Things haven't gotten any easier...

Yesterday I was grounded.. by my doctor. No working out for 7-10 days.. ouch. that puts a hitch in my git-along. (however I am allowed to do my bike race on Saturday).... I was told it's ok to walk, unless my legs or body start to hurt.

the reason I'm grounded? I went to the doc last Thursday with some shooting pains in my lower legs and general soreness.. he did an exam, found nothing but called in a round of blood tests. I got the results back on Saturday night. Things look ok.. I do have really really high Ferritin (regular is 13-150.. mine is 262) and Creatine Kinase or CK (regular is 20-200, mine is 521).

Seeing as I got these results on Saturday night, I wouldn't hear back from the Doctor til Monday at the earliest... I went to my best devises.. google..

What is Ferritin?
Wikipedia says: Ferritin is a ubiquitous intracellular protein that stores iron and releases it in a controlled fashion. The amount of ferritin stored reflects the amount of iron stored. The protein is produced by almost all living organisms, including algae, bacteria, higher plants, and animals. In humans, it acts as a buffer against iron deficiency and iron overload.

When its Elevated....
If ferritin is high, there is iron in excess or else there is an acute inflammatory reaction in which ferritin is mobilized without iron excess. For example, ferritins may be high in infection without signalling body iron overload.
Ferritin is also used as a marker for iron overload disorders, such as hemochromatosis or hemosiderosis. Adult-onset Still's disease, porphyria, and Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis are diseases in which the ferritin level may be abnormally raised.
As ferritin is also an acute-phase reactant, it is often elevated in the course of disease. A normal C-reactive protein can be used to exclude elevated ferritin caused by acute phase reactions.
According to a study of anorexia nervosa patients, ferritin can be elevated during periods of acute malnourishment, perhaps due to iron going into storage as intravascular volume and thus the number of red blood cells falls.

What is Creatine Kinase or CK?
Wikipedia says: Creatine kinase (CK), also known as creatine phosphokinase (CPK) or phospho-creatine kinase (and sometimes incorrectly as creatinine kinase), is an enzyme (EC 2.7.3.2) expressed by various tissues and cell types. CK catalyses the conversion of creatine and consumes adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to create phosphocreatine (PCr) and adenosine diphosphate (ADP). This CK enzyme reaction is reversible, such that also ATP can be generated from PCr and ADP.^[

When its Elevated....
Injuries to the skeletal muscles often trigger high levels of CK-MM. These muscles are the type that most commonly comes to mind when we hear the word muscle. These are the "voluntary" muscles that you are able to control -- for example, the biceps and triceps. Damage to these muscles can occur for various reasons, including muscular dystrophy, direct trauma, strenuous exercise, immobility, certain drugs, muscle injections, nerve conduction studies, muscle infection, seizures or surgery. Strenuous exercise frequently triggers a rise in CK that peaks 16 to 24 hours following a workout, then stays elevated for 72 hours before falling back to baseline. Those with muscle diseases typically experience chronically elevated CK-MM. In fact, those with Duchenne's muscular dystrophy may have levels that are 50 times greater than normal.

I'm sure you can see that I was FREAKING OUT on Saturday night! What in the heck is wrong with me! I emailed the Doc on Monday saying I was freaking out and I needed some help/guidance.. He said not to worry.. (HAHAH! ya, right!). He called me on Tuesday afternoon (I guess I wasn't dying - took him a couple days to reply).. and this is when I was grounded.. After the 7-10 days of rest, we will do more blood tests.. if they're not normal, he'll start other testing. I'm not really good at this waiting game.

On Sunday at church we had a sermon called " Before I die" (I'm not saying I'm going to die! hear me out!) It was about learning to Trust God. I think it was speaking to me, right now. I'm at a place of un-rest right now over this. I'm not sure what's going on inside me but I need to TRUST God. Trust that he has this under control (he does!)

So that's what's going on.. even though I'm not doing boot camp, things haven't gotten any easier.. this time it's emotional and spiritual.. not physical.