06.05.08

Anyone got 5 bucks?

Posted in Uncategorized at 8:18 pm by Rob

When I was in 8th grade, I had a string of bad luck to start the year.  I ran for, but was not nominated for student body president.   There were  3 of us, and I didn’t make the 2 person runoff.  3 days later, I lost by one vote for the oh-so prestigious position of band president.  Next came the school basketball tryouts, where I was left off of the roster.  Lastly, I played in an audition for the traveling group with our band and again lost out.  This all happened in the course of one or two weeks, and, even at my immature state then, all I could do was laugh about it and shrug it off.  My father noticed this and gave me 5 bucks.  He told me that he was not rewarding me for failure, but rather for the way I handled it.  Well, the year got much better after that (I actually ended up starting on the b-ball team which was the only thing of those 4 that I actually deserved), but I never forgot the gesture.  This year, I returned the favor, giving him 5 bucks when he had a string of bad luck.   I have made it sort of a family tradition, despite the fact that he had forgotten about it.

I am now finding myself in need of such a boost.  My ailing back has only gotten worse since that last race on April 26th.  I decreased my running to 45 miles a week, then to 24, and then to completely off around 2 weeks ago.  I began noticing left leg weakness, cramping, and constant turning of my left ankle on even smooth terrain.  I hit the pool around 1 month ago, and have been doing nothing but swimming now for 2 weeks.  I have seen a physical therapist, sports masseuse, and non-surgical back doc who ordered Xrays (normal) and an MRI.  The MRI showed a mild bulging of one of my discs and very mild impingement on the nerve.  This is good news.  The only problem is that my pain has gotten worse this week.  This wears on me, this almost constant pain.

The second tragic event of the spring for me happened last saturday night.  My 11-year old golden retriever Tucker died in our house.  He had cancer in his left elbow last year and had his leg taken off.  He was much better until one week ago when he started having trouble getting up.  He got better until Saturday when he again could not seem to get up.  We had friends over at the time, and I tried not to make a big deal out of it, but I was worried.  This company ended up being a blessing, because it gave him time at home for the last couple of hours.  I decided after they left to take him in because he started having labored breathing, but he suddenly just stopped breathing.  It was a blessing in some ways, because he was too old and frail to survive invasive tests and procedures, and I did not have to decide what to do at the last moment.  A true friend, he made the decision for me.  He defined an incredible chapter in my life in that he was my first dog, and I met my wife because of him when he was 3 months old.  He has seen us through med school in Georgia,  residencies in Wisconsin, and then the birth of our 2 kids here in Chapel Hill.  To say that it has left a void is an understatement.  Anyone who has had and lost a pet can understand this.

I apologize for the depressing tone to this post.  I promise that I remain optimistic about the future.  These setbacks are just that - setbacks.  They will not keep me from doing what I love.  I fully plan on running hard again in the future, and look forward to again joining this group.  I would not be getting water-logged in the pool every day if I did not believe in this.

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