scheduling a dr appointment while you’re out of the country and have no internet or phone access is quite difficult. my instructions from my last appointment were to email the nurse to let her know when my “day 1” began so that she could schedule my hsg procedure to determine if my tubes are blocked. turns out an all-inclusive, luxury resort is not inclusive of internet. I managed to get online Monday and emailed her and asked for the procedure to be set up for Thursday when we get back to town but I was not able to get back on for a reply. Wednesday, when we got to the airport in Jamaica and I had internet access and found emails to the basic effect that the procedure hadn’t been set up yet, I frantically emailed with her until our flight left to try to get everything scheduled for the next day. when we got to the Atlanta airport at 20:00, I was relieved to find a nurse still available at the surgery center so that I could confirm everything and go over my pre-op interview. I was not happy to find out that I was going to be put under… I didn’t think it was going to be that big of a procedure but since this was all very last minute and I was lucky to get it all set up without having to wait another month, I didn’t make an issue of it. yesterday, hubby took me in for the procedure. they gave me an anesthetic that only knocked me out for about twenty minutes. apparently the hsg took less than ten. the dr explained that they didn’t find any tubal blockage but he did find cervical stenosis… a bunch of scar tissue most likely from that stupid, horrible leep all those years ago which had effectively closed all but a pin-hole in my cervix. that could definitely keep me from getting pregnant since hubby’s swimmers don’t have much access. the dr was able to dilate the cervix again and we’ll cross our fingers for a thanksgiving baby. c’mon turkey!
in the morning, we take off with our friends to celebrate the end of ironman with an all-inclusive week in Jamaica. it’ll be us and two other couples so it should be lots of fun and the unwind is definitely needed. we’ll be trading off 36 degree mornings here for 91 degrees there… hubby is thrilled but i’d rather my open-window weather anytime.
this weekend, my husband became an ironman! ironday is always a fun time around here but this year was definitely the best. we had a bunch of family come in to support him. my sister’s family drove through the night and got into town just in time to meet us at the beach for the swim start.
ready to get this thing started
he had a terrific swim… 1:19 and then he was off on the bike. I got in touch with his brother and sister and they joined me and my sister’s family for a race north of town so that we could catch a sighting of him out on the bike. we managed to get to the 43 mile marker just in time to see him come and go and it was so exciting. I teared up when I saw the smile on his face.
we then headed back to the race area and my sister and the kids hung out with me at our group’s tent while we waited for him to finish his ride. when we saw on the tracker that he was getting close, we headed to the transition area and got to watch him come in from his bike (5:51!) and leave for his run.
he looked so strong as he started the marathon… yes, I teared up some more. I went back to the tent to spend time with friends while my sissy took the kids to get poster-making supplies. I got to see him when he passed by the tent on his way to the turnaround and then a few minutes later when he started his second loop. in fact, he stopped to hug me as I handed him his arm warmers!
only 13 more miles to go!
finally, it got close to finishing time and his brother was a huge help in making sure that ALL of the family – including his mom and my dad who are both struggling with health issues – was there in time to see him complete his journey. I found a great, unobstructed area for them to sit where they would see him come around the corner and enter the finisher’s chute. my sister, the kids, and I staggered ourselves along the finisher’s chute with me being right across the line. unfortunately, IMFL does a terrible job of allowing visual access to the finish line so I couldn’t actually see him coming down the chute but I got to hear the announcer calling his name and I got to see the huge smile on his face when he crossed that line. I was crying, I was screaming, my heart was bursting with pride in my husband. he finished the marathon in 5:12 which made his total race time 12:39. his goal was sub-13 and he blew it away!
you. are. IRONMAN!
my ironhubby and me
the kids just HAD to have signs for the finish line
I found out later that when he came around the final corner, his mom stood up from her wheelchair to cheer him on and he stopped to hug her and his dad before entering the chute. what an awesome moment that must have been!
with family support like that, he was bound to have a great race
