Yesterday was a super MAGNETICALLY charged day – that literally began with a magnet, a mixed bag of good & bad news, and ended on a high note with the good news winning by a long mile.

7:45am – I get pushed into the belly of a giant buzzing magnet and nervously await for the magnetic field around me to create a 3D-image of my left knee.  The outcome will determine if I can proceed with my training and attempt the Ironman in September

10:00am – I get a call from our good friend Dr. Flora. “So, how does it look doc?” I ask.  Silence.  “Shit”, I think to myself, Flora’s not exactly known for pauses. “Yeah, that Ironman thing is not looking good for ya” I hear on the other end of the line.  Stomach drops to the floor…thump!

– “Huh?”

– “Nah, I’m just messing with you, you’re fine”.  

– “Huh?? Wait what??“

– “Look, your knee is definitely not happy, your medial meniscus has a slight tear which is not good, but its still super slight and should be okay but you need to be careful and”  -breath-  “Anyways, do you know what a meniscus is, and what it does?”

– “Huh?”

– Well, your meniscus is attached to the blah blah blah and to the blah blah blah which basically does blah blah blah and together with the blah blah blah makes your knee joint work” (sorry Doc, I don’t speak Doc)

– “Soooo….what does that mean?”  

– “Well hun, that means you gotta start acting your age”  (bad news)

– “Soooo….can I do the Ironman”

– “Yeah, you should be fine” (great news)

– “WooHoo….Thanks Doc!”

Few more back and forth’s just to be sure I heard everything right and I’m off to the doctor’s appointment with Sabina.

10:45am –  Doctors appointment #2:  Sabina drinks plenty of water – Lays down in a dark room with ultrasound equipment – Jelly – Ignition – Start – Go!

– Heartbeat (check),

– Head (check),

– Two eyes, one nose, one mouth, two ears (check),

– Two little arms, two little hands (check),

– Two little legs, two little feet (check),

– Between two little legs (Penis),

WAIT! Go back! Are you sure?!?!

– Penis (Check)….Its a BOY!!!!!

Phew, all that before lunch! Sabina and I were both exhausted and exhilarated at the same time, and Ellie was so excited that she kept asking for her little brother, after the ultrasound monitor was turned off, not understanding where he went.

As we sat in that room, we both remarked on how amazing it was, that despite not having had a strong preference for a boy or a girl, knowing that we’ll have a boy immediately added a new dimension and range of emotions to our family. And luckily for Ellie, she’ll be freed from having to like scotch, fishing, cars, and memorizing useless movie quotes.

So here we are folks. Yesterday was an amazing day filled with life changing news and a little doze of reality – I promise to start paying extra attention to my body, though I may need a second opinion on the “needing to act my age” diagnosis. Sorry doc, that’s a tough pill to swallow. But in all seriousness, I owe a hugely sincere thanks to our amazing friend Dr. Flora Stepansky for getting me examined on such short notice, arranging the entire procedure with her best folks, for being super attentive, careful, and supportive! Thanks love!

And now that I have an almost clean bill of health, with 14 weeks to go before the race, I’m ramping up my training to make-up for lost time and my limping knee.  I thank you again for your continued support, help, and encouragement.  And before I go, please help ramp-up our fundraising efforts for the Children of Peru Foundation that helped me secure a spot on the Ironman roster!  Please click HERE to learn more about them and donate if you can!

Many thanks and never act your chronological age!

Roman

 

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