After my race in Dallas a couple weeks ago I received an IV due to extreme dehydration. I was not able to walk because my legs were cramped so badly, so the paramedics took me into the ambulance and pumped in a liter of fluid. Pretty typical post race procedure from what I hear. Thousands of athletes get IV's every year in this same situation (first time for me), and it's very straight forward. Somehow I managed to get a minor infection at the point of insertion and that lead to the formation of a blood clot. Lucky me!
(Feel free to skip this paragraph if you know about blood clots and blood thinners)
I had a pretty strong pain in my forearm and the vein that had been used turned very hard. I went to get an ultrasound to find out if this could be dangerous at all, and the technician informed me that the clot had actually become an issue, and was a Deep Vein Thrombosis. This means it is in a deep vein in my arm and is at risk for breaking off and causing death if it travels to my heart or lungs. I was immediately placed on blood thinners (the big serious kind) and will have to remain on them until the clot is dissolved. I'm told this could be anywhere from 6 weeks to 3 months. The blood thinners will prevent my blood from clotting at all by killing off the platelets, and this should allow my body to "naturally" dissolve the clot on its own without it getting bigger. While on blood thinners, any cut or scrape I sustain will take a long time to stop bleeding, larger ones may never stop until a counter-agent is injected. Head traumas will cause uncontrollable bleeding in my brain and ultimately death. Enough drama though, this is all worst-case scenario of course..
What this means for my season:
-Nothing "risky"... so no riding outside except in a super controlled, no risk of getting hit by a car type of situation. Soo pretty much no riding outside.
-No MOUNTAIN BIKING! Gah! I was really looking forward to doing some camping on Mt. Hood this summer. I guess I'll just have to cut it back to lake swims and trail running. There are worse things in life :)
-Luckily I can continue to elevate my heart rate without restriction, and so far I have noticed no side effects from the medication except that I bruise quite easily. This is to be expected.
-No bike racing or draft legal racing. Both of these events have a high likelihood of crashing.
-I may be able to do a traditional non-drafting triathlon, but my parents are very concerned for my safety of course, so I wouldn't worry them unnecessarily, (only a big race with a simple course would work)
-Races I'll be missing: Magog Pan-Am, Pacific Crest.
-Races I may miss: Subaru Sooke, Kelowna Pan-Am
-Races I may substitute in: OBRA TT Champs, still looking for others.
I'm staying positive and pushing on. This will afford me a bit more ability to focus on my run, and luckily Oregon is still bringing the rainy, depressing weather, so riding on the computrainer alone or with my coach, is much more bearable :) This is a small setback career-wise. Missing the races which would have given me experience, potentially a pay day, and many other intangible benefits, is extremely frustrating, but it's out of my control, and all I can do is react to my situation and train like an animal for the next race.
