I rode my bike to get breakfast burritos this morning.Originally Posted by Cam
Pfft. Cycling is where it's at.
JSGeneral, keep on keepin' on, man! 102 days is a great achievement.
127 Days.
That's where my 11 mile a day running streak ended. That was almost 1400 miles. And I'm more than grateful for that stretch of runs. I learned a lot about myself, and just as I felt I was entering a new facet of my physical aptitude for how to achieve something challenging for my age in the mid-forties.... I ended up learning a WHOLE lot more about myself than I reckoned for.
Kidney stones. That's how I would describe the pain that started to wake me up in the middle of the night last month. An almost rhythmic wave of short stabs of pain on the right side of my lower back... followed by one large burst of immobilizing pain that would hold on for seconds at a time (and felt like hours). It was difficult to fall back to sleep. Every time I would lay down the pain would start up again. So I tried various ways of trying to sleep without being on my back or side, and didn't have much success. During the long hours awake at night I would browse the internet and started reading about kidney stones.
During the day, I was fine. Pain free actually. I was still running the 11 miles a day and that was going at my normal pace without issue. I had read that IF you could exercise with stones, it might help move them along. Still, I knew better than just to self diagnose. So I scheduled a doc appointment (video conference) and the night before I took a Sharpie and drew X's on my back during the three or four episodes I had so that I could show the doc where the pain was.
The morning of the video appointment with the doc was at the same time I usually went for a run, so that is when the streak ended at Day 127. Not really a big deal to me as I run to maintain health more than to challenge myself. This took priority. Spoke with the doc, mentioned my pain, showed my marked up back and talked about my running. She said that running wasn't a cause of this pain and it did sound like kidney stones. Blood work and Urinalysis ordered and off to the hospital I went. That was on a Friday. Over the weekend I waited for the results and went for two more runs.
On Monday, it hurt to run. I couldn't go a block from the house without feeling lower back stabbing pain. I am NOT someone who "runs through the pain". That kind of running is for the young. I'm in it for the long haul. So, I would stop and walk back home. I was also bothered a bit during the day. This went on for the whole week: some pain during the day and every attempt to run ended with me feeling the back and walking home after a block or so. Weird. Also what was weird was at the beginning of the week, all my tests came back negative. I called the doc for a follow up and this time I wanted to meet in person. Let them poke at my back, tell me what the stones were doing and how much longer this was going to be... and also why did my kidney stone tests come back negative.
It wasn't all bad that week, as I had finally found a position I could sleep in and was getting good sleep, but now was feeling some discomfort during the day, and stiffling pain preventing me from running. It was like my symptoms were flipped from the first week to the second. So on Thursday of that week, I was able to see the doctor. Once again, she looked me over and asked questions and I talked about my very healthy diet and what is likely a one-of-a-kind running routine and there were no concerns there. She had me take another urinalysis test because it sounded like kidney stones and something should indicate that. Also she thought that it was wise to schedule a more diverse blood test and a chest xray.
On Friday, I go to the hospital during my work lunch break and get an xray and blood work done and go home. Xray comes back negative but the doc calls me, and asks to go back to the hospital for a CT Scan. My wife drives me over this time. Talk about weird experiences. When the machine pumps that dye stuff into your vein before it starts taking pictures of you... you can feel the heat spreading through your body immediately... right into your loins. The tech warned me that I'll feel like I'm wetting myself but I really am not... this is exactly correct. Then I went into the CT waiting room and they said they'd be back soon with my results. I asked if my wife could join me as I waited and they obliged. No one comes to see us for several minutes, and then my cell phone rings...
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Someone said this about me in this thread way back when, and it always kinda pissed me off. Here I was trying to talk about my workout routine that I found personally inspirational, and hoping that maybe someone else could be inspired by it too... and instead I was written off as dead. I've always wanted to address it but never really thought how to actually resolve it without it being a bitter experience for multiple people, myself included. Instead, I just sat on it and would grumble about it from time to time. Presently speaking, I want to hug that son of bitch now.Uhm, isn't JS General deceased? I'm a little confused.
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I picked up my cell and it was a doctor speaking. The CT results were in. Blood clots in my lungs. Multiple. I was going to be immediately checked into the ER and a wheelchair was coming to get me. Wait... I was kind of numb and repeated out loud what was told to me...
Multiple blood clots in my lungs.
So Friday night I was checked into the ER. They put me on a heparin drip and told me I'd be staying overnight at least. Multiple people took my vitals and asked me questions. I did NOT fit any profile for a normal case of blood clots. Overweight?... nope. Legs swollen?.... nope. Smoker?.... never! Shortness of breath?.... no, I could breath and speak just fine. Even had no problem with the Covid-swab-probe-test (which feels like diving into the deep end of swimming pool--if you ever have to take one.) Any long trips or flights?... no chance of that--welcome to Covid? Every doc or nurse that spoke to me, I would make sure to tell them about my running over 120 days straight, 11 miles a day. That HAD to be it, right?! All of them assured me that it wasn't something that would cause that. Though they did ask if I had an injury that layed me up for a long time (like a sprained ankle where I would then be sitting around all day/night)... but this wasn't the case either because of my running streak.
Only two things were out of the ordinary as I was in the ER with my IV in my arm, wires on my chest and waiting to be check into my room to be observed overnight. One, was that I was sporting a resting heart-rate of 55 bpm. "Fricken runners," one of the nurses said. The other, was how unremarkable and behaved of a patient I was for a Friday night in the ER. It was while I was in the ER, that the head doc came to me and said how amazed that this happened the way it did. The fact that I didn't ignore the pain, that I followed up, and that my doc ordered the CT scan just as a precaution to catch the very rare chance of this being the issue. That I was still in the hospital and could be immediately checked in. I felt like a success story for the ER that night. Late that night, I get wheeled up to my room.
I'm telling you, I never felt more thankful to wake up. To be told that I had something that could of killed me... you really do appreciate the mornings. Over a week later, I still have that bit of fear each time falling asleep and kind of this new elation waking up. The morning was more ribbing by another nurse who mentioned that he shined a flashlight in my face multiple times when I was asleep just to be sure I was breathing... apparently I have a very low resting heart rate. No one questioned that I was a runner, and no one questioned that running was the cause. So I had ultrasounds on my legs that morning and all was clear, I was put on a blood thinner pill, and was able to have my wife come get me (she's an amazing rock-star, btw) ... checked out and we walked out together.
I still have more follow up appointments with specialists to figure out why I got clots, analyze the meds and make sure I'm on the right formula of blood thinner and if (or when) I can get off them. The meds will help with prevent more clots occurring in the future. It might take some time for these current ones to dissipate. For a full week after the hospital stay, I've been going for walks with my wife instead of runs. But everything else has been just fine and normal. The pain is gone except for a rare time. I can sleep normally on my back. I'm eating normal. I'm actually working BETTER than I was last month (as the lack of sleep and here and there pain and you know, almost dying and not knowing it were actually a detriment to me performing optimally at work... who knew!) And I just started running again today, but only for a mile or two tops... with walks in between. I'll be staying with that limited running routine for a while... and even just that little distance feels like a blessing instead of a curse.
My uncle is convinced that because my running is, as he says: "That's NOT normal!" that it must be the cause of my condition. I can understand that view point, but really from my point of view I see it differently. My running saved my life. Repeating a consistent workout routine let me know very early on about changes in my body. I could assess them, and I didn't ignore a "pain in my back." My body was telling me something new was happening and I could appreciate it through how it affected my morning routine. I put myself in a position to ask for help, and the health care system literally came to my rescue.
I'll be taking it easy for the near future, but I'm currently on the mend and healing, I'm happy, and I'm enjoying each morning a bit more these days. Smile bitches! I am! I'm still around, and so are you!
What. The. Actual. Fuck.
Dude. That sucks. But hey, you are getting better! Take care bro.
Wow. What a story. Tough times for sure.
For what it's worth, my Dad was on blood thinners such as Coumadin for arrhythmia for 46 years with no complications other than bruising easily as he got older.
Hold the fucking phone.
You've been running with PEs????????
Jesus Christ man, that's some scary shit.
I'm very happy to hear you are doing better, but damn.
Yikes, what a catch!
I'm a bit confused though, are you saying running actually caused them? I've always said running is stupid, but now I know for sure.
Thanks for all the well wishes everyone! My apologies for the numbing word-salad of a story up there with a big shock in the middle. I figured I'd try telling it in a way that was in step with how surprising it was for me to experience.
Running did NOT cause the clots. I have some more information about that. More blood tests results have come out, and it turns out that I have a known, but fairly rare genetic mutation that can cause clots in the legs or lungs. From what I can tell as I research this, even if you have this mutation, there is only a 5-10% chance that you'd get a clot before the age of 65. Of course, if you do get one... you're more likely to experience more in the future. So I guess I'm like one of the X-Men, except my superpower is that I clot.
Ah well, the reason why I'm joking about this is because I feel MUCH better knowing that there was a cause and what it was. It has helped ease some confusion and questions with this whole ordeal. With this information, I can plan around this challenge. Also as a positive, it's recommended to stay active and eat healthy to help prevent future clots... so I'll be up and running soon (after checking with the doctors). Sorry G'day, but I love running and am happy to say that I will still be back at it. Eventually, I'll be posting more running stories here... and I will still look forward to your responses that it's dumb.
Having an explanation is awesome
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