Poor Meg

There's just not much more you can say......poor, poor Meg. I went to see her last week to report how things were going. Well, the last program just didn't do well. So she says we'll just trash it all and start fresh. We worked and we worked and we worked, on and on and on. Nothing was good. Nothing was even somewhat good. Finally she went back to an old program and built from there. Still.....(well you know what's coming)......not good. My appointment was for an hour, but we worked for an hour and a half, however now I'm taking up somebody else's time. And the thing was, we really weren't getting anywhere. So she gave me a program, something to try, and I've got a 2 hour appointment for the middle of May. So far this program is not good either. I know this is very frustrating for her. This far into the game, I should not be having these issues. But this is the joy of being Cherri! So, I need y'all to be saying prayers that we can find something that works well for me. I need a good, good program!!

The First Annual Lexington Half Marathon

It came......and it went! Right now, I'm glad it's over. It's just a few hours post-race and my body is feeling every step! Of course yesterday was a beautiful day. Today's forecast called for rain and wind. They sure weren't wrong this time!! Why oh why could they not have gotten it wrong??! It started raining on the drive over to the farm. Well, if you wanted to call that a drive. Probably took us an hour to go about a mile. When we got on Newtown Pike, the traffic was not moving. Time kept passing, but we weren't getting anywhere. Twenty minutes before the race was to start and we were still quite a ways away. The only consolation was that there were LOTS of people behind us. And when we finally got to the farm, we had to park back in the boonies. We were hoping they would delay the starting time. Since this was the first half marathon for Lexington, you have to figure there would be glitches. So, we park and take off walking real fast. Went straight to the porta-potties and when we came out, we heard the gun go off for the race to begin! Again we book it over to where we saw a "Start" banner. All the runners were coming right at us!! We had to book it the other direction and find the end of the line!! Off we went!! It rained on us the entire way. And the wind blew.....and blew..... However, we kept on trotting along. About 4 miles into it, I went right through standing water, so not only were my shoes and socks wet, now they were soaked through and through!! Rick and I did pretty good until about mile 10. Then the fatigue really hit. We started doing some walk/running at that point. Then at about mile 11.5 or 12, my back seized up!! I had to walk for a while and there were 2 or 3 times from there to the finish that I wasn't even sure I would be able to continue on to the end!! But we ran some and walked some. I told Rick I would have to shoot myself if I got to 1/2 mile of the finish line and could not make it in!! But things calmed down and I was able to finish up running. WOOHOO!!! My time was 2:39:36. Not fabulous, but hey!....I finished!! I had hoped it would be a little bit better, but considering the conditions, it wasn't too bad. The wind the last 3 miles or so, was HORRIBLE!! Because I wasn't constantly running the last couple of miles, I started getting chilly willy. I was soaked through and through and the wind was blowing.......niiiiiice. Then afterwards, we stood around talking to friends, got a snack, stayed for the awards......so, I got even colder. When we finally got back to the car, I was an ice cube!! I didn't think I would ever get warm. When we got home, I was literally shaking all over. I got the wet clothes off and got under a blanket. Rick made me some hot chocolate. :-) It probably took an hour and a half for the cold to leave my body.

It was an experience! I'm glad I did it, but it really was tough. I asked Rick what he thought our time would be next year!! :-) I have to work hard and improve so I can do much better a year from now! That shouldn't be too tough......I don't have to improve a whole lot to get a better time.....this year was pretty slow!!!

I'll take a couple of days to relax (I think my leg muscles are about to set-up as we speak!!), then it will be time to start training for the next one!! As I said before, I'm thinking heavily about doing the Hatfield-McCoy Half Marathon!! WOOHOO!!!

Half Marathon!!!

I can't believe it's actually time for the first Lexington Half Marathon!! AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!! Yes, that's exactly how I feel. I'm getting a little bit of the pre-race jitters. Can I do it? Well sure......provided nothing bad happens. Lately I have been having some issues with my knees, so hopefully they won't act up. But I want to be able to run it strong and feeling good! I want to bounce across the finish line! Not have to drag myself, crawling on my hands and knees! And hopefully it won't take me forever to run the course. I'm slow. That's just the way things are. I've not been doing this long enough to get fast yet. I hope in my old age I'm still able to pick up some speed!! I believe I will do the Half in about 2 hours and 30 minutes.....something in that range. I guess we'll see soon enough! The race is Sunday morning at 8:00. I sure hope we have nice weather! No rain! Sunshine!!

A few weeks ago when we did 13 miles during our group training runs, I thought I was going to die!!!!! It was a horrible run. Well, I actually ended up walking a goodly portion during the last 3 or 4 miles. It was bad. I had no energy. No umph! No nothing!! My friend Cyndi (and running partner on these long runs) was just bouncing along! I wanted to smack her upside her head. I finally got her to go on and let me crawl back to our starting spot. I PRAY the race is not like that. However, a couple of weeks later I did a 9 mile run -- and we actually did it over part of the Half Marathon course. That run was great!! I felt good, ran strong, never felt like I couldn't make it. It was a really good run!! I PRAY the race is more like that!!

I've never done a big race like this......just a couple of 5Ks. So I'm excited to be a part of the crowd, the enthusiasm, the excitement! I just hope I'm not the last one coming in. :-(

I have to give a GREAT BIG shout out for our running group and mostly for our leader, Ernie! If it had not been for the group, there's no way I would be able to do the Half. Ernie got the group started, gave us spreadsheets of training runs to do during the week, dished out advice, led the group runs on Saturdays, all in all, he's been a great leader! There's no way I would have been out there running in 15 degree weather, in the snow on those cold dark Saturday mornings if it wasn't for the group. It really has been a looooong cold winter. But because of that stupid spreadsheet that Ernie gave me, showing the runs I was to do, I felt I had to get out there and run! I greatly appreciate all that he has done to get us ready for the race!! I will still continue to run with the group on Saturdays and hope to train for another half. I'm thinking about doing the Hatfield-McCoy Half Marathon. I think it's appropriate since I'm part of the Hatfield clan! GO HATFIELDS!!!

The Good and The Bad

Well, I went to see my good buddy Meg this morning. I KNOW that poor girl has to groan when she gets out of bed on the mornings that she knows I'll be coming in for an appointment. I feel for her!!

She put me in the booth today. I knew it was coming. At my last appointment, she looked back in my chart and saw that it had been quite a while since I made a trip to the booth. So I knew I would be taking that fateful walk! I hate the booth. Everybody does!! Well, that would be everybody except those with perfect hearing. AND if you have perfect hearing you would not be going into the booth!

So, to the booth I go! First she did the tones, then sentences, then single words, then more sentences. With the tones, I'm right around the "normal" line. That's great! Prior to my CI, most of those tones I didn't even hear.

We'll jump over to the single words category. I did better than last time! She was impressed with the single words!! Most people don't do so well with those. But I improved. Yay for me! HOWEVER, with the sentences, I regressed (is that the right word?)! Did not do as good. Got worser. You getting the idea? It wasn't horrible, but totally not expected. Really threw Meg for a loop!! Last time I got 86%. This time it was something like 77%. Meg can't figure out why. It doesn't make any sense. Usually people will do better with the sentences and have a harder time with the words. But you must understand......we are talking about Cherri......Cherri definitely does not fall into the "normal" category.

So she tweaked some more. Not sure what to try, but try something different! She upped some things and put some more high tones in there to see if that helps. I have issues with the real high tones. Those are the last 2 electrodes on the implant. Usually when she turns those on and sends a "beep" through, I don't actually hear it, but I feel it!! It causes me some real pain at the base of my skull. It's just too much for my nerves. They can't handle it. Today, I didn't have the pain in that area, but got some across my forehead! That was a first!! But she did put some more high tones in there, just not the ones that would cause me pain. She didn't want to overload me. Ain't she a sweet thang!? So we'll try this and see what happens!

On another note, Advanced Bionics is doing a trial with a new program they are hoping to come out with. It's called Clear Voice. They are only doing trials with certain hospitals. Well, I asked Meg and UK is one of them!! Shocked me!! So I asked about the possibility of being a participant. Once everything is cleared with the FDA and they can begin the trials, I should be in that group! I'm excited about that! Clear Voice is a new program that is suppose to really help with noise. All CI users have issues with noise and I really don't do well in a noisy environment. So I can't wait to see how this goes! I hope and pray that it will be a great improvement!

So, that's the latest. When you're having a moment with God, remember to put in a good word for me!! Maybe He'll smile down on me a little extra!! :-)

The Camera

Just a few days left till the camera raffle! Get yourself over to www.mychinesedumplings.blogspot.com and get in on the drawing! It's a great camera (I'm REALLY hoping I'll win!!) and the money will help get Asher home to his family. So mosey on over....right now!!...there's not much time!

That Was Fun

I would say that most everybody knows about Rick and his finger. For the person or two this side of the Rockies who hasn't heard, Rick tried his best to get rid of a finger....or at least part of one. While at work Wed morning, he was up in the air in one of those bucket/lift thingies cutting a pipe. He had both hands on the saw, but the bucket dropped a little and he grabbed the rail with his left hand...therefore the saw dropped and sliced through part of his left middle finger. He was taken to St. Joseph East where one of the best hand surgeons magically appeared. They took him right into surgery to reattach the finger. The doctor told me it was hanging by a thread. Apparently there are pictures.....not sure I want to see them. I guess we'll have that option when we go back to the doctor next Wed. He had to prepare the bone (not sure what that means), then reattach muscles, tendons and artery. Niiiiiice. I mean, if you're going to chop your finger, you might as well do a good job of it! Thank the Good Lord it was just a finger. He could have very well sliced off his hand.

At this point it seems to be healing nicely. Only the very tip end is showing, but he has feeling in that part, so that is a good sign. The doctor did say that it would never be the same. He probably won't be able to bend it at the top knuckle. Oh well, the boy will just have to make due!

He has had quite a bit of pain to go along with it. And of course, night time is the worse. It hurts and he absolutely freezes at night. He hasn't gotten much sleep for the past 2 nights. But tonight we are armed with an electric blanket!! Hopefully that will take care of the freezing part. His pain medicine is on schedule to be taken right at bedtime, so that will help too. Pain medicine is a good, good thing!!

He has been at Toyota for 20 years and this is his first major accident. He's had several close calls, but thank goodness has never been severely hurt. I hope this is the one and only!! Maybe they should think twice about letting the boy operate a power tool!

A Hard 9 Miles!

This past Saturday we did a 9 mile run. Thankfully the weather was nicer....about 35 degrees and thank goodness, no snow! We met at a different spot. It was out in the country.....beautiful spot, lots of land, farms, some big houses, cows...all in all, a gorgeous place to run. HOWEVER, the whole thing was up and down and up and down....but it felt like it was up and up and up and down and up and up..... You get the idea. I didn't think I would be able to do it. Hills are not my friends!! The slightest little incline just wipes me out and ahead of me were these 40-11 hills!

Well, before we left the house that morning, I checked my email. I always look to see if there's any last minute emails from the Striders (the group we run with) or from Cyndi (a friend and fellow runner). No emails from either. However, I get a daily email from K Love's Encouraging Word. I just happened to go ahead and opened it up. Good thing!! I really needed it!! The word of the day was:

The Lord gives his people strength. The Lord blesses them with peace.

~ Psalm 29:11, NLT

While I was out there running, I couldn't remember the exact wording but I knew it said the Lord would give me strength and bless me. Believe me, I was quoting that to myself about 50 million times!! Praying for strength! Praying for the road to flatten out! I needed a good blessing!

I made the 9 miles. They were killers!! The last couple of hills I had to walk up, but that was ok. I still got those 9 miles in!! And ran a bazillion hills in the process! The Lord did give me strenth and blessed me!! Thank the Good Lord!!