It’s time for my weekly column. I skipped it last week, but it was pretty clear that the week went to shit, just like all my plans and a whole lot of other stuff. But let’s take it one step at a time

Let’s start with the hospitalization, since it didn’t take very long at all to go from having a nice time with friends to ending up in the emergency room and then undergoing surgery

The inflammation that had been bothering me (which, as it turned out, was congenital) finally decided to flare up in a big way during my last few days of HIIT and really give me a hard time. My temperature shot up from normal to 39°C in just a couple of hours, which only reinforced the feeling that something was clearly wrong. Well, in France, the process is pretty straightforward: they hospitalize you, they operate on you, and once they’re sure you’re okay - as far as you can be after anesthesia - they send you home

So, less than 24 hours had passed between the moment I thought, “Oh, I need surgery,” and the moment I thought, “Oh, I need a home health aide.” 

It was an amazing, and somewhat funny, reaction to the effects of waking up from anesthesia. I’ve heard lots of different funny and not-so-funny stories, but mine went like this. First of all, I woke up feeling pretty coherent. The next thing I knew, for some reason, I started fiddling with the monitor next to me - you know, the one that tracks your pulse, breathing, and all that. Then I decided to read the chart they’d left nearby (which, by the way, was very interesting, but I couldn’t make heads or tails of it)

Then I started pestering the nurse to get some water. Since you’re not allowed to drink before surgery, it’s hot in the ward, it’s hot outside, and now this. So in the end, I had to wait another 30 minutes to get some water

And in the end, as soon as everyone was convinced that I was sane and nothing else had broken (or been broken), they let me go home

Speaking of plans - all my plans have gone out the window. First and foremost, there’s a long (very long) recovery period ahead. At least a month of complete abstinence from sports, weightlifting, and everything else. Here’s an interesting thing - since I was hospitalized, I haven’t touched a cigarette; it’s been almost a week now. I’ve switched to an e-cig with the lowest nicotine content, which I’ll be cutting back on. Maybe I’ll finally be able to quit - who knows?

Needless to say, my race plans went out the window too. I might be back in shape by October, but my physical condition probably won’t be, so the ultra is off the table for next year

Well, I'll be staying in France until around June 15, which is kind of nice, too

About HIIT and the Ministry of Health - it was really cool, with tons of helpful lectures and valuable connections along the way. I just have one question that’s still unanswered: how can you bring a product to market while complying with all the regulations without starving to death in the process? Seriously. It seems to me that a startup entering that space needs a runway of about four years of comfortable living. And I guess you could say that the week of intensive lectures was reinforced by hands-on practice - you heard how it all works from the inside, and now you’ll see it in action

So, to sum up the news from the past few weeks: right now, all my energy is focused on work, recovery, and - to be honest - figuring out what else to do. Because on the one hand, no one’s stopping me from going for a walk, but on the other hand, even the camera is way too heavy to carry around for long periods of time. Simply put - be careful what you wish for, because here’s the thing: I wrote that I wanted some rest and peace, and I got both rest and peace. The only thing is, the price of this whole situation ...