looking Up
The Girl got an MRI and it's looking like a dislocated knee rather than ACL. This is GREAT news and it's possible her summer track season is salvagable. We will know more at the end of this week.
Two days after her injury, despite anyone's advice she actually threw in the invitational standing still and without using any legs. The best parts of the experience is she didn't take last place AND I was able to fully understand how important throwing is to her. Sometimes I wondered if she's throwing because we encourage her to. Nope! This is truly her thing right now and is devastated if she cannot throw at nationals.
As for The Dog, something crazy happened. The first night home the kids slept on our floor so we could all be with Bruiser. We took turns getting up through the night to check on him to see if he'd passed. He didn't. Then I raised the bar and hoped he would make it through the week so Magnus could make it through finals without trying to deal with losing his best friend. This was a crushing blow to all of us, but especially Magnus.
By Tuesday he was getting BETTER. Now I'm not talking healed and completely normal but each day there is more improvement. After the weekend assuming he continues to maintain or improve, I will bring him back to the vet and develop a new plan. He's eating minimum of three pounds of beef per day, drinking water like a boss and is starting to get much of his trademark mean back.
The pic on the left was taken Sunday coming home from the vet. The picture on the right was on Wednesday. Crazy, right? He looks even way better than the Wednesday picture today. Each day there is a noticeable change involving his ability to move, run, eat, personality, etc. His eyes seem very clear and alive now. There are indications there are still issues but we will cross that bridge early next week.
He continues to improve daily but my heart tells me he's never going to be "normal" and to enjoy what time we have left with him. On Monday I will bring him back to the vet and develop a new game plan.
So all of that drama threw a wrench in life and my prep for nationals. I did get my event training in and some conditioning. I will put that all in a different entry. This one ended up way longer than I intended. It's time to shift mental gears and get ready to do battle!