Today's Challenge

If you're looking for the at-home workout challenge, you've come to the right place. Remember, this is just an example of something you can do. Feel free to go beyond this list and push yourself even more. If you can't fathom doing this list, pick one thing and do that! Remember, the important part is to move; it's not important how fast you move!

Here is my workout for today:

25 Pull-ups
50 Box Squats with Smith Machine
50 Curls with Barbell
50 Tricep Extensions on Cables
50 Box Jumps
50 Lat Pull-downs on Cables
50 Straight Arm Pull-downs on Cables
50 V-ups
20 Decline Sit-ups with rotation using medicine ball

25 minute walk

Be sure to do something active this weekend. Challenge yourself, you won't regret it!!

Choking Hazard

**At-home exercise challenge: 30 minute walk

Figured I'd put it out there that I know this is a choking hazard, and although I was extremely careful, this still wouldn't qualify as a "best in practice". Irregardless, we thought it was cute and maybe you guys would too!

Thankful Thursday: Grilling & iPhones

**At home workout challenge**
5 minute warmup walk
5 minute run
2 minute walk
5 minute run
2 minute walk
5 minute run
2 minute walk
5 minute run
2 minute walk


Don't think you have to do this exactly. Try running for 5 seconds and walking for 2 minutes if you have to. Or not running at all and walking 15 minutes. The point is to do something. If you get up and try, I promise you'll go further than if you sat on the couch :)



It's thankful Thursday time! We all have so much to be thankful for and we love to take this opportunity just to write down each and everything that comes to mind. Please take this time to share with us what you're thankful for as well. If you have a blog expressing your thankfulness, please share the link! Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

I'm thankful for family friends. Our family friends, the Giblins, were in town this last week and it was great to see them. They are my parent's friends, but have become like an aunt and uncle to Josh and I...and now Chrissy and Ronnie, too. It was so fun getting to spend time with them. 

I'm thankful for a new phone. Ronnie and I switched to iPhones from Blackberries a few weeks back because our phones were acting up. I totally love the fact that our new phones have great cameras to catch more on the fly moments of Kenna and I always love learning and playing with new phones!

I'm thankful for earlier bedtimes. Mckenna has been awful at night (we'll take any and all suggestions at this point so bring them on). But we figured we'd take this opportunity to adjust her bedtime a bit earlier. So we've been inching it back. It is so awesome to have an extra hour together in the evening without lady love around!

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for the shortest stay in the Hole that I've had for quite some time. I don't think I've had a 13 day stay for over 10 years. There were a variety of factors that contributed to this, but one of the most major is my wife's support. She keeps me on task with my health and because of that, I don't go into the hospital super sick and needing it, I go in kinda sic k and wanting it. Thank you babe!

I'm thankful for great running weather. Today was a great day for a run. It wasn't too hot, it wasn't too cold and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It actually made it kinda enjoyable to run. And I mean in the very slightest of ways. Still, I'm so thankful to live in a place that provides great running weather nearly year round.

I'm thankful for my brother-in-law's grilling skills. We had the pleasure of gobbling up some of his grilled chicken, shrimp and vegetables last night and it was excellent. We are very blessed that they live only .4 miles away and that they are always willing to have us over for some grub!

So, what are you thankful for today?

At-Home Workout Challenge

Thank you to all who participated in the Hospital Exercise Challenge! It was such a success and I got so much great feedback, that I wanted to be sure to continue a little something at home. Here's the problem though, I'm not exactly sure what to do.

I need some ideas. What would be most helpful to you guys? Should I design a workout that I feel would be beneficial? Should I just report each day what I do and then you guys can try to match? I want to do whatever you guys feel would help the most. I'm down for whatever!!

If your curious, my workout today was...

50 leg squats on Smith machine
50 box jumps on 24" box
50 V-ups
50 pushups
50 pull-ups
50 barbell shoulder presses

I try to do all of those exercises as at quick of a pace as I can so it is not only an great muscle builder, but also a great lung workout. I'm huffing and puffing pretty much the whole way through, but it feels SO GREAT when it's all said and done.

Think you can match that today?

Different Hospital Stay

**If you're here for the exercise challenge: 30 minute walk, or 30 minutes of 5 minute walk 1 minute run cycle; 25 box jumps; 20 push-ups; 3 sets of wall sits. Also, I need suggestions from those who are up for the challenge. What's the best way to present the challenge each and every day. I want to do it in a way that works for you guys!!**

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

You know what one of the best feelings in the world is? Your first shower after getting discharged from the hospital. I don't know if it's the confining space, lack of water pressure or ever-changing temperature - but hospital showers just don't compare to home showers.

Anywho, wanted to give you guys an overview of the strange hospital stay that I just had. I say strange because it felt different and was shorter than any stay in the Hole that I can remember for quite some time. I don't have any official numbers on this, but I don't believe that a 13 day hospital stay has happened for me in at least the last 10 years. And I've got to say; Man, it feels good!

One important thing to point out is that I didn't go in super sick. Rarely do I wait until I feel super sick, but this time I was even more proactive. Sure, I had increased sputum, increased fatigue, increased cough and darker mucus, but...as always, I gave them a call when my workouts just didn't have the results that they normally do. Even if I pushed it, it was so much harder to get through my daily routine. For me, that's a sign that I'll be in sooner rather than later, so instead of waiting for later (and inevitably getting more sick), I chose earlier. They say my baseline FEV1 is about 75% (up from 60% 3 years ago) and going into the stay it was at 67%. So as you see, I wasn't exactly "suffering". But my doc agreed, get in and get out before I get worse (I love those guys).

My first week in the hospital is always the worst. I think it's a combination of the antibiotics causing me to have an upset stomach as well as being sore and achy all over my body. This generally leads to more rest, which leads to little exercise, which leads to more achiness, which leads to less exercise, which leads to a drop in lung function. Get that? Almost every single time I'm in the Hole, my lung function drops the first week that I'm in there. It's not always a severe drop (usually not more than 10%), but always a drop nonetheless. Well this time, I actually had a 5% increase! Yeah I know, weird. But there may be an explanation...

I only felt like a truck ran me over for like a day and a half. Instead of the normal 7 days, the antibiotic blues were only with me for about 36 hours. We're not exactly sure why this happened, but I have my theory. Now, it could have been mental. It could have been the fact that there wasn't as much time to sit around now that I have a daughter. It could have been the fact that I had to go and walk around with Mckenna attached to me so she would go to sleep. I guess it could have been a lot of things, but my guess is...a switch in the antibiotic schedule.

I'm always on the same cocktail of drugs when I'm in the Hole. IV Vancomycin, IV Meropenem and oral cipro. They kept that exactly the same, but this time, switched the delivery time of Mero. Usually it's given 3 times a day for 30 minutes, but this time they gave it 3 times a day for THREE HOURS (they said more would be absorbed and not peed out)!! Yeah, I know. I was hooked up to my IV line for all day everyday pretty much (when you include my 2 hour Vanco sessions), but I really think that was the difference for me. Other than working out a time I could get unhooked in order to exercise, I loved the new antibiotic schedule (because I think it worked)! I could be proven to be wrong, but for now, I'll go with it.

With my antibiotic blues time being so much shorter, I was able to get up and out of bed quicker and onto my exercise routine faster. It also helped that I walked Mckenna around in her carrier for multiple hours per day! Since I was able to move around more, I coughed crud up daily and quite a bit of it. I think this all snowballed on itself and was the reason I had such a short stay. I'm already crossing my fingers and hoping that it works out this way next time!

So in summary, why do I think it was such a short stay this time?
1. Change in the med schedule
2. Shorter antibiotic blues
3. Hours of walking per day with a weight attached to my chest
4. Getting to my workouts sooner in the stay
5. Daily prayer that I would continue to get better :)
6. Not waiting until I was sick to go in

So there you have it! It feels so good to be home and back with my girls. I want to thank you guys from the bottom of my heart for your kind words of support while I was in the Hole, and you'll never know how much it they mean to me.

THANK YOU!!!

Hospital Exercise Challenge - Day 6