Two trips to the Hospital

Our poor baby boxer Bailey was very sick today

By the time I got home from work today she had bloody diarrhea (sorry if that's TMI). She was acting perky but I have never seen her do that before so I packed her into the car and rushed her to the vet. They think that she has an infection and will be fine as long as she takes her antibiotics and eats bland foods. They also gave me probiotics to help her tummy. We left with our meds and instructions to keep an eye on her, looks like either Cory or I will be working from home tomorrow.

Please send healthy happy thoughts to Bailey, she really is the sweetest most sensitive boxer you will ever meet.

The other trip to the hospital was much less dramatic and for a scheduled appointment to see a respiratory specialist. I was "diagnosed" with sports induced asthma about 15 years ago. I use quotes because I told my doctor at the time that I was having trouble breathing while running, he listened to my lungs, said they sounded fine and sent me home with an inhaler. Over the years complained that the inhalers didn't help I was given different medications, told I was doing it wrong and was sent off. After enduring this again with my current doctor I took it upon myself to seek out a specialist. National Jewish is the best respiratory hospital in the nation and is just down the street from me. I had my first appointment yesterday and they tested my lung function (not under stress) and listened to me about my symptoms and struggles over the years. The lung capacity test showed that I have great lung function, better than most people my age, height etc. and this did not support a asthma diagnosis. The doctor thinks I actually have Vocal Cord Dysfunction. The site says:

The vocal cords are located at the top of the windpipe (trachea) and vibrate from exhaled air to produce noise and voice. Breathing causes the vocal cords to open, allowing air to flow through the windpipe (trachea) and into the lungs. With VCD, the vocal cords close together, or constrict, during inhalation or exhalation. This leaves only a small opening for air to flow through the windpipe and causes asthma-like symptoms .

I won't know for sure until I go back at the end of the month for a laryngoscopy and a lung function test while under stress (i.e. while running on a treadmill). They also want to test me for allergies and told me that my nose was partially blocked and wasn't taking in enough air. To help my nose I was given a sinus rinse.

I am NOT a fan of this thing. I will spare you pictures of me using it, but it gives me a headache. I was also given a steroid nasal spray that should help me breath through my nose.

I am happy to finally feel like there may be some progress on my breathing difficulties but man I better be really fast when all is said and done. This is a lot of time, money and effort for this little hobby of mine!

What do you put up with to keep on running?