Running For A Cause

As many of you know, I have struggled with a serious heart condition all of my life.  I was a sickly child and by middle school I wasn't even medically permitted to participate in phys ed anymore.  So while my best friends were playing soccer and softball and running on the track team, I was forced to watch them from the sidelines. 

My family is athletic.  I was as active as possible until I was 12 and my condition began deteriorating.  My great grandfather even played pro baseball.  I hated not being allowed to do anything 'fun.'  Fast forward a decade and you have the day my heart stopped beating. I was in my early twenties.  Congestive heart failure was my diagnosis. 

You hear about cancer and diabetes and obesity every day.  No one ever talks about CHF.  No one ever talks about how young some of the people who get it are.  No one ever talks about how it makes it hard to breathe or how sometimes your fingers and your feet swell to twice their normal size or how sometimes your fingernails and your lips turn blue because you don't have enough oxygen in your body.  No one ever talks about the heart valve problems that lead to this disorder or how these disorders get in the way of a normal, active childhood.  No one ever talks about the sick kids who need specialized medical care. 

Well I'm going to talk about it today.  I was that sick kid.  I have battled heart disease since I was a child.  I have fought to live.  I have fought to breathe.  I have fought to get better.  For more than a decade I have waged war with my own body.  You probably don't know what that's like, but however horrible you think it sounds--it's worse.

For the first time in my life though, I have control.  I feel like I'm winning this never ending battle against this disease.  I have completed several rounds of cardiac rehab, and this last time....it stuck. 

In March my doctor told me I could start walking a mile a day.  I haven't been medically permitted to do that since I was 16 years old.  I'm 27 now. At first I could barely make it the whole mile.  I threw up.  I wheezed.  I coughed. My lips turned blue.   In May my doctor told me I could start jogging part of that mile.  Again, I wheezed. I coughed. I threw up. My lips turned blue.  I kept at it. 

Now it's the end of August.  It may have taken me nearly six months, but I'm going further and faster now.  I run 1.5 miles 2 to 3 times a week, and 3.8 miles once a week.  Some days I still wheeze, cough, turn blue, and puke.

I am happy to report that I currently show no signs or symptoms of CHF.  My mitral valve still does not work quite the way it should.  My heart still beats too fast.  But I'm okay...and I'm running.

Couch to 5k in 10 weeks?  Not me.  Couch to 5k in six months?  Yep, that's me!  I just signed up for my first ever 5k.  I picked Hit the Brixx 5k for my first 5k because it benefits Kid's Path.  Kid's Path is an organization that helps children living with life threatening illnesses, children who are sick.  I know what it's like to be sick when all you want to do is play outside.  I know what it's like to watch your friends do things you can't do.  I wanted my first 5k to benefit a cause that is dear to me.  I wanted to show these sick children that sometimes when you fight you win and sometimes miracles do happen. 

I don't have a lofty goal for my 5k.  My only goal is to finish.  This race requires you to finish in 55 minutes so I hope I can do that.  If you'd like to come support me and every other sick child (or all grown up sick kids) then please visit the website or show up on race day to cheer me on!