Maria's Running Blog

I know I haven't been updating my blog, although I had all intentions to get back into regular running routine. Some things happened that prevented me from doing so.

After my flight back to London from NY (6 hour flight) I noticed a pretty severe pain in my right calf. I was puzzled as to the cause, since I haven't run in preceding days. But I figured I must have somehow strained my calf going up or down the stairs or something like this. I went running with it even (see my last recorded run on Jan.6). The pain lasted about 10 days and finally subsided. I was okay for about 2 weeks after that, but then past weekend, I was walking with my daughter, and we had to run a few steps to beat a changing street light while crossing the street. After literally 5 running steps, my heart started pounding like crazy, I couldn't get enough air to breathe and felt a bit light headed. This scared me a lot - it was definitely not normal for me, no matter what shape I was in physcially. I also started feeling some vague chest pain, especially while taking deep breaths. I started thinking, what could it be? First I thought, maybe heart problems. But then I looked it up on WebMd and it mentioned pulmonary embolism. Somehow, immediately, I decided it must be it - I put together recent long flight, pain in the leg and my present symptoms, and I knew I had to go get checked out right away. So I called a taxi and went to the nearest A&E (equivalent of US ER in the hospital). I told them I have chest pain and shortness of breath and was taken to triage immediately. I told the doctor to test me for PE. She was surprised why I am so sure, but after hearing my story, she agreed that it was a sensible conclusion, and did a D-dimer test. The test came back extremely positive for clotting activity. They started me on heparin injections and Warfarin (Coumadin) to prevent further blood clots from forming. I spent 3 days in the hospital while Warfarin was kicking in. The CT scan confirmed multiple PE, i.e. I have a lot of small clots in my lungs, which undoubtedly broke off from the ones in my leg and traveled up.

So that was a pretty unexpected turn of events, but I am sure glad I went to the hospital right away. PE is dangerous and can be fatal instantly if a large clot blocks the artery. Now I have to have blood tests every few days until the Warfarin dosage is stabilized. I feel fine, the chest pain is mostly gone, but I still feel my heart rate going way up, even with regular walking, or when walking up the stairs. I thought that medication will break down the clots I have, but this is not the case. "Thinning" the blood prevents new clots from forming, but it does nothing to break the ones that already exist. In time (few weeks or months), my body will either break them down itself, or it will adjust. Right now, I was told to take it easy next week, because my heart is working extra hard to compensate for lack of oxygen in my blood. It looks like I will need to be on Warfarin for at least 6 months, but I may also need to take it for life, because there is a history of blood clots in my family. 

I asked the doctor when I can start running again, and couldn't get a definitive answer. He said it may take up to 6 (!) months. I hope it's not the case, but I don't want to start too soon and cause more damage. I was also told to avoid falling as it may cause extensive bleeding now that my blood is so thin. For the same reason, contact sports and sports like skiing where probablity of falling is relatively high, are not recommended while on Warfarin. Running is not too bad, as I fell only 3 times in 7 years. I will just have to see how I feel, I may have to start with walking, and move to running when I'm ready. The main question is whether my lungs sustained any permanent damage from this. If yes, then my ability to run will be compromised because I won't have full lung capacity. If no, I may be able to recover completely.

Thanks for the comments, everyone! I still feel very crappy, but the doctors are teling me to be patient. I had to go to the hospital second time last Sunday because I had an episode of my heart pounding like crazy which scared me a lot. That resulted in another 3 days in the hospital which included my 40th birthday :(. Good news that cardiologist cleared me, and there are no more clots in my legs. Now I just have to break down the ones stuck in my lungs! Bad news is that I get elevated heart rate and shortness of breath from simply moving around the house, so even going to work is out of the question for now :(.

Since I can't run now, I have to share about some running related things that may be entertaining to others :).

Before I went to the hospital, earlier in the day on Jan.28, I attended my company's annual FKOM (Field Kick-off Meeting). It was mostly listening to boring speeches, except for one invited guest, CEO of one of UK's publishing companies. He was brilliant, and if he wasn't a CEO, he would have made a great stand-up comedian. Some of his British-rooted jokes went over my head, but otherwise he was just awesome. He got almost a standing ovation at the end. Then there were more boring speeches, and then, at the end, they announced a "surprise" speaker. It was none else but Seb Coe!!! I just about fell off my chair - that was the least expected speaker at this corporate function.

Seb was talking mostly about his efforts on the London Olympic Games committee and his work in popularizing sports in local communities. He said he is trying to resurrect traditional sports, including track and field, in UK, talking about how football (soccer), cricket and rugby are so much more popular than anything else in England. He is a pretty good speaker with a sense of humor. He showed couple of videos that were presented to the IOC as part of London's bid to host 2012 Olympics. I've never seen them before, and they were great. The first one focused on London's cultural value and had a lot of funny moments and was very entertaining. The second one, which was shown in the final round, was a very emotional clip about the influence that Olympic Games have on young generation. It showed 5 kids watching the London games on TV, one in America, one in Russia, one in Africa and two others I don't remember from where. Then it showed how these kids picked up one sport and made it to the next Olympics. It was very well done (all set to music, no narration), and it undoubtedly influenced the IOC. Seb also showed the tape of IOC's announcement to grant 2012 Olympics to London. I've seen the pandemonuim that broke in the auditorium, but I havent' seen the reaction of Londoners who were watching the announcement live in various parks, squares and pubs on large screen TV's (because I was still in US). It was really something, people were screaming, jumping and going crazy with happiness.

Anyway, it was a real treat to hear him speak. I wanted to get his autograph, but he left right after his speech, unfortunately. He didn't speak about his running at all and whether he still runs, but he looks very fit.  

Update: went for a 40 min. walk yesterday. I've been going outside for a little while before, but this was a first longer walk. Hmm... not so good. Although I was able to walk at a brisk pace (still slower than my normal walking pace, I'm sure), I was feeling intermittent chest pains, a little breathlessness and a lot of anxiety.

Anxiety is really driving me crazy and I'm just now realizing that it is a nasty post-PE effect. It is also extremely common. Because I still get chest pain sometimes, I can't help but worry that I'm developing new clots, although it is highly unlikely because I'm protected by warfarin now. The pain is more likely from the scarring in the lungs and lungs repairing themselves and healing. And it increases with activity. This is a logical explanation, but of course there is no way to prove there are no more clots short of doing another CT-scan. The doctor told me they are going to do another one in a few months, not now. So I guess I just have to live with it and try to calm down. But I have a follow-up appointment on Wednesday, so I will ask the doctor again.

Today I had to go to the hospital for my INR check. It was in the range and I can keep taking the same dose of warfarin. But the whole trip to the hospital on public transit and then waiting there in line for an hour, didn't help one bit. Oh well, it's going to be a long road, but it will end sometime.