Where I am today, and where I am going

The lung issues have cleared up, but in the course of my antibiotic treatment I discovered I have severe side effects due to Avelox.  I am usually one to read my side effects of all medicines I am taking, but I will admit here, it was an antibiotic, the Dr told me to take it with food and it was very powerful, so I figured I knew the drill - drink lots of water, take with food, and try to eat as much yogurt as possible (I think it helps with some of those unpleasant side effects most antibiotics have, you know yeast infections and diarrhea.)  And that was that, the first two days I did nothing but sleep.  Seriously, it was crazy. Sunday I woke up and was no longer sleepy unfortunately I still wasn't when  I went to bed that night - odd.  After not sleeping very well for several days I started to wonder if it was possible an antibiotic could cause sleeping issues, I was also starting to joint and muscle soreness, which seemed odd since I was feeling better, then I came across the information the pharmacy sent home. 

The first things I read made my head spin, the side effect you should be most aware of is the possibility of tendon rupture.  Seriously.  Tendon.  Rupture.  WTH? 

I read on, my sleeplessness was also a side effect along with countless other items.  Geez, these really aren't your typical Z-Pac.  But wanting to make sure I was my lungs fully recovered I took that day's dose and went along my merry way, praying sleep would eventually find me.  The next day I could barely get out of bed, it felt like someone had beaten me with a bat at all my joint locations, although I did sleep better, go figure.   After calls to both my pharmacist and Dr they agreed, no more Avelox for me - EVER. 

So where does that leave me?  It's been 6 full days since I have taken Avelox and I am still experiencing some pain in my left hip.  Honestly though as bad as this sounds it could be worse, some people continue to experience the pain for months after stopping the Avelox in all of their joints, the fact that my pain is now only in my hip gives me hope that I will soon be pain free. 

I haven't been able to do any exercises since last week Wednesday, as I am not to exercise or do anything strenuous until all my joints are pain free, due to the possibility of tendon rupture.  I am registered to run the Ground Hog 10K in Kansas City on the 30th, my first 10K, and I don't think a 10K will be possible for me, I hadn't put in enough long runs to feel comfortable attempting it.  I was also to begin training for my first half marathon, the Oz, 2 weeks ago.  Life has thrown me a curve ball, and I know it's up to me to decide how to deal with it.

I am choosing to deal with it as positive as possible.  My wonderful friend and running buddy, Sarah, found that I can in fact drop from the 10K to the 5K at the Ground Hog, so hopefully I will be up to a 5K by the 30th, I have put in enough running to know I can finish a 5K if my hip is OK. 

The half marathon is harder, is it possible to train properly in this amount of time, maybe, but I just don't know, it all depends upon how much longer I am unable to run.  One thing I know for certain, if I start to fast or don't listen to my body it's going to take a LOT longer.  So I will be patient and hope for the best, and luckily the Oz has a 5K I could always do and then pick a different half for my debut.  It's not the end of the world, just a stepping stone along the way! 

Do you have big training plans this spring?  How do you deal with injury or set-backs along the way?

PS-I have a yummy new soup recipe headed your way soon.