Sick...

Sorry for the long silence! And sorry in advance for the long post, but I've been really sick and want to explain why I haven't felt together enough to post an update! And the potential repercussions....

I started getting sick during the Igls Austria ICC race, and it's just been downhill from there. Over 5 weeks now, I'm back in the states and still sick, though I finally feel like I'm on an upswing.

In Igls, I got a cold, and by the end of the week I was coughing mildly. For those of you that know my history, coughing usually spells doom...due to mild asthma and growing up around cigarette smoke, I'm highly pre-disposed to bronchitis and lung issues.

• used to get bronchitis at least once or twice a winter
• have cracked ribs twice from the violent coughing
• at my worst had bronchitis 5 times the first year Brad and I were together. (In fact, it was so bad I'm amazed we made it through that year and that he stuck around!)
• Now that I live in Park City, above the smog of the SLC and Provo valleys, my health has been much better and the last 2 winters were bronchitis free. I thought I was cured!
• Nope.
  

My coughing in Igls put me in a downward spiral. The first day of training in Konigssee went sort of ok, but soon I was coughing so much I didn't sleep at all, spent all day in bed (other than at the track), and actually had coughing fits ON MY SLED while ON THE ICE! No good. To put it in perspective, I was so sick by race day that the Konigssee race was the first time I've pushed slower IN the race than in training!!! Ouch. I usually push 1-2 tenths faster on race day, not 2 tenths slower! Ouch again. I didn't get a second run...barely...

Two days before the race I went to the pharmacy, but was terrified about the medicine since, as you know, I'm on the US Anti-doping Agency (USADA) testing list, and when racing the banned list is even more comprehensive. Luckily, the pharmacist spoke English, understood the athlete limitations, and had a copy of the drugs allowed by the German anti-doping agency. I could only hope that they were the same - I did my best to verify the active ingredients on the USADA website, but still only took as much as necessary to get through the race, just in case.

Sunday, February 8th, at 2pm, our plane landed in Salt Lake City.

By 4pm I was at the walk-in clinic in Park City.

By 5pm I was at the pharmacy.

By 6pm I was on antibiotics and an amazing cough syrup.

By 7pm I was in bed.

By then my violent coughing had strained my back, tearing muscles where my ribs connect to my spine, and leaving me feeling like all my ribs were dislocated. Since I'm still coughing (yes, still), my ribs haven't healed, and I can't draw in a full breath. Training has stopped, to say the least, and I'm out of breath walking up a single flight of stairs. I tried to slide twice, and the G-load on my ribs was excruciating. I got off my sled in tears both times; Brad had to come carry it off the track for me as I struggled to breathe.

The antibotics killed a lot of the sickness, but the coughing has lingered. I spent the next TWO WEEKS! in a state of drugged semi-coherence (thank you opiates!) as the drugs were the only ones to control the coughing. School, work, I wasn't very focused!

The doctors (I saw two at the walk-in clinic, and went to my own doctor when I could get an appointment) all wanted to prescribe albuterol, the asthma medicine, but it's on the USADA banned list, so I'm having to try to get better without it. And as an athlete, even though I have asthma attacks, my lung function tests show relatively healthy lungs. Go figure.

Now, I've been home for 3 weeks, and the last week I've been off the opiates but still coughing when I have any exertion (stairs, carrying things, walking to class) and when my lungs hit the cold air outdoors.

The worst: I HAVE to race this coming weekend (Western Regionals), so I'm going to tape up my ribs the best I can and load up on painkillers in order to train. Coming home from Europe, I figured I'd be well by now, but 5 weeks in I'm only barely recovering. Fabulous.

So, long story for the long silence. I've finally started uploading pictures from the end of Igls and the week in Konigssee, so I'm planning on updating you about the rest of the ICC tour, just a little late!

Cheers!