So in 2009 my family chose to adopt a dog from a friend who could no longer care for it. BEST DOG EVER. This dog, who was rather dubiously named Rufus (and we never changed his name) had been a "beach dog" in the late 90s and had been taken in by my friend who didn't want to see him die. Many dogs in the UAE are killed rather cruelly by people who do not understand animals or who are trying to rid the world of wild dogs. This would be a different matter if it were humanely done, but that is not the situation here. I am talking about cruel and vicious treatment of a defenseless animal, from small pups to older dogs. They are strung up and pelted with rocks, or dragged by vehicles, etc. This is well within the definitions of cruelty to animals.
SO my friend adopted the dog. And he lived for 11 years with her, but then she adopted another dog who was in fact a vicious beast and could not be trusted around another dog. She had been trained as an attack dog. So, my friend asked me to take Rufus.
Rufus was the best dog ever. He was quiet, only barking when the workmen came by the house or when strangers were at the door. Never noisy, he would stand at the door when he wanted to go out and wait for us to let him out and then back in. Well mannered, the kids could sit next to (or even on) him without him even raising his head. He was "part of the pack" and we adored him. Regrettably, Rufus had one bad habit that no one could break him of. He had been a "beach dog" which means he had run free and wild for the first year of his life. Every once in a while he would run out of our gate and take off for a run. He always came back, but we live near a busy major road and of course the inevitable eventually happened. Rufus had run out the gate and was hit by a car and killed instantly. My husband buried him in the sands behind our home and we were dog less.
It was a great loss to the family.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Bad Exercise JuJu
April 22 2010
So, yesterday after work I had arranged to go to a power yoga class with a friend for the first time. I have been working out regularly with this friend doing Dance Dance Revolution. Raising my heart rate, sweating like a pig, you know... exercise. It has been really fun and we have been building up stamina well.
Well boy was it a major mistake.
I got into the room a little late, set up my mat and we got right into it. The warm up poses were actually fun. It is power yoga, so the intensive stuff, not the slow breathing relax hold pose, but the almost aerobic yoga. I was doing really well warming my body up and feeling pretty good about it all.
Then we started working harder. Ok, it is difficult but I already know I won't be able to do everything. An hour into the 90 minute class I am sweating and panting, but no big deal. I am remembering to breathe and not close my eyes. Then she has us get into the corpse position (prone on the floor, hands up head facing up) and all of a sudden my heart rate shoots right up. I got massively dizzy first. So I sat up slowly and focused on breathing. Then I realized that the dizziness was not going away and my heart rate was pounding much to hard. I went for a slow walk around the room, drinking water and paying attention to my body. That is when the nausea hit. The dizziness got worse and I felt like I was having a vertigo attack. So I stood against the wall and just tried to breathe in and out slowly.
Then came the shortness of breath. I have never had asthma, but I think I know what it is like now.
I just kept breathing and trying to relax.
The rest of the class was continuing on. I ended up leaving for home. It was about 45 minutes later that I got home. As soon as I walked in the door, Will was asking me what was wrong. He could tell immediately that something was wrong with me.
I still had all of the symptoms. I figured I was over heated so I went in and took a cool shower.
The symptoms eased but didn't go away. I went in to Will and told him all of the symptoms that I had. He immediately handed me two aspirin and a large glass of water.
Thirty minutes later the symptoms finally stopped. So for two hours following my work out I felt like I was having a heart attack.
Today I have been so fatigued and drained that I can barely function. One of my supervisors was chatting with me and I told her what had happened. She had recently had an examination for her heart. She has genetic high cholesterol. She said "you have just described EVERY symptom my doctor told me to watch for. Please go to the doctor this weekend!" So, I have an appointment with the doctor for Saturday.
I have been exercising for years, sometimes pushing myself much too far, but this is the first time I have ever had symptoms like that.
I am wondering if it was the combination of the positions I was in and the intensive exercise. Or perhaps the weight loss I have had this past year has been too much? I have lost 30 lbs since last July. I really don't know what it is, but I will keep you updated. Hopefully it was just a case of too much too soon.
Take care of yourselves.
Well boy was it a major mistake.
I got into the room a little late, set up my mat and we got right into it. The warm up poses were actually fun. It is power yoga, so the intensive stuff, not the slow breathing relax hold pose, but the almost aerobic yoga. I was doing really well warming my body up and feeling pretty good about it all.
Then we started working harder. Ok, it is difficult but I already know I won't be able to do everything. An hour into the 90 minute class I am sweating and panting, but no big deal. I am remembering to breathe and not close my eyes. Then she has us get into the corpse position (prone on the floor, hands up head facing up) and all of a sudden my heart rate shoots right up. I got massively dizzy first. So I sat up slowly and focused on breathing. Then I realized that the dizziness was not going away and my heart rate was pounding much to hard. I went for a slow walk around the room, drinking water and paying attention to my body. That is when the nausea hit. The dizziness got worse and I felt like I was having a vertigo attack. So I stood against the wall and just tried to breathe in and out slowly.
Then came the shortness of breath. I have never had asthma, but I think I know what it is like now.
I just kept breathing and trying to relax.
The rest of the class was continuing on. I ended up leaving for home. It was about 45 minutes later that I got home. As soon as I walked in the door, Will was asking me what was wrong. He could tell immediately that something was wrong with me.
I still had all of the symptoms. I figured I was over heated so I went in and took a cool shower.
The symptoms eased but didn't go away. I went in to Will and told him all of the symptoms that I had. He immediately handed me two aspirin and a large glass of water.
Thirty minutes later the symptoms finally stopped. So for two hours following my work out I felt like I was having a heart attack.
Today I have been so fatigued and drained that I can barely function. One of my supervisors was chatting with me and I told her what had happened. She had recently had an examination for her heart. She has genetic high cholesterol. She said "you have just described EVERY symptom my doctor told me to watch for. Please go to the doctor this weekend!" So, I have an appointment with the doctor for Saturday.
I have been exercising for years, sometimes pushing myself much too far, but this is the first time I have ever had symptoms like that.
I am wondering if it was the combination of the positions I was in and the intensive exercise. Or perhaps the weight loss I have had this past year has been too much? I have lost 30 lbs since last July. I really don't know what it is, but I will keep you updated. Hopefully it was just a case of too much too soon.
Take care of yourselves.
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