A Series Of Unfortunate Events aka Temporary Setback Nia

In case you were not in the know, I was hospitalized from last Monday night till Wednesday morning. Actually I admitted myself at about 10pm after enduring severe stomach pain from 5:30pm. The pain was in the midsection and didn't go away after a visit to my regular doctor - who prescribed the usual charcoal tabs and some antacids. I've no history of gastritis and ulcers, so the pain was quite unusual. Sitting, lying down or walking offered no relief and it got progressively worst once I got home. It was after my shower that I sense it wasn't going to be better and I packed my bag and some essentials (which included a RW mag, my iPod and Palm and some apparels plus the meds I was taking).

The drive to the hospital couldn't be longer. At the Emergency section, I filled up the customary forms and was ushered to one of the beds. After a few minutes, an elderly doctor came by and I filled her up with the details - I'd no problems with the bowel movement, I'd ran a 30K race yesterday, no history of stomach problems. When she pressed down on a few spots on my abdomen to identify the spots of pain, it was excruciating. She ordered a blood and urine test. And a jab each on both my butt cheeks. Damn, I hate needles, but at that point anything to take the pain off.

I lost track of time and couldn't be bothered but the results came back showing no appendicitis. The blood results showed some concern and warranted further barrages of question about whether I've got chest pain. That got me pretty irritated and I replied my family had no history of heart problems and I AM A MARATHONER! WHO JUST COMPLETED A 30K YESTERDAY! OF COURSE MY HEART WOULD'VE SHOWN SOME STRESSED MARKERS!!! TNS!

Not satisfied, they extracted more blood and the doctor refused to believe that I still had pain despite the 2 jabs and further pressed my abdomen again asking questions with some degree of incredulity. Then she ordered an intravenal (correct term?) jab ie a jab directly into the vein for quick results. Didn't work either!! TNS!

Wrist tag. I'm officially an inmate of Sickville

Then she got on the phone with a heart specialist and then a GI specialist. I was wheeled into 3 X-Rays - one chest and two stomach. The radiologist was most kind and understanding. I still couldn't pass wind nor burp. The last bowel movement was just before I left my house and I had a BIG business post-race on Sunday, which in hindsight I think was caused by the bowl of cornflakes in milk (never again for me!). Now, I think that wind trapped in my gut could be residual buildup from that post-race snack. Coupled with the amount of food I took on Sunday and the protein I consumed, my gut could've given up. The pressure in the intestines could've been really bad. TNS!

Pain in the butt. The bruise.

After the X-Ray, my bed was moved and they said I need to be admitted. The heart specialist came over and told me the blood results was a false alarm (Hello lady, you're sweet but I needn't waste RM800,000 of my parents' money to tell me that!). I told her again what I told the other doctor. My wife took care of the papers - thankfully, the company insurance took care of the charges (close to RM2,000) and just before I was wheeled to a 2-bed ward, I was given another jab to the butt, making it a total of 4 jabs. Either my runner's butt is cute or they were really having a field day with the needles. But that 4th one was really potent. Not 10 minutes after that, the pain suddenly went off and I became quite drowsy - the mix definitely included some sedatives. Finally something worked.

I really hate it when they insert the IV needle.

And just as I was settled into the ward bed, I mumbled something and the lights went out. Though I was groggy, I didn't really sleep well. The next day saw a visit to a surgeon, who thought he'd earn some bucks out of me and then an ECG. They wanted yet another blood test to wrap things up but I firmly denied them. I told them that I was already weakened with no dinner and fluids the night before (due to the enforced fasting) and already being milked dry. No way! TNS! He didn't sign me out for another day.

The day after I was discharged I felt good enough to try to get a run in but lasted only 6K. Went home to a really bad sore throat and a slight fever. Don't tell me this time it's a throat infection??! I dug out some meds related to the throat and took the anti-inflammatories, 2 paracetamols, sucked 2 dequadins, downed 1 liter of water and went to bed. Through out the day I hydrated like I would be running a desert marathon and by the end of the day, the throat was OK. Somehow I got through that without antibiotics!

Saturday saw me return to the usual ritual albeit a 2K reduction from the usual 17K. I covered the double hill very comfortably. Cardio and leg wise, I saw no problems. I felt really good. Ran a 10K just now and the starting pace of 6:14 felt really really comfortable. A few months ago my base pace was 6:45. I held the pace going up a 1K climb before tapering off at 6:10ish or so. As it was getting dark on the village roads, I upped the pace a big after I u-turned and hit the hills at LT pace.

I think despite the measly 30K mileage week (hey, I lost 2 days of running), I can safely say that I'M BACK!