The last time I was here I was in midst of looking for a new job and I was still dealing with my recent diagnosis. It was rather weird time for me. I decided that I needed to step away and try to figure out this whole situation. I was in a strange place. I had never had a health scare and I still didn't know what I wanted to do with my life.
After my U.C. diagnosis, everything that I had known was upside down. I felt like up was down and hello was good-bye. There were many times where I had breakdowns (snot-inducing crying jags) and kept wondering why this happened to me. I needed the time to mourn the loss of my health and the food that I loved. Needless to say, it was difficult and to this day, I am still trying to navigate this whole situation.
Last year I decided that I needed to actually do something about this stupid thing. I decided that it was time for me to start raising funds to help find a cure. In August I jumped online and found out that the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America had some fundraisers planned and all I had to do was decide which one was for me. Unfortunately, at the time there was only one event, and that was a half-marathon (13.1 miles). What!!???!! My timing has always been bad. I kept an open mind and went to an information session and learned that for every dollar raised, 80 cents goes straight to research. That is huge for a charity. They had me 80 cents. I was in and now I had to raise at least $1,900, oh and also train to run 13.1 miles without passing out or dying. Luckily, the charity also had lots of training sessions and coaches that trained us all during the fall.
On December 10, I had managed to raise my minimum and I was so relieved and thrilled. The race was held on December 14 in Dallas on a dreary rainy day. I was up at 5 a.m. and the race started at 8:00 a.m. By the time I made it to the start line (there were thousands of runners); it was about 8:15 a.m. I was scared to death and took each mile one at a time. It also helped to have an iPod filled with great music. Two of my sisters showed up at 2 locations on the race course. It was such a great surprise to see them. I crossed the finish line about 11:30 a.m. and I didn’t pass out or have to crawl. I still can't believe that I achieved this goal. The best part, I have raised $2,500!!
In February, it will be 2 years since my life changed. I am still learning about this disease and how to deal with it. I've very blessed that I am not a severe as a lot of people I've met. I have stopped feeling sorry myself and put this into perspective. I felt great enough to run a half-marathon. Woo!
And now for the soundtrack that helped me make it the whole 13.1 miles. Enjoy!
After an almost 2 year absence from blogging, I'm back. The time off was what I needed and I hope that I will back in the swing of things again.
Thanks for reading my blog!
Julie
