Medical Update - Slow Progress, But It's Progress

It's been almost 3 weeks since my last update. I am now 10 days into wearing a non-weight bearing fiber glass ankle cast and I have 18 more days to go before my sports orthopedist removes and replaces it with an air cast boot that I will be required to wear for another 6 weeks. However, I will be able to start physical therapy as soon as the cast comes off and I won't need my crutches any longer, since I will be able to somewhat walk in the boot.

I also realized that the past few months of not running or working out at all have finally caught up with me in form of weight gain, not bad but bad enough. I figured what better way to get rid of those extra pounds than to challenge one of my training buddies (that's right, Richard, it is not only Facebook-official but Blog-official, too:-) to a 4 week weight loss challenge. Winner gets a free ultra race entry.

I got another great piece of news today that will really help me with the mental aspects of my recovery. I had purchased a couple of raffle tickets to support the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, when I saw Joe Fejes (yes, the Joe Fejes, ultra runner extraordinaire and member of team USA for the 24 Hour World Championships among other things) at last months Mountain Mist 50K here in town. One of the positives of not having been able to run or race for the past few months has been the enjoyment that volunteering at races and hanging out with folks like Joe has brought me. As "fate" would have it, one of my tickets actually won one of over 80 graciously donated race entries. I received free entry into the Coyote Springs 100 Miler on November 3 in Nevada. I'm not sure yet if I can get ready in time, but I will do everything I can to do so...safely and smartly.

Oh yeah, my new "purpose" for my ultra running adventures is also off to a great start. If you're reading this, take a look to the top right column of this post. Please take a moment and click on the link, read my short story and maybe consider making a small donation. If nothing else, you might learn something that could save your life or the life or a friend or family member.

And now, back to recovery...

Medical Update - An Exciting Week Comes To A Close

It's been a couple of weeks since my last update. To be honest, I'd much rather be writing training updates, but for now these little health updates will have to do:-) An exciting weeks draws to a close.

After being admitted to Crestwood Hospital this past Monday, a temporary inferior vena cava filter was implanted on Tuesday afternoon by a vascular surgeon. On Wednesday morning, my orthopedic surgeon was finally able to repair the lower tendons in my left ankle. By Wednesday afternoon, I was released from the hospital. So what's next?

I am currently resting at home. The procedure to remove the temporary filter is tentatively scheduled for next week once I've had a chance to see my hematologist for a follow up visit. Another follow up is scheduled for the following week with my orthopedic surgeon to check on my ankle's progress, remove the staples and put my ankle in a non walking cast for approximately 4 weeks.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that this is exactly how the next couple of weeks will unfold as that would indicate my ability to start rehabilitation on my ankle by early March. I can hardly wait to get back out there and work out and just go for a walk:-)

By the way, I've had lots of time to think the last few weeks and I decided to put this energy to good use. I've created an ongoing fundraising effort (see link in upper right corner of this blog) that I will be persuing in all my future ultra running and racing adventures. Please check out the page, no strings attached, and please share. Blot clots and clotting disorders are much more common than you think and they can affect anyone, even endurance athletes, even without any predisposing factors. I learned this lesson the hard way. But there are lots of things we all can to to reduce this risk for ourselves as well as others by educating ourselves and by supporting the efforts of organizations like the National Blot Clot Alliance (NBCA) and their "STOP THE CLOT" campaign.

Medical Update - Finally some really good news!!!

Hopefully, I am not jinxing anything with this post. After having been on the phone this afternoon with nurses from all specialists involved, my ankle surgeon and hematologist were able to get their schedules sorted.

My hematologist is admitting me to Crestwood Hospital on Monday morning, where they will start bridging me from Coumadin to Lovenox before taking me off blood thinners altogether just in time for reconstructive ankle surgery on Wednesday morning. Prior to the ankle surgery, a specialist will insert/implant a temporary filter into my main vein to prevent any potential clots from traveling to my lungs, heart and brain during and after my surgery, since I will be off blood thinners for a short duration.

This temporary filter will be removed as soon as my INR levels are back up between 2.0-3.0, the preferred blood thinness levels for people recovering from DVTs and PEs in an outpatient surgery. Once the ankle surgery is complete, they will keep me in the hospital for another day for observation.

I expect to be on crutches for 10 days before getting my staples removed. At that time, my foot will be places in a non-walking cast for 4 weeks followed by an air cast boot for 4 additional weeks, during which I expect to start my formal physical therapy. I really hope all goes well, so I can be on my rod to full recovery very very soon. Who knows, maybe I'll be back to running by April, just in time to continue the tradition of running the Cookie Dash 5 K. Only this time, she will be pacing me. Shoot, I'll probably be lucky to walk a 5K at that time, which would still be a great improvement over the last 3 months:-)

Recovery is my main goal and I am happy to take all the time necessary to get back to actual running.

Medical Update - More Good News

My hematologist scheduled my follow up CT Scan (Angio Chest) for today to check whether the pulmonary emboli in my lungs had been significantly reduced in size or maybe even dissolved. This would allow him to contact my orthopedic surgeon to finally schedule reconstructive surgery for my ankle.

Medical Update - Great News All Around

2013 is already looking very very good. I finally had my visit with the hematologist today to review all of the blood and genetic test results and it couldn't have goner better. Out of literally a dozen tests, none came back with indicators for any blood or genetic disorders that would be the cause for an increased risk of blood clots. It appears my PE and DVTs were caused solely due to my immobility as a result of the ankle injury.

Year In Review (Part 2) - The Not So Fun That Was 2012

Another title could have been "How an ultra runner was diagnosed with high cholesterol, became a pescetarian, then fractured an ankle and tore a tendon before being diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), all in less than seven weeks". If that doesn't give away the content of this "little" blog post, just looking at the label list makes one think of a medical dictionary, from (A)nkle fracture to Blood Clot(z).