Brain Surgery to Half Ironman

They say that time flies when you’re having fun.  I don’t necessarily know that recovering from brain surgery constitutes “fun”, but time has certainly flown by these last 3 months.  This past Wednesday was October 25th, 3 months since my surgery.  It was also the day of my follow up MRI and appointment with Dr. Sen. Even though the catscan the day after my surgery showed that the entire cyst was gone, this MRI would be the test that gave a better picture of where things stood. The last 2 weeks have been great as far as my training goes.  I went back to PWR Spin at the gym which is a high intensity, interval based spin class geared towards triathletes and avid cyclists.  I have been on the trainer for longer periods of time, had my fastest 3 mile run since coming back and this morning I swam 1200 yards straight which is the longest since surgery.  I have also resumed strength training.  The most important thing that these last 2 weeks have shown me i...

My father was a man with a very dry sense of humor, a sense of humor that I often see in my son Jordan.  He, had many sayings that have stuck with me and that I have passed on to Jordan.  Some of my favorites are, "geographically desirable", "O dark thirty" and the theme for this post, "directionally correct". These last 10 days or so have seen more firsts in my recovery and the official setting of my big goal, Maine 70.3. Last Sunday October 1st, registration officially opened for Half Ironman Maine.  I swam early that morning and then came home and was eating breakfast with Jordan as I sat in front of my Ipad anxiously awaiting the opening.  When 8:00AM struck and the screen changed from "coming soon" to "register now" my heart skipped a beat like a kid on Christmas morning.  My excitement paled in comparison to my son's who started jumping up and down screaming, "we're going to Maine, we're going to Maine. I can...

As the saying goes, "all good things must come to an end".  This Monday, September 25th marked my first day back at work.  Just 8 weeks removed from surgery it was time.  Some might think that I rushed back after brain surgery, but to be honest I was ready.  I was never the type to just sit around and binge watch television shows.  Believe it or not, sitting on the couch for 5-6 hours a day gets old real quick for someone who is used to being on the go all the time. My recovery has had its phases.  First there was the hospital followed by coming home and laying relatively low for a few days.  Days filled with walks, and midday naps.  Then I got a little more freedom and was able to exercise in moderation, drive and I wasn't as fatigued.  Every phase made me a little stronger and after 8 weeks I was ready for some sense of normalcy. On Monday morning I woke up, shaved and showered and in the infamous words of Barney Stinson I "suited up"! ...

We've all heard the saying, "you must crawl before you walk and walk before you run".  Now, to an infant or even a toddler this saying makes all the sense in the world,  to most people starting out in any new endeavor it makes sense.  However, for a Type A personality who enjoys instant gratification that saying STINKS!!! The worst part about it is that it doesn't seem to apply to everything.  Last weekend was Labor Day so on Thursday to kick off the long weekend I took Jordan for a run.  Nothing too stressful, a few miles of run/walk(running for 2 minutes, walking for 1 minute).  We started with a walk to warm up and then we were off.  Almost immediately my heart rate was very high and I felt like the 2 minutes would never end.  To say I was relieved when my watch beeped indicating the first walk break would be an understatement.  A year ago I was running 20 miles as part of my marathon training and here a year later I'm sucking wind runnin...

The great thing about this new journey for me is that I get a lot of "firsts".  No, they're not realfirst time experiences in the truest sense of the word, but on this journey to Maine they are firsts.  The coolest thing about these little milestones to me is watching the progress over time.  It's like when a runner starts out and every week they go a little farther or every race is a little faster even now that sense of accomplishment is incredible, it's a rush that definitely helps to fuel the fire. On Tuesday August 22, 2017 I put my proverbial toe in the water, literally, to go for my first swim post surgery.  In the weeks leading up to surgery the pool became my stress relief, my happy place if you will.  It was the only exercise I was allowed to do and therefore I made it my mission to use that opportunity to get better.  On July 23rd, the day before surgery I was in the pool to swim a mile and now here I was a month later getting back in.  It w...

So, today was a big day for me.  Today was my post op visit with Dr. Sen at NYU just three and a half weeks after brain surgery number 2. While I was definitely optimistic going into the appointment I would say cautiously optimistic might be a better description. Thus far my recovery has been pretty uneventful.  No pain meds since 3 weeks ago, yes that's right, no pain meds since 3 days post surgery.  I was up and walking quickly while at the hospital and since returning home I have continued to walk, averaging between 4-5 miles a day.  Basically, I've done everything that I promised I would, most importantly I'd listen to my body and know when to back off. Despite feeling great, there was always the possibility that I would be told that I still had to wait to get back to life as I knew it. First, I was seen by Mary, the nurse practitioner, who looked at my incisions before removing the stitches from my head.  Step 1 ✅ Next Dr. Sen came in.  After goin...

In 2014 just 2 years after the initial surgery I was informed that it looked like the cyst that they had "totally removed" was growing back.  This wasn't a complete shock given the nature of the cyst.  At that time Dr. Sen said that we would continue to do an annual MRI to monitor the growth and decide when and if a second surgery would be necessary. 2015's scan showed slight growth, but it was deemed inconsequential, marathon training was just getting underway and I was given the green light to continue training to take on the streets of NYC. It was in the summer of 2016 that things changed....... So, I am a founding member of the greatest running club in existence, The De Novo Harriers.  Hands down the most ridiculously supportive group of people you will ever meet.  Some might even describe them as "cult like" until they experience it for themselves and drink the proverbial Kool Aid. In the summer of 2016 marathon training was in full swing, early mor...