Tuesday, July 13, 2010

The Evidence of Blood Splatter

I don't really know how to say this without it sounding really strange, but if I turn up missing tonight and they suspect foul play, Mandi is not involved. Strange enough for you? Maybe I should take it from the top...

So this probably all started last Monday as Mandi and I recommitted to working our butts off in the gym. This includes morning walks, lifting weights at the gym, running and increasing our overall activity. This is good for us on two fronts: one, for obvious reasons, it's a good thing for my health and two, it gets us out of the house in which we seem to be in all day. Not that I mind, since it's actually what I prefer, but I must admit, we can get a little bit of cabin fever after working out of the house every hour, of every day, of every week, of every month. We've actually found a little local coffee shop, called, wait for it, "The Coffee Shop" which Mandi LOVES to hang and work out of. It is definitely a cool place to get some stuff done, but obviously at 1.85 a cup, we can't make it a daily habit. So anyway, I'm getting a bit off track, so let me get focused again...

...and I'm back. Last week I had a bit of hemoptysis before my clinic appointment. My doctor and I weren't very concerned however cause I'm doing well symptom wise on all other fronts and was just starting my Cayston, so we figured, if there was a bug going on, the Cayston would kill it. Now fast forward a week or so after that appointment and I had another bout with hemoptysis. And then finally, let's bring it all of the way to tonight, another episode. What's a little strange is all of these episodes have happened while I've been standing straight up. You say, why is that strange? Well, because 9 out of 10 times I'll start coughing up blood while laying flat on my back and usually in the middle of the night. So, it's a little strange that these have come while either walking around, or like tonight, making my nightly vanilla latte. I assure you, I'm not overly concerned, it's just a bit strange.

There could be a very logical explanation however, actually, could be a couple of them. First, I really think my rib injury set me back a bit and may have led to the irritation that has caused the bleeds. I know at times, I'll take a deep breath and can actually feel my lung rubbing up against my ribs. Can that cause hemoptysis? I don't know, but I wouldn't bet against it. Here's the other and most likely scenario though, it's probably the exercise. We've been hitting cardio hard and that's made me open up parts and use lobes that probably haven't been worked like this for a while. Today in fact I absolutely went all out on the elliptical and haven't challenged myself like that physically for quite sometime. So, if I were a betting man, I'd blame it on the exercise. That's not to say anything is going to stop, but it will certainly change tomorrow. I'll have to back off just a bit and make sure everything is all healed up before I push it again.

This brings me back to my first statement, Mandi is not guilty! I say this because we are big "murder show" buffs. On our DVR, 90% of it is First 48, 48 Hour Mystery, Primetime Crime, Dateline, etc. On most of the shows, what dooms the husband or wife when their significant other turns up missing is microscopic blood spatter. We just got done watching one in which they convicted a husband that was totally and obviously innocent, so it got me thinking...If I turn up missing, the cops are going to find a ton of blood splatter all over our bathroom. You may even find some on her clothing because she was standing right next to me and rubbing my back as I was coughing my brains (or my lungs) out. So, if you're reading this, she didn't do it, she's completely innocent.

Mandi, if you're reading this, don't get any ideas just because I've given you an alibi :)