Eclipse, bday, health, management and more!

Ahhh ha, so something other than food and travel! Although I have to say this weekend it seems globally there is a day off..... America it's Memorial weekend, here it is prophet's something where we get a day off, and in UK is a bank holiday. So how did I spend my day? Did a nice long swim, went to the beach, made a delish quinoa salad, my chia pudding with a new twist (thanks SP!), a super juice, and a fab "ice cream" - frozen banana (got the spotty banana, slightly mushy, cut it up, freeze it) added to Greek yogurt, and wah- la, this delicious healthy "ice cream." Well, "healthy" it was, until I added some cinnamon and some dark chocolate, he he.

And real quick (hehe, see what happens when I start?), after living in the Middle East, I FINALLY made homemade hummus (although hummus is soooo cheap here!). The above is what I call "a TOTAL disaster!" with attempt at using raw chickpeas, the below is what I call, "the BEST ever" hummus (using canned chickpeas)! Totally different and thank gaaaawd I redeemed myself!!! Here's the secret - it is ALL about the order you put the ingredients. 

And finally, da da dum, all the way from America, a friend sent me a "nut bag" so I can make homemade almond milk!!!! It's ssssssssssssssssssseriously sooooooooooooooo easy!!! Literally soak almonds overnight, for every 1 cup of almonds add 3ish cups of water into the blender, blend away, and then in segments "milk" it through the nut bag, then get rid of the pulp (which isn't nearly as much as when I tried to do make it in a juicer), and there you have it! Yummy and delicious! Love the froth!

Okay, so enough of that!!

Onto the "real" stuff....

To back track a little, a patient I've become friends with got all excited when she found out about my bday. She had me immediately go to the website www.refinery29.com to read about this infamous eclipse that was coming, which said, "", that if your bday falls 4 days before or after the eclipse on the 28th of April, something "dramatic" would happen. Gasp! So lo and behold, George Clooney, who happens to be a Taurus as well, gets engaged and I was anxiously awaiting what would happen to me. I normally don't believe in these things (that much), but really, this refinery29 is amazing and it literally was spot on - especially when it talked about health issues. It stressed to not take health as lightly as before and you won't see things the same way as before and to take it more seriously. Well, what would you know that no joke, just around my bday, my back started to feel a bit stiff. I joked it was a sign of aging. That week was a bit busy and didn't do my now down-sized running to twice a week. So that Friday my running group had a social run, a simple 10km run. Piece of cake, right? WRONG! My back started really hurting and going into my butt during the run. Thank gawd it was a social one so we stopped a lot and I tried to stretch it out. Afterwards I felt stiff as a log and just achy. It didn't make it any better that we had a social breakfast afterwards and I sat in an uncomfortable chair for a hour or so. Needless to say, I suffered GREATLY from that - becoming laterally shifted and everything. That whole day I did not bend at all, hardly sat, and did lots of extensions. The next day I had to work, was still shifted, but fortunately work for me is mostly standing. My colleague came to treat me, and thought I was exaggerating about the shifting, but I really was! And still had stiff back and symptoms into my butt. I won't go into the nitty gritty, but fortunately, I work in a medical clinic so got a muscle relaxor which super helped (only ended up taking it a couple of times), had my colleague treat me a couple of times that week (mind you, the week after my bday), and then had a MRI (again, free, so why not?). Well, although it's free and easy, as we in the medical profession know, MRI's sometimes can show almost too much. Mine was ugly. It's not a good sign when the spine doctor comes to you personally and is like, "are you okay?" Ha! The first thing he said was "No running" because I have developed a schmorl's node at my L5 vertebrae (basically, my L5 vertebrae is taking the impact and load instead of my disc). 

On top of that, my previous L4-L5 bulge was still there, yes, but now my L5-S1 is herniated. Da da dum. He then said not to panic and we have to look at the clinical signs, which mine weren't so bad since I was now corrected and not shifted. So of course then comes the whole mental cycle I see often with patients, denial, depression, anger (why me?), more denial, depression... then finally, "let me treat myself as a patient now" and be proactive and... positive. It is what it is, so just need to be smart now about my own health. Which where I am now. I am taking the summer off and am NOT going to run for 5-6 months this summer (which is thankfully our off season and it's over 100 degrees and 60+% humidity anyway), swim a lot, do yoga (modified), cross trainer (bor-ing!), and lots of stretching and core/lumbopelvic exercising. But back to that darn eclipse, it's right! When it talked about not taking health for granted and having a lifestyle change, it's really about doing these stretches and exercises DAILY now! I'll have another MRI in the fall, now it's a few weeks later and besides a wee bit of stiffness, am NOT shifted anymore and feel no radicular symptoms into my buttock, so there is hope in sight. I'm also not stupid and don't want to have a vertebralplasty at 40 y/o, buuuuuuuut still have sights on Boston marathon 2015, BUT ONLY once my L-side (now super weak) evens out with strength and I feel overall strong, will I think about. So no worries, had a lengthy discussion with my dad, the best radiologist in town, and we'll basically see how it goes. Here is the damage:

Funny thing is I had a MRI in Nov 2013 (this was taken April 2014) and although things were looking better at that time (compared to the year before, I've been taking yearly MRI's just to see the difference), it changed a lot in just 6 months :-( And of course what I have done differently? Run a marathon! Wah wah. 

On to better things, my bday!!! I have to say although not as many as back at home, I have awesome friends here! It was organized for me to stay at the Grosvenor's House (at the Marina, the "other side" of town where I live, so it really felt like I was out of town) Saturday into Sunday (my actual) bday, this amazing 5-star hotel. My friend is in the hotel biz and hooked me up. So because of my VIP status, ha ha, I checked in early, lounged around and enjoyed the view, went to the pool, relaxed and napped, enjoyed the sunset, and just relaxed:

Above and below, a bday gift from hotel management!

Above: Flowers for my bday!!! So sweet!!!

Haha, maxin' and relaxin'! Then just turn my head to watch the sunset!

Then met with some friends at the same hotel, and the hotel is just magical and beautiful! Wonderful lobby with this amazing display of flowers. 

Then the restaurant is this super exclusive restaurant called Kitchen 49, literally only a handful of tables and the chef prepares as he goes and comes out to make sure it is okay. And for once, the waiters knew everything about the dishes! It had this unique set-up, there is a certain name for it, where they bring out small portions of dishes and if you want more, you just ask for it and they freshly cook it! I'm not explaining it well, but all I have to say it was top top top food and really, 10-star quality out of 5-star rating!! I think probably the most gourmet food I've ever had in my life, no joke!!!!

Yay, a bday cake for me!!!

Then, so full I could barely walk, I come back to my room and see these nice surprises:

Don't worry, I didn't eat it! Shared it with my friends the next day :-) 

The next day, after a delicious buffet breakfast, I get yet ANOTHER surprise!!

A embroidered beautiful soft and silky robe! It's absolutely FAB-U-LOUS, and I LOVE the lavender color! I have since worn it every day!!! Sooo generous and nice of the hotel!! WOW!!!!!

Well, just when you think I would have had enough of bday treats, my work got me a cake from the "psycho team," hahaha, and THEN a patient brought me these amazingly delicious cupcakes, which I swear, are the best I've EVER tasted. NO joke!!!

And yes, before you ask, a new detox and diet has started after all this!!!

Oh, so on my actual bday, took the day off and got a wonderful gift certificate to the spa (b/attitude)at that same hotel I was at. Was supposed to have a hot stone massage, but being that it was the start of my back issues, the therapist realized I was so tight and ended up doing a deep tissue (but pleasant and needed) massage. So although that wasn't that relaxing, felt better after that. What WAS better was that another friend got me a gift certificate for a facial, so that was SUPER relaxing (was I drooling? haha). The spa itself was gorgeous, love the Buddha-like theme, and it was an awesome way to spend my special day!

Phew, realize this is getting quite lengthy! Well, my last topic is brief. My manager is on leave for a couple of months, and I'm basically in charge! It is my first foot in the door to management. That first week I have to admit was a bit stressful. 1st we had this medical inspection coming in, that is ALWAYS a big o headache. Then we have had this faulty equipment for awhile and we've been wanting to replace this machine, and long story short, the clinical manager was like, "why don't you just write a proposal for it?" Eek. I know NOTHING about how to do that, but alas, did some research and got it done. Then there was all this internal stuff with my colleagues (well, just 2 of them) and some miscommunication that I was learning about for the first time. That first week I kept thinking, "umm... this isn't for me." The biggest deterrent is that I'm slammed at work, soo busy, especially now that we are short-staffed. So it is dealing with a whole load of patients THEN having all this management stuff on top of that. Welcome to the real world, huh? Now I realize how much goes on behind the scenes that people don't realize. I have a whole new respect for it now! Now I'm a bit more used to it, we passed the inspection, I wrote the proposal, and now it is more doable. Am taking the internal work-stuff in stride and overall just staying calm and positive and NOT getting emotional about things. I'm generally friendly with everyone, and that itself can be difficult because it seems people don't take you seriously. I'm also making a point to not gossip and just stay out of those kind of things. Challenging, yes. I really love my clinical practice, but I feel it IS a good step for me to take one day to get into manaagement. Whether soon or years from now, I think it would be something to set my sights on. My job is super physical and I can probably keep that up for so long as well, so these are all good experiences now that I am learning. I'm trying to be a sponge to things I never paid attention to (insurance reimbursement, budges, etc) and if anything will have this experience under my belt to hopefully lead me somewhere in the future - whether Dubai or USA! 

Okay, that's been my last couple of months!!!

Next blogs I'll be getting back to travel bits, he he!