Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Splenomegaly

I had to make an appointment for Christopher with an oncologist/hematologist for next Wed. He has an enlarged spleen (splenomegaly). The pediatrician noticed it on a regular checkup, I had to bring Christopher back in for a re-check where the doctor and one of his associates both felt Christopher's abdomen. I then had to bring him in for an ultrasound. He couldn't eat beforehand, it took forever and then he puked a couple of times during his nap -- either because of the stress or because he didn't get to eat breakfast but, rather, snacked on stuff on the way home from Loyola in Maywood. The day after the ultrasound, I had to take him in for blood work where they totally screwed up the first time, put him in pain and then did the other arm. He had another re-check today and now I have to bring him to see the oncologist/hematologist. I was already mildly freaking out and then I found this on the Mayo Clinic's website:

Enlarged spleen (splenomegaly)
Causes
Enlarged spleen causes vary, including:
Viral infections, such as mononucleosis
Bacterial infections, such as syphilis or an infection of the heart's inner lining (endocarditis)
Parasitic infections, such as malaria
Cirrhosis and other diseases affecting the liver
Various types of hemolytic anemia — a condition characterized by premature destruction of red blood cells
Blood cancers, such as leukemia and Hodgkin's disease
Metabolic disorders, such as Gaucher's disease and Niemann-Pick disease
Sometimes pressure on the veins from the spleen or to the liver cause an enlarged spleen. A blood clot in a vein from the spleen or to the liver can have the same effect.


Sunday, September 21, 2008

9th*

First cross race of the season.
Third race as a cat 3 -- Neither of the previous two went well
I had a terrible start -- I need to pay attention so I'm not chatting when the guy says go. But, I made it around three girls. Went back and forth with one. Knew she was going to try to sprint past me at the end. Held her off--barely. Looked down at my HR monitor right after I finished: 201.
I also beat a girl who I came behind every single race last year so that was pretty cool as well.
I ended up 9th out of 11. One of the girls stopped with only a few laps to go. I never understood why someone would suffer through most of a race and then just quit. But, of course, she could've quite likely had a mechanical.
And, of course, I was 9th out of all the cat. 1, cat. 2 and cat. 3 girls. About five of the girls were cat. 2's or higher so I'm pretty happy right now. Tom's going to look at my brakes and I need to work on my turns.

Tom did awesome. They split up the Cat. 4's into an A group and a B group. He raced B's last year and did the A's this time. He was 13 out of 53. Pretty awesome.

*Edit: The Chicago Cross Cup website now has me listed as 8th. One of the girls who had finished before me is now just not listed at all. I'm not sure why.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

I love cross

I fricking love cross. I went to a Bandit cross training race tonight. I have some minor shifting and other issues I need to get fixed by Sunday but, as I was coming home, I just kept thinking I love cross. Although I find it so odd that the bottom of the top tube on the '08 Trek XO's come to an almost point. I got a bruise on my shoulder from a clinic I went to on Saturday where he had us practicing shouldering the bike.

I feel like I'm living in invasion of the body snatchers and someone took my little boy and replaced him with this big one. Christopher is no longer using a high chair and we took the side off the crib to turn it into a toddler bed.

I don't have photos of the trail-gator yet but we did try it out briefly on Sunday. We hooked Christopher's bike up to my old hardtail and I pedaled very slowly for a couple of houses with Tom jogging alongside Christopher. Christopher seemed to like it but it will be quite awhile before I'm actually able to take him the mile to mini pre-school or anything on it. I just bought a big dorky handlebar mirror for the bike so I can keep an eye on him.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Commuting surprises

I had to go to the village of LaGrange on Wednesday afternoon. I was running late so I took LaGrange Road/Route 45 all the way there -- about 15 miles. The majority of the ride was actually quite nice as there are now huge shoulders about a lane wide from 111th Street through Archer. I had looked at a map put out by the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation (CBF) and took the recommended route home. It was better up until Archer--the map has Willow Springs/Flavin Road highlighted as the preferred route. There's no shoulder, the road is crumbling at the sides and cars are just flying by trying to avoid traffic on LaGrange. Who would've thunk Route 45 would actually be the safest street to ride on in that area?

On Sept. 22 I'll get to attend an all-day training on the bike for the new part-time gig I have with CBF. Very cool. The job may only go through July so I'll have to enjoy it while I can. Hopefully, I have better luck getting people to commute than I've had with Tom. He hasn't commuted since he got stung on the tongue.

We just got our trail-gator thing yesterday. It's supposed to let me connect Christopher's bike to my bike, kind of like a tandem. I'll post pics and a review once we get it put together.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Apologies for being grumpy



I want to apologize for being so cranky after yesterday's race. I probably rode decent for me but really felt like I should have rode better. I have not been able to get in a good warm up (as in 30 minutes or more) the whole season except for a few races and, unfortunately, had some issues with the food I ate that morning and night before. Oh, well.

Christopher, however, had a total ball. I helped him get his little bike up the grassy hill and got him down without him killing himself. He got to ride around with Tom as well, pretended to drive our car, got told how cute he was, got to see horses and got to see lots of bikes. So, for him, it was a great day. Tom did well in the overall for sport although most of the really speedy guys appeared to be in his age group.

It was really nice having a race so close. When we got home, I discovered that I could fit both my new cross bike and my old cross bike into my tiny Hyundai Accent. We got my seat at the right height on my new bike, I practiced a few mounts and dismounts and was quite the happy girl again. For all Chicago cross races, I'll get to race first and Tom will probably come up separately with Christopher. So, I'll definitely get to warm up without changing diapers, keeping Christopher from riding out in front of a car on his bike, etc. = )

This afternoon I got an email that I got a part-time job with the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation helping people commute by bike more in addition to walking more and using public transportation. Yea!!!!! I seriously get way too excited planning my commuting routes so the job seems to be so perfectly suited for me

Thursday, September 4, 2008

New bike, lots of rides and rain


Christopher got a new bike -- a Trek with 12 inch wheels. The photo is of his first ride (not including in the store). At first, it was a little hard for him as it is a lot heavier than his little Radio Flyer bike and it's his first bike with brakes. But, he's getting the hang of it pretty quick and was riding around a little yesterday evening at the bottom of the big grassy hill at Palos.


I was able to get out for nearly three-hour rides Saturday, Sunday and Monday which was wonderful. Sunday's ride was pretty short since I had just got to Psychopath when I encountered two guys off their bikes at the first little log. One of them had gone over it, nose dived and flew into a tree shattering the helmet. He was sitting on the ground with his camelback bladder held up to his eye -- the area around which was already reddish-purple-ish. I had actually printed out a map of the trails thinking I'd be adventurous after Psychopath and Turf 1 so I used the map and called Tom to figure out the best way to get him to where his friend could pick him up. It took 40 minutes but there was really no way I could leave them there without them having any idea of how to get back. Tom also got in long mountainbike rides on Sat. and Monday and did a ride on the paved trails with Christopher on Sunday. I caught up with them as they were coming home on Sunday which was nice since Christopher kept saying "Hi mommy!"



This afternoon my mother is watching the little guy and I had hoped to ride the course for Sunday's race but it's been constant rain. We did both get a quick lap in yesterday evening after picking up the packets. I actually had a meeting I had to attend for the local paper at 8 p.m. so, while Tom was riding, I was changing and trying to get everything ready. I shut the rear window and then hear the front car door shut. Christopher comes walking over to me but the keys are still in the car and he had managed to lock all the car doors first. I had to flag down about 5 guys riding by before I found one with a cell phone (mine being in the car). While we were waiting for Tom to finish riding and my dad to pick me up, poor Christopher kept asking for juice and his helmet not understanding why I wouldn't get them out of the car for him.