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Last night’s 5-mile therapy session.

Everyone keeps asking me what the doctor said about this stuff, running and exercise, and I kinda mumble a lot in the response and just say something like, “He said it was up to me, if I felt good I could head out!”

And that’s true! Kinda. What he really said is that I probably wanted to give myself a week for the bleeding and cramping to subside and then – if the bleeding had subsided – I could head on out.

But – what I told him was this: “I’ve run during my periods before and it really helps with the pain. It won’t hurt me to run if I’m still bleeding, will it?”

“No. But I wouldn’t recommend it.”

And I said, “Thanks” and did it anyway.

Because I know a LOT of times doctors give recommendations based on the “Majority Rules” type of guidelines. Whatever is good for MOST people is what they recommend because they don’t know their patients individually anymore. I love my doctor but he has no idea about my training habits or the shape I’m in. He doesn’t know how much my mental health relies on exercise. He doesn’t know that my sanity was already in a very precarious position after 4 weeks of anxiety with a high-risk pregnancy.

So I did what every good patient should do. I listened to him. I did some research. And in the end I made my OWN decision.

There are tons of good running forums I consult on a regular basis and I found dozens and dozens of stories just like mine. Runner who had a D&C. And every single one of them started back running (and felt better because of it) long before the bleeding stopped. The general rule was that they waited 3-4 days. So that’s what I did. And I don’t regret it.

Sometimes I’m glad I grew up never going to the doctor for anything. I didn’t take my first antibiotic until I was in my 20s. And then not again until 5 or more years later. At this point, I’ve probably still only been on antibiotics less than a dozen times.

It’s not that my Dad didn’t like or believe in doctors. He just grew up in a large family on a farm and they didn’t go to the doctor with every fever or after every puke-filled night.

Of course…that’s probably what kept him from getting his cancer diagnosis until it was much too late, which is why I’m not exactly like him. I mean, I don’t go to the doctor for every fever but if I’m feeling severe bone pain for weeks and months on end? You can bet I’ll stop by for a checkup.

Anyway…my point: I do everything my doctors say about 90% of the time. But this time? I knew I could branch into the zone of Things He Would Not Recommend. I knew it because I knew I needed it. And I knew that the pain and inconvenience I deal with even with my monthly cycle with Endometriosis and fibroids and cysts? Is not much different than what I’m dealing with now. And I’m so glad I’ve gone out because it has helped IMMENSELY. It has helped with the pain. (If I had the stamina to run all day, I would, it helps that much.) It has helped with my emotions. (I’m still a wreck. But I’m not feeling like I need to be medicated anymore! YAY!) It has helped with my grieving. (I really wish I had been a runner when Dad died. That’s for sure.) And if I had waited until tomorrow to get any of those bits of aid in my life? I would not be in a good place.

And I need as good of a place as possible right now.