Well this is weird

I’m not entirely sure how Fitbit calculates steps. You put in your height and your weight in the dashboard, and pick the hand you’re wearing the Fitbit on (dominant or non-dominant hand).

The reason I bring this up is I’ve noticed a difference between the results from my old Fitbit and my new one. It might be that they’re just slightly different in how they read steps.

I also wondered if weight is part of the calculation, maybe more than I realized. When I got my first Fitbit, I picked a likely number for my weight (I don’t weigh myself, since knowing the actual pounds I weigh tends to trigger my eating disorder—no thanks on that!).

Last month, right before a medical test that required sedation, the person gathering my health information told me what I weigh (I’ve been doing my best to forget ever since). So I put that weight in the dashboard for my Fitbit when I set it up.

Normally on non-run days, I’ll get between 5 and 6 thousand steps just going about my normal day. Now I get in the high 4 thousands. Runs are clocking in slightly less also, but my running route hasn’t changed.

In a way, I don’t care—I use the Fitbit as a relative scale that I’m staying active (and I rely on the silent alarm every work day, love that gentle buzz). But I do find it kind of strange that weight—if that’s the reason—changes my step count so much.

This is spinal tap

A friend of mine had to have a lumbar puncture the other day (she is fine now) and unfortunately she developed a spinal headache as a result of that puncture.

Her situation brought back memories of my own spinal tap and spinal headache, although her treatment was different than mine. Let me explain.

I had c-sections with both my children and I chose to have a spinal block for the anesthesia. If you know me well, then you already know that I have an extreme phobia of needles and all things related to needle-administered drugs or therapies or really anything. I hate needles. I hate them so much that for the first three of my seven major abdominal surgeries, I refused all pain medication because it was administered by a shot. I’m not sure why my phobia is only about needles because my pain tolerance is actually quite high (see also no pain relief because it came by a shot). There’s just something about being punctured and feeling the drug enter my body that’s horrifying to me. No thanks!

So for me to have a spinal block was a huge act of love. I knew it was best for my babies and I steeled myself to endure those horrible needles both times. But with my second child, I developed a spinal headache. As my anesthesiologist explained it to me, I was leaking some spinal fluid through the puncture, and as a result my poor brain was sort of sagging in my skull and that’s why I was in so much pain. I’ve never been so aware of the anatomy of my skull and my brain pan as I was that day.

He told me there were several options for fixing this leak. He could administer a blood patch at the site of the original spinal block. Um no thanks, that’s a needle. What’s behind door number two? Well, he said, we could restart your IV. Oh hell no, that’s even worse. Are there any other options?? Yes, he said, we don’t know why this works but if you drink caffeine that can fix the problem.

I didn’t yet drink coffee (that love affair didn’t begin for another decade), but I did like drinking Coke so I told him line them up and I’ll slug them down! So I got a bunch of Cokes, slugged them all down and miracle of miracles, it worked.

My friend chose the patch. I’m guessing she doesn’t hate needles as much as I do.

I have a theory

I don't think I have asthma. There, I said it.

I think my lung issues over the last couple of years are a result of previous lung—well, let's say damage for lack of a better word. You see, I was exposed to second hand smoke as a small child (thankfully all parents quit by the time I was eight or so) and then again as a young adult while serving in the Army. That Army exposure was particularly pervasive and extreme. Plus I also had a lot of childhood illnesses like bronchitis.

I think that I inadvertently kept my lungs strong by playing wind instruments, especially the oboe, being a vocalist and running for so many years. I think that conditioning continued even after my music career was over because I kept running.That lung strength is why I never had any problems until the last three years.

After the first flood, almost four years ago, I was still running but I was also getting exposed to a whole lot of construction debris. Drywall dust was everywhere and that stuff will clog even the best lungs. Then just a couple of months after the flood but before all the reconstruction was done, I got a job in New Hampshire which meant I no longer had the time to run because of my incredibly long commute. Coincidentally, I had my first round of compromised breathing that year.

When we had more water damage from the frozen pipe that burst, the second round of reconstruction was not as extreme as the first but still all our floors had to be replaced, along with some drywall in our bedroom. That's when I had my second round of compromised breathing.

And finally after the third pipe leak and reconstruction, I left the state and visited my sister during reconstruction. I dodged that bullet only to move to Kansas City for my current job . . . in a building undergoing renovations while we work in the building. Last summer was particularly bad as my work environment was filled with new carpet fibers, drywall dust and concrete dust. Things got pretty bad with my breathing that third time.

The particulate matter in the building mostly settled down by around November/December and I've had a chance to reflect on my symptoms and experiences. See, I didn't ever wheeze. I only coughed (unproductively I might add) and felt like I couldn't get enough air.

So I made a couple of changes – I haven't used a maintenance inhaler or a fast acting inhaler since the end of March. And I'm running regularly again, three times a week for about a mile and a half. My ultimate goal is a two and a half mile route, mostly because I get really bored if I run more than that, and also I don't have enough time to run further in the mornings.

I've seen progress already. At first, I was horribly winded and it would be more accurate to call what I was doing a walk with some trotting in it. Now I'm reliably running the whole thing, including the long hill in the second half (70 foot elevation gain in less than half a mile). Best of all, I recover quickly and I'm not coughing at the end.

Next step for me is to talk with my PCP about getting that diagnosis removed from my records. I think I have a good case for it -- even at my worst just over a year ago, the lung function tests at a Boston hospital showed just in the normal range. Low, yes, but still normal. If I need to go through another round of those tests again, I will. In fact, I'd almost welcome it just to be able to say (truthfully) that I don't have asthma.

Happy trails!

You think that's air you're breathing?

Quick recap: since starting my job in May, my peak flow meter readings have dropped. About a month ago, my lungs were clearly flaring up. As is typical for me, I had the tubercular-sounding cough (everyone at work was convinced I was deathly ill but no, I was just coughing), and worse my numbers dropped below 250 (should be around 420-ish).

I'm pretty much a rules-follower. So when I saw my doctor last month, I followed his instructions completely (with the exception of getting a flu shot – that just is not going to happen). I got back on my inhalers, but my lungs didn't improve. I saw him again a few weeks ago because I'd gotten so bad, and he put me on a metric ton of meds. OK, not really a metric ton but I did get a feeling for what it's like for those on lots and lots of maintenance drugs. It gets hard to swallow all those dang pills in the morning. Ugh.

But even after all of that, I didn’t improve. I stabilized but wasn't getting better. Last week, he switched my inhaler to see if that would help and also suggested that I see if I could work elsewhere for two weeks to see if my numbers improved.

I was nervous about bringing the idea of working elsewhere to my manager, even though my company does have four other buildings in the area. I also wanted to give the new inhaler time to work. It's hard to figure out what solved a problem if you throw lots of changes into the mix. I suggested to my manager that I give this new inhaler time to work – say, two weeks – and if I weren’t better by then, we consider moving me offsite for a couple of weeks. She is most supportive of my health, which I appreciate a lot. I am confident my situation falls under reasonable accommodation, but it’s still very nice not to have to force anything.

Between offsite meetings and the weekend, I hadn’t been in my normal office since Thursday around noon. You would not believe the change. I’ve felt better, slept better, had more energy and my voice wasn’t all weird and froggy. My peak flow meter readings this morning were up almost 80 points over Thursday morning. Even my director commented on the changes. “Wow,” she said, “you sound the way you did when we interviewed you!” She was right, I did.

Did being the operative word. By 10 AM, I was struggling again. And last night I'd dropped 60 points again. Cause and correlation are not the same thing, and I’m really trying hard not to jump to conclusions the way Milo did in The Phantom Tollbooth. But I don't think the numbers are lying. I suspect my work environment is bad for my lungs. Stay tuned, I'll post an update a week from Thursday.

Well no wonder

I mentioned yesterday how much trouble I’ve been having with my lungs since returning home. I put it down to the holes in the walls and ceiling, plus the raw concrete floor (which is very dusty). I’m sure none of that helps, but yesterday I discovered that the door between the closet that goes under the front walk and the section where our water heater is located was not closed. As best we can tell it’s been open for two and a half weeks, ever since the public insurance adjustor came through our apartment while we were in Jamaica.

So you better understand what I mean, here’s a picture:

The green box is the area that holds our water heater plus the main water shut off for 3 Claremont Park. The red line is the door (really more of a hatch) into that room from our closet. Built from bricks, the room isn’t finished and gets pretty damp. We know the room tends to be moldy and there’s just no way to fix that, although we’ve gone in and sprayed bleach water from time to time. But the space isn’t part of our living space so we keep the door shut unless the water to the entire building has to be shut off. I never go in there and when Kent goes in, I either leave the apartment or stay far, far away.

I’m a little relieved to identify more of a cause for all the coughing. I'd hate to think my lungs were just crapping out for no reason.