Why Do I Get Sick?

I pride myself in not getting sick very often. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I had a cold, cough or fever(has been a few years for sure). I sometimes feel like I am on the verge of getting sick with symptoms of aches and tired, however I always seem to be able to fight it off. I attribute this to me paying attention to health and in particular my mainly plant based diet. However for those that know me, when I do get sick, I seem to get really really sick. It seems when I do get sick, I end up with some odd condition or end of up in the hospital.

 I recently picked up a very bad infection in my Elbow (Cellulitis) which resulted in me being on IV Antibiotics and this has been a tough break with me going to compete in the Worlds in a weeks time.

 Our family was out west at my Nephews wedding in Rossland, BC a few weeks ago. Since it was such an amazing location,  I took advantage of the opportunity to treat it as a great training weekend since we were staying at the base of the mountain. On day 1, my brother and sister in law(John and Marion) took us for a great 3 hour hike up Red Mountain. This was of course followed by the rehearsal dinner that night for Ryan and Morgan which was a great fun night.

The next day I had what I would call a perfect day which I called “The Wed-a-thon”. It started early in the morning with Lauren and I doing a hill run up trails on Red Mountain which was spectacular in the mountains. Then Matt and I hit an outdoor pool and had a great intense swim and which included intervals(Base plus 10X100). In the afternoon, Matt and I biked up trails on Red Mountain to end our great day of training. We quickly arrived back at the chalet, showered, and then went back to Red Mountain for the Wedding and fun night of celebration. A very busy day but it was fantastic. I should also say that prior to this trip out west I was training hard as wanted to ensure I peaked for the Worlds.

At the wedding, my left elbow started really hurting and in fact my arm was getting sore. I wasn’t sure what it was as I never banged it or didn’t recall anything happening to it that would have irritated it. There was a Dr. at the wedding and she took a look at it. It was sore and red and she outlined if it wasn’t better in the morning that I should visit her at Emergency. I woke up the next day and it wasn’t better and looked like it was growing down my arm so Barb convinced me to go to the hospital. The result was that she prescribed antibiotics as it looked infected and was spreading. She indicated that if it didn’t get better that I should visit a Dr. or hospital back at home as we were leaving the next morning. They had no idea what caused it and said it could have been a bug bite, hit it while cycling, scratched it on some kind of weed but they really had no idea and it didn’t seem to matter as they said they see this type of thing all the time.

When I arrived home the next day it looked again like it was getting worse as my entire arm was getting red and sore.  Therefore after consulting with a Dr. friend, I visited the Emergency Department. They confirmed it was infected and were worried as it was spreading even more and not getting better so they put me on IV antibiotics as well as oral antibiotics for a week. This was difficult for a few reasons. My training had been going really well and this was the first year in the past few that I have not had an injury(previous years were Achilles and Hamstring). Secondly, since I was on antibiotics I felt very tired so I didn’t feel like doing any training. Also, since I had a needle inserted in my arm all week for the IV, it would have been difficult to do any training at all. I was supposed to do a race that weekend up North and had to pull out as there was no way I could race with a needle in my arm.

I ended up taking 10 days off of training as a result and this was very difficult as with just a few weeks away from the Worlds, this should have been my peak training time in order to increase my speed.

Following my week if IV antibiotics, although the cellulitis disappeared, my elbow still looked red and infected. Since they were worried about infection or it getting worse, I have now been on oral Antibiotics for 3 weeks. It is getting better however I am still fighting the infection. The problem with this from a training standpoint is I should be training daily this week and have only had the energy to have one workout. So at a time when I should be at peak performance I am barely doing any training. I visited a specialist yesterday and he suggested I stay on antibiotics while I go overseas for the Worlds and hopefully it totally goes away or does not get worse. I personally hate this as I don’t like taking any antibiotics and try to avoid them at all costs.

So I have to ask myself why I get sick?  My intuition is that I push myself too hard and need to learn when to back off on my training, my busy lifestyle, my work, stress, sleep etc. Often I am going in many different directions and I think every once in a while my body says “I surrender” and as a result I get really sick. My feeling is that after all I do to look after my health through diet and exercise, I should not get sick at all. My body and immune system should be in a position to fight off an infection, however clearly my immune system was compromised and could not. Through consulting with my health professionals, they are in agreement that I need to pay attention to what I do to push my body and know when to back off.

My take away is that I need to learn when to back off of my busy life and examine all I do to compromise my immune system. This would include getting better(longer) sleeps, taking rest days, backing off on training, watching my alcohol consumption and overall paying attention to how my body is feeling. In the past when I have had a late night or felt tired, my “remedy” would be to get up early and go for a hard workout as it would make me feel great going to work. I need to look at this strategy as it is likely taxing my already compromised system.

With me going to the World Triathlon Championships next week in Rotterdam, I am wondering how I will perform with my set back the last 3 weeks.  I will for sure get my head in the right place prior to the race and hope that all the previous training that I have put in will pay off. I will refer to my own blog “Mind Over Body” prior to the race to help put me in the right space(If you missed it you can access it here –http://kevinbradyhealth.ca/mind-over-body/ ) I will most definately put in 110% effort and will see where the chips fall and as I say to my children,” all you can do Is your best.”

Thanks to so many of you that have sent your well wishes during this stretch. And a special thanks to Dr Tara, Dr Korkis, Dr Jamal and Marina who have been great medical and naturopathic support during this time.

Wishing you a Happy and Healthy Day, Kev