from Survive to Thrive: Week 6

Welcome to from Survive to Thrive: Week 6!

My biopsy results came in, I'm (mostly) done working for 2019, and I spent some time celebrating. It was a good week.

Let's review Week 6...

Biopsy Results 

Thank you for all of the good thoughts and kind words as I waited for the results of my biopsies. The results are in:

• Forearm: benign lichenoid keratosis (lichen planus-like keratosis)
• Eyebrow: basal cell carcinoma, nodular type; involving biopsy margins

I have Mohs surgery scheduled on January 2 to remove the basal cell carcinoma. With Mohs surgery, successive thin layers of skin are removed and examined under a microscope until only cancer-free tissue remains. 

I am so grateful to Jen and Shannon for encouraging me to go see the dermatologist sooner rather than later (my next exam would have been in July). I encourage anyone reading this who hasn't had a skin exam in the past year, or who has an even slightly suspicious spot to go see the dermatologist now. Don't put it off. 

Want to learn more? Check out my friend Debbie's blog. She writes about skin cancer each May: see her old posts here and her most comprehensive post here.

Work

If you are a regular reader, you know that my work has been stressful this year and that I've been putting in long hours consistently each week with no end in sight. Good news - there is light at the end of the tunnel!

I had a great review with my boss this week. He acknowledged my effort and accomplishments this year and told me how much he appreciated everything. He also acknowledged that there is too much on my plate and committed to helping me reduce my workload. We talked about several things that I could stop doing next year.

Other than a few loose ends I need to tie up this week, I'm now on vacation and not returning to work until January 6!

Celebration

This morning I went to a holiday brunch with some of my favorite women from the Reston Runners Best Foot Forward (BFF) group. We affectionately call ourselves "Molly's Mod Squad." We started off the morning with a short walk or run, followed by brunch and a white elephant gift exchange. It was uplifting and fun!

Speaking of celebrations, I want to give a big shout-out to my friend Susan, who conquered a difficult 50k yesterday in horrible conditions. She rocked it!

Fitness

While I was really excited about my performance in last week's race, by the end of the day my achilles was aching and it hurt to put weight on it. I think I just overdid it and skimped on stretching and foam rolling. I stayed off of it most of the week, and it felt mostly better during this morning's walk.

This week Yoga with Adriene is doing a special chakra series (see calendar below). Since I'm off all week, I am going to check it out.

 

Looking Ahead

I'm so excited to be on vacation for the next few weeks. I'm planning on recharging and prioritizing me. My goals for the week are:

1. Track everything I eat in MyFitnessPal 
2. Do my morning routine every day
3. Run/walk at least twice, do yoga every day
4. Spend at least 15 minutes decluttering every day

See you next week! 

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Accountability: Health Stats

average steps: 7,248

average sleep: 8h 30m

average stress: 20

run/walk: 3.2 miles

yoga: 0 sessions

weight: 115.6

body fat: 28.9%

Accountability: Goal Check

Goal: Track everything I eat in MyFitnessPal 

Status: Big fail. I only did this two days this week. I indulged so much with all of the holiday celebrations and didn't want to admit how excessive it was by writing it down. I may not have written it down, but the scale certainly tracked my indulgences for me!

Goal: Do my morning routine every day

Status: Achieved! I'm still struggling with not hitting the snooze button, but I've been getting up earlier doing my routine every day.

Goal: Run/walk at least once, do yoga at least once

Status: I ran once, and then backed off all activity when my achilles starting hurting.