Spring Break 2025 (Protest, Work, Walking, Doctors, Diagnosis)

I did not have the same Spring Break as my kids, so this week wasn’t very exciting. But I’m still going to tell you about it! Ha! (Seriously, it a long one. You might want to find a comfortable seated position.)

Saturday

I wasn’t planning on going to the dojo because I was still feeling a little sick from whatever I got on Thursday. This was good, because my two friends and I went to the Hands Off! Protest downtown. We met on BART and walked over to Civic Center with our signs. There was a lot of people there and the weather was beautiful. It felt nice to be doing something productive to express my rage. We didn’t march, and it felt a little disorganized, but I’m glad we attended.

Walking around, I was struck by how many different things people were mad about. Usually protests are for one thing, or a cluster of related concerns, but it felt like every where I looked I saw a sign expressing outrage over something different. I ended up writing a list for myself so I could share it here: Trump, Musk, Gaza, Ukraine, Federal workers, Social Security, LGBTQ rights (mostly specifically Trans rights), Immigration/ICE, DOGE, Fascism, National Parks, Autism Awareness, Unions, Science, NPR , Russia/Putin, Vaccines, Due process, Tariffs, Nazis, Women’s Rights. Seeing all the concerns written out like that really helped me legitimize the anxiety spiral I’ve been in lately. Everything is under attack, I’m not catastrophizing, it’s really this bad.

Bach at home, the 14yo already had a friend over and the 11yo was getting picked up by his grandparents. Another friend joined the girls and the two of them spent the night. The husband and I stayed downstairs and watched the new Nosferatu (very good – recommend).

Sunday

The husband took the 11yo to a Giants game and the girls stayed over pretty much all day. At 5pm I picked the baseball fans up, then drove the girls home. I spend the day getting some work done, picking up around the house and just chilling, as I still didn’t feel great. I honestly can’t remember anything else we did on Sunday…

Monday

One of the things that sucks about having a different break than my kids, is I still have to get up at 6:30am to get the 14yo up and eating breakfast. One of the good things about having a different break from my kids, is that after the early morning, I have several hours to myself. Sometimes I use those hours for rest and relaxation, but a lot of times I use them to get shit done.

Monday was a get shit done day! It was ERRANDS AND APPOINTMENT! I had to get my allergy shot at 12:15pm, so I planned to get stuff done before that. I took the 11yo to school (a special treat when I’m off and he’s not), then came home and did about an hour of work. At 10am I headed out with the intention of crossing many items of my to-do list. I got the $9 bakers dozen at Noah’s (a special on Mondays if you have the app), socks for the 11yo at Ross, and food for ALL the pets at PetCo (yes, that also means worms for the bearded dragon). I also returned several items of clothing that had been cluttering up the entryway and car for weeks. All in the same shopping center area! This all felt like a huge win.

I was able to get my shot a little early, then I hit up Grocery Outlet before I went home. I had to pick up the 14yo early from school on Monday for her physical (her high school athletic release was expiring, so if we didn’t get it done she’d have to stop swimming) then grab the 11yo (who needed his second HPV shot), then head over to a DIFFERENT Kaiser building for their appointments. I rescheduled the 14yos appointment to Monday forgetting I taught at the dojo that night, so I was super stressed about the timing, but somehow – even though I FORGOT TO BRING THE PAPERWORK for the athletic clearance- we got home with just enough time for me to be walking into the dojo when my class started (so late, but not where is she? late).

Then I taught Forms and Basics at the dojo, got home, and promptly passed out. (I actually slept HORRIBLY Monday night, but at least I feel asleep quickly). Monday was a packed day, but I appreciated getting all that stuff out of the way.

Tuesday

Tuesday I had an appointment with my GP (actually someone filling in for her), but the husband needed the car to drive to Sacramento, so after I dropped the 11yo off at school, I just started walking toward the doctor’s office (where I had been the day before with the kids!). It’s 3 miles between the 11yo’s school and the medical building, and I walked almost all of it (I jumped on a bus for 4 blocks in the middle because I was worried I’d be late otherwise). I took a bunch of pictures of the walk, thinking I could post in a Cool Bloggers Walking Club post, but we all know I won’t manage that, so I’m posting them here. (If I’m only going to post once a week, it better be a good post, amiright?)

I got there early, they called me in late, I talked to the doctor for a while (her name was Noemi!), and I had to get labs done, so I ended up being there for almost two hours! While I don’t love burning spring break time at a medical building, I definitely appreciate not spending two hours there after a long work day.

The doctor thought I was probably gluten-intolerant, which honestly bummed me out SO BAD. I cried SEVERAL times that day considering a life without most of my favorite foods (pizza, pasta, bread, baked goods, ramen, udon, even burritos come in a flour tortilla and hamburgers have a bun!). I was honestly kind of a mess the whole day. All I managed to do was work out and score reading responses. I got some of my labs back that night and the one thing I was deficient in was Magnesium! But I take a supplement for that! No wonder I have been crying so easily lately. I’m definitely upping my Magnesium intake.

Wednesday

I forgot to mention on Monday and Tuesday that my cold was still a thing, and my voice was shot. I was coughing a fair amount, but it was all coming from my throat, not my lungs. I could barely talk on Tuesday (I went to the doctor’s office with a mask on, which helped mask the fact that I teared up a couple times while talking about my symptoms).

Tuesday night I slept horribly AGAIN, so Wednesday morning I was feeling pretty bad. I was exhausted, my voice was still shot, and my hips were crazy sore from teaching basics (you do the kicks in slow motion and hold the extensions; it always makes me sore, but I hadn’t been in a while so this was next level). I was supposed to meet my parents for lunch and a walk (the weather was supposed to be beautiful), but I texted to cancel. Then an hour later, after I’d coughed up the nights grossness and my hips warmed up, I text to say let’s do it. So we did!

I hit up Costco that morning because I thought Wednesday morning it would be empty, but it was the start of the “coupon book” which means new things were discounted and it was PACKED. I was so bummed out. I love going to Costco in the middle of the workday when it’s empty, but instead it felt like Sunday before SuperBowl. No thank you!

Even with my crazy Costco run, I got work done before my parents came, then we hit up Mission Chinese (my favorite, but it’s so expensive so I love when they treat me there!), then we walked at my favorite running park, which I haven’t been to in ages because I feel bad when I run now.

The walk was beautiful and it was so nice to talk to my parents, whom I haven’t really spend quality time with in ages. My hips felt fine after I started walking and I’m so glad I didn’t actually cancel on them.

I made it to the dojo Wednesday night, and my hips felt okay! I was so tired by the end of high belt though. Just exhausted. I slept REALLY well Wednesday night – six hours straight through. I didn’t even wake up to pee! I cannot remember the last time I slept six straight hours.

Thursday

Okay, so one thing I didn’t mention above, is that before my parents took me out to lunch, while I was working, my doctor called me back to tell me some lab results explained what was going on. Evidently I have hyperthyroidism. That is what has been causing all my symptoms – especially feeling shitty on runs and sleeping like shit! I have to say I was so shocked to be given a definite answer, and so thankful that I probably wasn’t gluten intolerant, that I was mostly relieved. We made an appointment with an endocrinologist for Thursday, I read some stuff about it online, and I assumed I’d be taking some medicine for a little while to get my thyroid back on track, and all would be well.

Before my appointment on Thursday, I had to take the car in to be serviced. I knew I needed new tires, so on Monday I went to Costco and asked what it would cost to put four new tires on my car. They quoted me $1K (and explained how to do it with them). I’m so glad I did that because the Chevy place quoted me DOUBLE THAT! The guy was like, I don’t know what tires they are selling you there and I was like MICHELIN and that shut him up.

I had to walk to the BART station after that, and it ended up being a longer walk than expected and I was TIRED, but I did take some pictures.

At home I did MORE WORK! I have been re-watching the first two seasons of Legion on Hulu to finally watch the third season and on Thursday I saw an “Exp. 13 Days” tag on the show, which means I only have that much time to finish it before it leaves the service. Aak!

The car was ready before they told me it would be and it was stressful to get back there, pick it up, and return home before my video visit, but I manage to log in on time.

I will say, I really like my Endocrinologist. She was the right balance of serious and silly (this seems like a weird word, but she had a way about her that seemed almost silly but put me at ease). She had me touch my neck to see if it was sore, but it wasn’t (and it’s not enlarged) so she doubts I have a growth causing the hyperthyroidism. There is short-term hyperthyroidism, but that usually lasts no more than eight weeks, and since I’ve been having symptoms since December, she doubts it’s that. That mean I probably have Grave’s Disease, which is an autoimmune disease where your body attacks the thyroid keeping it perpetually in the “on” position. If I have Grave’s Disease, I will have it forever. And I will have to take medicine to slow down my thyroid for the rest of my life.

She added a test to my blood work to confirm her diagnosis, but she says it’s highly likely that is what I have. The test won’t be back for 5-6 days, but she wrote me the prescription anyway so I could start taking it. I guess I’ll take it for a month and then get blood work again to see that it’s working and how well, and then she’ll decide if the dose needs to be changed. And then we’ll keep going like that, and I’ll be getting blood work done pretty regularly to monitor it.

She also prescribed beta blockers because my heart rate has evidently been high – it was 100bpm on Tuesday, even after I spent 15+ minutes in the waiting room. She was surprised I wasn’t noticing my heart racing, but I honestly haven’t. I don’t notice it now, even though I’ve checked a couple times and it’s hovering around 100bpm.

I will say that I’m pretty bummed out to have a disease that I’m going to have to deal with for the rest of my life. I’m definitely processing it. (I am VERY relieved it’s probably not gluten-intolerance though! Ha!) And I’m trying to focus on the fact that in a couple weeks I’ll be feeling better and the symptoms I’ve been experiencing should go away. I’m excited to gain some weight back (I hadn’t mentioned this because it’s weird to complain about unwanted weight loss but I’m 5’8″ and 126 pounds right now. It’s not a good look, and honestly some days my face looks skeletal. I’ve been trying to eat more but it wasn’t helping. Now I know why!), regain muscle mass, exercise (especially run) without feeling fatigued, sleep better, have fewer GI issues, even the hot flashes were probably related (I was realizing even before my appointment that they mostly happen when I do a quick bout of physical work, and especially when I’m bending down to do it). I’m just trying to focus on the short term improvements and not dwell on the long term maintenance that will be required.

Friday + the Weekend

Thursday night I finished my last set of reading responses and free reading bingo boards (I scored FOUR sets of reading responses and processed FOUR sets of bingo boards! Woot!) which felt really good this morning. I wrote (the bulk) of this post on the elliptical and now I’m going to do some strength training. My husband and I will walk somewhere for lunch, and then I’m getting a 90 minute Thai massage. This evening I’m meeting friends for a bit at a new wine bar. Today is going to be a good day. 😉

Tomorrow I’m at the dojo most of the day. Sunday I’ll be taking the 11yo to swimming and then we might do something as a family (Maybe the Cherry Blossom Festival?) , or we might stay home.

I will say I’m relieved I got all that work done, but bummed out that I didn’t do much around the house. I found a new audiobook I’m enjoying, which is helping me do my regular chores, but I just haven’t have the energy or will power to do much else. I found out the yearbook at school is not due until May 14th, not the 1st like I thought so that is a huge relief. I have a Book Club next Saturday and something fun with a friend the following Saturday. There is stuff to look anticipate. It was definitely a rollercoaster of a spring break, but I love that I did so much walking, got so much work done, ran all those errands, and went to all those appointments. Honestly, I’ll take it.

Let’s end with some cat photos, because I’ve been spending a lot of time with these two lately, and they always make me smile.

I know it’s nuts to put all this into one post and I’m sorry to do it. Thanks for making it to the end.