From Anxiety to Fun
This week I was filled with anxiety. About two weeks before I competed in the Arnold Amateur my mother had to go back to the hospital to have 1.5 liters of fluid drained from her right lung and get another CT scan. On Wednesday we got the results. Having lots of nervous energy yet another competition in three weeks (to keep my emotional eating in check) this meant that prior to the doctor appointment instead of compulsively eating cookies, I cleaned out both kids closets plus my husband’s dressers and ate about four Quest bars.
The doctor said that the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes but that it was very slow moving and the tumors were less than a centimeter. This was good news because lung cancer is typically aggressive and my mom had stopped chemo back in December. The doctor said my mom should just relax and come back for another CT scan mid June. It was a relief to not have to be faced with the “Should we do another round of chemo or not?” dilemma at this point. Although I know that dark times are coming, right now we have a get-out-of-chemo-free card for the next three months, so I decided that it’s important to have some fun.
We went shopping for my daughter Rylee’s First Communion dress to make a good memory and when it’s sunny my mother and I take walks.
The kids are currently on spring break and I’ve been focusing a lot of my time on them. We did play dates at the park, a trip to the Sherwood Forest Faire, saw Cinderella and even fit in a workout with my trainer to help them prepare for the Spartan Kids Race. (Their obstacle course workout, by the way, was hysterical. I’ll do a separate post about it in the next few days.)
As for me, nothing says fun distraction like pole dancing. I met with one of my dance instructors, Dez Raven, yesterday at ATX Pole. Knowing that I’m a Type-A personality, I decided to apply to the Miss Texas Polestar competition so I have a big goal to work towards and something wildly fun to look forward to. I’m a bit rusty (it’s been 10 months since my last pole class,) but the audition videos aren’t due until June. I’m submitting for two divisions – Amateur and Masters (that’s fancy for old chicks). And since I’ve been having so much fun with my little YouTube videos with the Arnold Amateur, Ima make some pole dancing videos too. Oh snap!
The dark cloud of anxiety is never far away, but for now the sun is still shining and I mean to dance in it. #CarpeDiem
How about you? What are you doing for fun?
Lisa 
Lisa Traugott is a Mom’s Choice Award winning writer, fitness blogger, wife and mom of two. If you’d like to know what it’s like to train for your first bodybuilding competition while also potty training a rambunctious toddler, check out her book, “She’s Losing It!” available at Amazon.com.
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