I was once diagnosed with back fat. True Story.

My entire adult life, I've had these softball sized knots in my lower back. Both of my sisters have them, so we think it is pretty normal...does anyone else get them? They come and go, but I've noticed that when I exercise regularly they stay away. My doctor thought they were a hormonal thing...you know how some women get bigger boobs once a month...I get bigger back fat. Haha. Well, that isn't the case. I've had people feel them and they've told me...that is a bone. That's how hard these things are. They get really big and cause pain all the way down my legs. Back when I went to the doctor, he sent me to get an ultrasound. When I went, they happened to be pretty small...about the size of a golf ball. A few days after the ultrasound, my doctor called and gave me the diagnoses. I have fatty lipomas. (Funny...spell check wants me to change the word lipoma with diploma...I could have fatty diplomas. Haha) Anyway. I have tumors that are made of fat. Great. Diagnosed with fat. No wonder why when I work out they stay away...isn't that the point of working out? To keep fat away? This isn't rocket science. (Also, the radiating pain is because it puts pressure on my sciatic nerve.) Well, the other night my kidneys were hurting. Like, it hurt when I peed...only it was in my lower back. Now, my fat back is acting up. It's been months since my fat back has hurt. I'm wondering if they are related. They are relatively in the same area...my fat back is lower than my kidneys, but they are still pretty close.

This whole week, I haven't had the energy to work out. I feel like I could sleep all day. Like I have mono...except I feel fine. Just tired. I'm going to start taking a multivitamin...I think. I stink at taking pills. I don't even take tylenol to get rid of my back fat pain. I'd just rather complain. However, I really want to train for a half marathon. OBX 1/2 marathon is in November. I can be ready by then...right?

I figured I'd share my story about why I initially started running. I've always been a fan of yoga and pilates. (Its a lot of laying down or standing still...my kind of work out. Haha) However, in 2005 I was hired at Farmers Bank. When I was shown my office, I realized there were things from someone else still in the office. A calendar with every birthday labeled. Finger nail files. Coffee cups. Simple things. There was also a box labeled "Kathies". I soon learned that the lady that had the office before me was recently diagnosed with leukemia. We would get updates pretty frequently and I was just as eager to hear how Kathie was doing...even though I never met her. She got to a point where she was able to come visit and I finally met her. A few months later, Kathie was healthy enough she was able to come back to work. I still had all of her things in her office...but it was also now my office. It wasn't big enough for the both of us, but I wanted her to be able to have her office back. They ended up doing a lot of office rearranging and Kathie and I ended up in a new office together. It was small and didn't have windows. However, it did have a dry erase board. Together we went to walmart and bought material to make curtains for our windows. We had curtains for several months out of the year.

We both instantly bonded because we had very similar personalities. We caused trouble together, "worked" together, and had a lot of fun together. We figured out how to play frisbee in our office. During this time, the bank switched its banking program. It was a very stressful time, so we thought a hula hoop would help lighten the mood. It did...we even have pictures of the president of the bank hula hooping. Well, during one of my "performances", I hula hooped while walking like a chicken and a really good looking guy walked by(he was from the company that helped us get onto the new banking system) and everyone died of laughter because of the sight of me acting like a fool in front of a stranger. The guy had a very serious personality and didn't even acknowledge us. We found out the next morning that very serious, but good looking guy ran marathons for a little girl with cancer. Kathie said "Anyone who runs for cancer is okay by me."

The week of September 11 rolled around and Kathie was extremely quiet. I didn't pry because I thought if she wanted me to know...she'd tell me. Well, on September 11, she told me that her cancer was no longer in remission. I was trying to be and optimistic because that is what I do and that is what Kathie would also do. Kathie wasn't optimistic. She said she didn't think she could go through all of it again. Of course, every song on the radio that day was a sad song (we listened to country and it was sept. 11), so I spent my day secretly crying at my desk. Kathie wasn't crying, so I didn't want her to see me crying. She left work early that day and was headed to Duke within the next couple of days. We talked on the phone a lot while she was there. I could tell that she was getting worse, pretty fast. She got to the point where she would talk and I couldn't understand anything she said.

For about a month, I cried every day. I prayed every day. I hated knowing that she was in pain. When Kathie needed a bone marrow transplant I asked how do I get tested to see if we were a match. (We had the same taste in clothes and we wore the same size clothes...surely our genetic material was going to match!) They planned on testing her sister first. I wanted to do something.
I told Kathie before she left that if she came back to work bald, then I'd shave my head to match hers. I planned on us wearing really fun scarves around our heads or crazy headbands. Kathie never got to come back to work.

I decided that I was going to run in memory of Kathie. That was the initial reason I started running. TNT is a group that trains people to run 1/2 marathons, marathons, triathlons. Since it is almost September 11, I am reminded why I wanted to run. So, I'm going to take my multivitamin and run. Run for Kathie. Because someone who runs for cancer is okay by her. :D