by Ouida Brown | Nov 24, 2015 | Blog
One of the many things I’ve learned is attitude is everything. As I age I realize that life has its fair share of challenges. In Job 2:10 Job has suffered an insurmountable lost. He wife states that he should curse God and die. ” But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips. While we can’t stop bad things from happening, we can chose how we react to them. In James 1:2 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds” Chose joy, chose to not let circumstances determine the mood. God has taught me to count it all joy. That no matter what that he is in control.
November is the month of Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving because it is what I call a pure holiday. It is not so commercial that the true meaning of the day gets distorted. This year, as well as last year I posted on Facebook what I was thankful for. It was an easy task. I have so much to be thankful for. Don’t get me wrong my life is far from perfect. I am a work in progress.
I say to everyone, think about all you may have to be thankful of it does not matter how big or small. You don’t have to do a month of thankful posts, but think about all you have to be thankful for. Also, please tell other people you are grateful for them. My mother was an icon in the town of Brookhaven Mississippi. Everyone loved her. She used to tell me and my brother LaMonte all these stories when she was young. I did not know the magnitude, until I actually talked to my mother’s students from when she was a band director. I then thought about the college students that she counseled when she was a counselor at Collin a junior college in Wesson Mississippi. I thought about how our old station wagon was a bus for the elementary students she use to have in the car when she was a counselor at Brookhaven Elementary School. I thought of all of her piano students who are now grown who have majored in music, one is a minster, one is a doctor. I could go on and on about all of the people lives she touched while she was here. My mom, was all that but have the sweetest spirit. My mother’s past student honored in a beautiful ceremony, and set up a scholarship in her name. I say all of that to say that my mom was given was given her flowers will she was alive. Her students thanked her while she was here which meant the world to her. She died later that year due to breast cancer. Give people their flowers while they are here.
BE THANKFUL
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIPKnj-0Czw&w=420&h=315]
by Ouida Brown | Oct 27, 2015 | Blog
October is a special month for several reasons. It is the month of the Chicago Marathon, my favorite Marathon. It is also the month my mother passed away October 27th 2008. The day my heart took her last breathe. In my mother’s memory I have been raising money for breast cancer for years.
I did my first Susan G Komen fun walk in 2004. It was the 1-mile walk. It is what motivated me to start running again. After the fun walk, I started going to the track. I would run one lap, then walk one lap I worked my way up to running a mile. I gradually worked my way up to running a 5k. In 2006 I did my first fundraising effort with Susan G Komen in honor of my mother and others who were fighting the battle and those who had passed on. Those like my Aunt Estella who is a breast cancer survivor. Those like my fellow Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University (FAMU) alumnus and sorors Lawanda Renee Henry, and Patricia Sherfield Polite who passed earlier this year. With the help of my friends, family, co-workers, and some complete strangers I have raised over $26, 0000 for breast cancer/ cancer research.
This year I was to run Chicago Marathon for American Cancer Society. My goal was $5,000. My requirement was only $1500, but I aim high and more money means more funds to help people, and more money for research. I started my quest to raise my funds. Again, I am so thankful for those who donate to my cause every year, but deep down I feel bad for soliciting funds every year. I feel like I am “bleeding people dry”, but I know that the cause is worthy. NO one should lose a love one to cancer, so I continue my quest. This year was bitter sweet, I had no problem raising my minimal, but during the early part of my training my feet were bothering me. I had been plagued by a nagging injury on and off for a year. I later found out that I had a stress fracture in one of my feet, and could not run the race. Initially I was devastated. Not only could I run my favorite race in honor of my parents who both had cancer. My mom died from breast cancer, and my and from lung cancer. I felt like I was letting people down who had donated to the cause.
One of my good friends explained that the money I raised would still help people, and they would understand. I thought about it, and related it to cancer patients. In life there are things that are out of our control but we deal with the hand that we are given. We fight, we may fall down, but we get back up. We continue to fight no matter what.
I will get back up, and next year I will run Chicago Marathon for Team Determination. I hope to have my faithful supporters behind me. Together we all are stronger. So today seven years after my mother passed from breast cancer I will continue the fight for her. I have hope; cancer does not win.
I encourage all my female family, and friends to do monthly breast check, and get yearly mammograms. Early detection does save lives.
by Ouida Brown | Oct 6, 2015 | Blog
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrFiq8YzdZk&w=560&h=315]
The trailer sums up the focus of the movie. The key message is that pray changes things, and I am a witness. It is ironic, I wanted to go to the movies on September 18, 2015. The reason I will expound later. Anyway I usually go to the Icon theater in Chicago. They have a rewards program and War Room was on the list. The rewards program offers discount price for certain movies. I had no idea what War Room was about initially. I read it was about spiritual warfare, and I thought that would be a good movie to see. So I ask a few friends would they be interested in joining. I was going regardless, as it was September 18. I have to get busy and positive on September 18th.
September the 18th is my mother’s birthday.
My mother passed away from breast cancer seven years ago. I miss her every day more so on her birthday. I had in my mind I was going to be positive. I posted a few pictures on Facebook to wish her a happy birthday. All of the responses to my post were so sweet, but they made me start crying. I had to keep it together at work. After work I was not the nicest to one of my good friends. Ironically it seem like the people closest to you sometimes get the bad parts of you. To sum it up I was a bit of an emotional wreck. So some of my girls agreed to join me at the movies which meant allot to me as they know the significance of September 18th.
So we go to the movie. I will briefly sum up the plot again. Tony and Elizabeth Jordan have it all-great jobs, a beautiful daughter, and their dream house. But appearances can be deceiving. The grass always seems greener on the other side. Tony and Elizabeth Jordan’s world is actually crumbling under the strain of a failing marriage. While Tony basks in his professional success and flirts with temptation, Elizabeth resigns herself to increasing bitterness. But their lives take an unexpected turn when Elizabeth meets her newest client, Miss Clara, and is challenged to establish a “war room” and a battle plan of prayer for her family. Elizabeth fights for her family in the war room. Her daughter notices her mother changes. Her daughter makes her own prayer closet. Tony almost has an affair, losses his job. In the process God changes his heart, makes him accountably. God changes Elizabeth heart and make her find her joy in Jesus not in her marriage. The power of prayer is revealed over any and every one of life’s problem. That is the message I took from the movie.
The movie brought more tears to my eyes. I realized that I was not praying effectively I decided that night I had to do better. Some of my emotional reactions are because I am not putting my cares on Jesus. Some of my emotional reactions are because I am not putting my cares on Jesus. I want control, and everything to be perfect. Life is not in our control. God is all-powerful and is in control. Rest your cares on Jesus via prayer/submission and life is so much better. Three weeks later and I can tell the difference in my life. Everyday with Jesus is sweet than the day before.
If you need some assistance in praying more effectively, I recommend listening to my friend’s video.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_C36nGhvt4&w=560&h=315]
Also sign up to read his ebook which are free. Another helpful reference is a book my pastor Dr. John Hannah wrote Desperate for Jesus. I just finished reading it. It was such a blessing as I seek the Lord in my life. We all are works in progress, and any help along the journey is vital.
https://www.youtube.com/user/thebeatagp/featured
http://www.allenparr.com
by Ouida Brown | Sep 15, 2015 | Blog
The life of a runner who happens to be a doctor. I am not just any doctor, I am an orthopedic surgeon. It sometimes has its privileges. Well, not lately when it comes to my injuries. I have been battling a foot injury for over a year. It started as plantar fasciitis of my right foot, as I mentioned in a previous blog. I continued to run. I made a great marathon come back times two- Berlin and Chicago. They were my first marathons since I had right arthroscopic knee surgery in 2013. My foot got better for a while after resting after my marathons, but the pain returned. It not only returned, but my other foot started to bother me also. The breaking point, the day that caused me to actually shut down was 5/10/2015 after Susan G Komen 10k race. Following the race it hurt to walk. I knew I had to stop running, so I could run again another day.
I started treating myself. I wore a boot for almost two weeks to relieve pressure on my foot. I went back to physical therapy. My foot improved, but it never was one hundred percent. I had plateaued. I decided to stop treating myself and see another orthopedic surgeon. I traveled to the suburbs and saw a foot and ankle orthopedic surgeon. He ordered x-rays of both my feet which were negative for any broken bones. I thought crazy me, why had I not gotten x-rays of my feet. When I see any patient I always get x-rays prior to treatment. He injected both my feet with cortisone; and they improved.
I started slowly running. The first few runs did not hurt. I did intervals to work my way back into running. I would run four minutes and walk 2 minutes. I gradually increased this until I could run about forty minutes. I got up to about three miles. I had a little pain at the end, but what was ironic was my left foot was now bothering more than my right. I initially thought, maybe my foot was getting use to the insert that my physical therapist has recommended. So I continued to run, and gradually increased my time.
I had signed up for a 10K for my birthday as part of my weekend celebration. While I had not made it up to six miles on my own, my plan was to run what I could. I could always stop if I was not complete the distance. I ran five minutes to one minute intervals for the10k race. I had to finish in time to make it to my birthday brunch. I was able to run the six miles without any difficulty. I was so happy, I was able to race ago, or so I thought. Again my left foot hurt after the race. It was not excruciating pain; it was more of a nuisance. I only ran once the week after the race. I did not want to over do it. I continued five minutes run to one minute walk intervals. I figured if I could run a 10k I could step it up. I wanted to get back into marathon shape. It still had that annoying pain on my left foot. The following week I did my usually five to one intervals but my foot hurt a little more than it did previously. It still was not excruciating. I thought to myself maybe I am still recovering from the race so I only ran once that week. I tried to run the following week but my foot hurt, so I decided to rest and only run once that week. I opted to go more biking instead. My foot was a little better later in the week, so I tried to run, but could only run twenty minutes. My left foot was hurting so I stopped.
I knew I had two bike rides over the weekend so I would “get it in” then. On that Friday night I rode 23 miles. My foot ached some which was unusual. My foot usually does not hurt after bike rides. I figured it was related to my run in the week. That Sunday I did a 36 mile bike ride. After the ride I was playing around and I jumped. I felt this sharp pain in my left foot that did not immediately go away. My foot was bothering me the next day at work.
I get a call from doctor’s office that Monday, about my appoint with another foot and ankle surgeon. I had made two appointments initially, and decided to opt with the one who could get me the earliest appointment. I decided to keep the other one just in case. I was still hurting so I decided to go. As I told him my story it hit me, this maybe a stress fracture. It had been in the back of my mind, but maybe I did not want that to be my reality. He ordered a bone scan, because I had symptoms in both feet versus getting two MRIs.
Briefly a bone scan is a test that can find damage to bones. A radioactive substance called a tracer is injected into a vein in the arm. The tracer travels through the bloodstream and into the bones. Then a special camera takes pictures of the tracer in the bones. Areas that absorb little or no amount of tracer appear as dark or “cold” spots. This means that there is lack of blood supply to the bone, and can indicate certain cancers. Areas of fast bone growth or repair absorb more tracer and show up as bright or “hot” spots in the pictures. Hot spots may point to problems such as arthritis, a tumor, a fracture, or an infection.
In my case if there was increased uptake it would indicated a stress reaction or stress fracture. The treatment would be the rest, and recovery. An MRI would show a fracture, but is a lot more expensive especially with two. While I have good medical coverage. I still have to pay a percentage out of pocket, so we decided to do the bone scan.
So I got a bone scan. It was quite a unique experience. I have ordered plenty of bone scans, looked at many myself, but it was different actually going through the experience. I arrived, and they injected the tracer into a vein in my arm. They then took pictures of my feet. I had to stay still on a table for about 20 minutes.
After they took pictures,I had to wait about two hours. The tracer had to circulate through my blood system. I was happy I had the study where I worked. I left and did some work, then I returned. They then scanned my whole body, and took more foot pictures It took another 45 minutes.
The results revealed that I had a stress fracture of my left foot.
It was bitter sweet. I knew why my foot was not getting any better, but this also meant that I had to rest. No running, I had to totally shut down. I actually shed a few tears, then I got myself together. Things happen for a reason, so my focus is now on recovery. I can still work out, but nothing that puts significant pressure on my foot. I have been doing stationary biking and working on losing more weight, so I will be faster when I return. I will be back and better than ever.
by Ouida Brown | Sep 2, 2015 | Blog
The tease of preseason is almost over. While I love the month of August for a number of reasons, one being it is my birth month. I particularly love that August is NFL preseason. I know that the real thing is on the way. There are only a few more days until the regular season.
While preseason is fun, it is play football. It ready does not count. It truly is football foreplay. What is sad is all of the preseason injuries that have sidelined notable players such at Jordy Nelson of the Green Bay Packers, Maurkice Pouncey of the PittsburghSteelers. Also Kevin White while not a preseason injury per se, his shin pain, and resulting stress fracture did occur during organized team activities organized team activities (OTA’s). It happened prior to training camp and the four preseason games.
While I am not a true Bear fan, I do cheer for them if they are not playing one of my other teams (my love of football is quite unique or complicated)
Eagles, Steelers, Saints, and then the Bears (my teams in that order)
Anyway I live in Bears country, and many of my good friends particularly my Sport Buddy (SB) are fans, so I follow them. It is quite unfortunate that Kevin White, the Bears’ 1st round draft pick can’t play. He was to help fill the void of Brandon Marshall, after he was traded to the New York Jets.
I knew something was wrong when “shin splints” keep him out so long. Spin splints are usually called by a condition call medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS). MTSS is an overuse injury or repetitive-stress injury of shin area which is usually a benign condition. It can be treated with rest and rehabilitation, the recovery is usually not prolonged.
The other conditions that can cause pain of the shins include exertional compartment syndrome. Exertional compartment syndrome is a condition that occurs from repetitive loading activities. It is exercise-induced pain that is relieved by rest. In some cases, weakness and parenthesia may accompany the pain. Onset of symptoms typically occurs at a specific exercise distance or time interval or intensity level. Symptoms resolve with rest and are minimal during normal daily activities but return with a resumption of activities.
Treatment usually consists a trail of conservative care with rehabilitation. However, symptoms generally recur when the patient returns to exercise. If conservative therapy is unsuccessful, surgery is indicated. A fasciotomy is a surgical procedure that cuts away the fascia to relieve tension or pressure. The fascia is thin connective tissue covering of the muscles It varies in thickness, density, elasticity, and composition, and is different from ligaments and tendons. The surgery releases the muscles, and therefore with activities there is not an increase in pressure, and no resulting pain.
Then there is the stress fracture, the dreaded black line. It is called that because on x-ray you can often see black lines on the tibia the leg bone. It is not always visible on x-ray, and an MRI is needed for the diagnosis
A tibial stress fracture is a crack or small break in the leg bone. Stress fractures are caused by the repetitive application of force, often by overuse — such as repeatedly jumping up and down or running long distances. Stress fractures can also arise from normal use of a bone that’s is weaken. A typical tibial stress fracture will initially be felt as “shin splints” pain along the inside of the tibia. The pain usually starts out over a large area along the shin bone, and is mainly noticed after a hard training session or running, or the morning after a long or difficult workout. Treatment consists of rest, immobilization or surgery. Due to the fact that Kevin White is a professional athlete surgery was recommended. Surgical treatment consists of placing a nail to stabilize the fracture or break.
Following surgery Kevin White will undergo rehab and may return to activity within six to twelve depending on Coach Fox, and the training staff. They may also decide to just wait to play him next year. Whatever they decide I wish him and the Bears well. During football season when the Bears are winning my life is better for a number of reasons. They also don’t play any of my other teams this year so that is a plus. So maybe Bear Down
.
by Ouida Brown | Aug 17, 2015 | Blog
Ironically the name of my Chicago Ragnar group. Presently I have had a condition called plantar fasciitis. I have had it for a little over year off and on. Let me start with a little background on what plantar fasciitis is. Plantar fasciitis is a painful condition affecting the bottom of the foot. It is a common cause of heel pain. Plantar fasciitis can come from a number of underlying causes. The plantar fascia is a structure that runs from the front of the heel bone (calcaneus) to the ball of the foot. This dense strip of tissue helps support the arch of the foot by acting something like the string on an archer’s bow.
When the foot is on the ground a tremendous amount of force (the full weight of the body) is concentrated on the plantar fascia. This force stretches the plantar fascia as the arch of the foot tries to flatten from the weight of your body. This is just like the string on a bow is stretched by the force of the bow trying to straighten. This leads to stress on the plantar fascia where it attaches to the heelbone. Small tears of the fascia can result. These tears are normally repaired by the body. The chronic inflammation of the fascia can cause pain.
My plantar fasciitis started when I was training for Chicago Marathon in 2014. It would bother me during my long miles, particularly when I ran more than 14miles. I was able to complete my Marathon in October 2014. I took November off. I started going to physical therapy, along with acupuncture. I got better. I was ready to start race training again in December 2014.
Tape done by my therapist to relieve pressure on my plantar fascia.
I then started training for a marathon for April 2015. My training was going well until March. I went on a ski vacation, and had a few colds and the flu. I was out of commission for about a month. I did not have the energy to properly train.
In an attempt to catch up so to speak, I think I may have over did it. My foot pain returned, and now it was both feet. I continued to run, but I decided to downgrade my marathon to a half marathon. I still did my Ragnar Relay in early April. I ran a total of about 15 miles over two day. The last race I was able to do was Susan G. Komen 10k. After I ran that race, booth my feet hurt even when I walked. I shut myself down. I went back to rehab. I wore my night splints. My feet got better, but I still could not run. I decided to see a foot and ankle orthopaedic surgeon. I got tired of treating myself with not much success. I still could not run.
After seeing Dr. H and getting cortisone injections in both feet, I improved. Mind you that was the one of the worse pains ever, getting injections in both feet. I have tried to gradually get back to routine running. I still have some pains that resume after I raced on my birthday. So I will rest, and rehab, and of course try again. The struggle continues. I will continue to fight to return to my love- running. I have races to run, truncations to plan, more medals to add to the rack, and best of all more running friends to meet.
