I have WHAT!!!!????

I went to the doctor yesterday for a routine checkup. Usually my checkups are boring. Blood pressure, good, cholesterol, good, iron levels, good. Lately though I have been experiencing some painful joints; my hands, my knees, my feet, my toes. "I feel like I am 80", I complain to Dr. P. Sure enough, it looks like I might have something that plagues many octogenarians: Rheumatoid Arthritis. "But I am only 27! How could I possibly have Arthritis?" I was a little shocked, but Dr. P didn't seem terribly concerned. "It's not too bad, yet." YET?!?!?!? Visions of wheelchairs and bed pans danced in my head.

It took a while to sink in. When I got home I googled Rheumatoid Arthritis, and I saw the phrase autoimmune disease, and my heart sank. It usually affects those older than 40, but can start in the childhood years. The body attacks the joints as if they are foreign parasites, bones deteriorate, joints deform. HOLY SHIT. Why was my doctor so casual about this? I even asked him if I could still run, and he said sure no problem.

I'm going to make an appointment with a specialist. Hopefully this isn't as big of a deal as I think it might be.

In other news, I put off running for a week because I had a viral throat infection, which I think I caught from my baby boy. Ditto for Jullian. I was SO sick. I am back on track however, and I should be in good enough shape to run the 5K on June 11th. I am on week 7 of C25K. Today I ran for 25 minutes without stopping. I was only running 11:47 minute miles, but I was also pushing a BOB with a 26 pound toddler in it.

I went to Florida this weekend for a wedding, and I think I did quite well. I tried to remain calm around food and not stuff my face, or drink too much. I came home feeling pretty good, and not hungover and exhausted like I did when I returned from Nashville.

Celebrated our third wedding anniversary yesterday. So far, so good. We marked the occasion by grilling delicious ribeyes and chorizo, drinking cabernet, eating divine chocolate cake, and taking a mid day nap. Mmmmm, naps are my favorite thing to do in the entire world since I became a mommy, heavenly.

I also started a raw vegan detox today. I was all excited about blogging about it, but I just feel a little bummed about the whole arthritis issue. I was planning to start it on the 6th of June, but I moved it up because we are going on holiday the end of June and I want to finish it in time. I got approval from my doctor for the plan. Basically you just eat raw fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds for 28 days. There is a very nicely designed menu plan and I have calculated that I am getting almost exactley 1200 calories a day which is perfect. Today I ate: freshly squeezed tangerine juice, tabouli made with herbs, green onion, tomato, avocado, oilve oil, lemon juice and hemp seeds, and for dinner I had fresh tomato gazpacho (tomato, bell pepper, cucumber) with avocado. It was all actually very tasty and filling. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I am going to try and blog about it everyday.

Cheers till then..