Allison's Big Toe

Week 4: Great News!

I was able to donate blood today! This marks a major step forward in my health. I have tried to donate blood at least 3 times before, and have been turned away each time because I failed the hemoglobin/anemia fingerprick test that they give at the beginning. They send me away with a brochure on how to get more iron into my system, and I feel like a total loser reject. I do everything I can, from eating tons of spinach to taking prenatal vitamins. Nothing worked.

Then, I found the GAPS diet and realized that because my other symptoms indicated gut dysbyosis (allergies, candida overgrowth, etc.), the extra iron I was taking in wasn’t getting properly absorbed! My whole digestive system was off, and I needed to heal my intestines. Now seven months into the diet, I decided to try donating again today at our high school’s blood drive. The lowest hemoglobin count allowed is 12.5, and I scored a 12.6! Squeaked by, which tells me I still have a lot of work to do to get my iron count up, but it was good enough, and I felt “strong as an ox” throughout the whole donation process. No dizziness or extreme lethargy. Thank you GAPS diet and Nourashing Traditions! It is so satisfying to get such a concrete indication that my health is improving. I am proud that I can join the ranks of healthy and strong individuals who can afford to lose a pint of blood and save someone else’s life.

That said, here’s a brief update on my half marathon training: lately I manage 5-6 miles two times during the week after school, but my weekends have been very busy or I’ve been out of town, so I missed my 9 mile and 10 mile long slow distance runs that were scheduled. Instead of 9 I did 6 two weeks ago, and instead of 10 I did do a 6.5 mile hike on our camping trip last weekend in my KSO Treks (which worked well with the injinji socks; I decided not to return them). This weekend is another 10 miles scheduled for Memorial Day, which I’ll attempt. I’ve never jumped from 8-10 before, but I’ve been feeling pretty strong on my runs lately, so if I keep it slow it should work fine.

The end of the school year is approaching fast, and so is my trip to 9-week trip to Hungary this summer. My senior students are restless and so am I :) Lots of work to be done before graduation, so I’ll blog as often as I can manage. Once in Hungary I plan to do much more writing!