How were your Holidays?
Here is hoping and wishing that you were able to receive 2014 in grand style and that the new year is bringing you ALL the happiness, good fortune, and good health you can afford.
I am looking forward to 2014 and getting the chance to continue to spread the word about blood clots, get even more exposure to the CLOT BUSTER STOPTHECLOT polka-dots, and of course continue to post some more of these inspirational stories from blood clot survivors. I simply cannot get enough of learning what the human body is capable of once your mind is set and your body cooperates.
The 2013 series of Athlete of the Month posts end with a fantastic story of a blood clot survivor throwing down with an Ironman Triathlon.
Well, I could not see any other way to start 2014 than with another story of blood clot survival and come back that involves a recent tango with another Ironman Triathlon.
Please allow me to introduce to you JESSICA LEHMAN who very graciously has agreed to share her story of survival and come back with us. I am VERY THANKFUL to Jessica and for willingness to sit down and go to town on the write up you will be reading below.
Are you ready to get your 2014 started with a story that will get you off the couch and going... please read on!
" Hi guys! My name is Jessica and I’m so excited to share my experience with Team Stop the Clot.
Less than a year ago I was sitting in a hospital bed
thinking my life as an athlete was over. My pity party came to an end when I
found this blog. Reading all of the Clot Buster stories gave me hope and
inspiration. I hope you find some in my story too. Please please please contact me if you are
newly diagnosed with a DVT/PE and want to talk to someone
(jes.lehman@gmail.com). I promise you that you can come back from this! And you
will race again J Here we go….
In January 2013 I had the adventure of a lifetime-
summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro. It is the tallest free-standing mountain in the
world with an elevation of 19,341 feet.
(You can check out my whole Kili trek here:
www.myhappylittletree.blogspot.com/2013/01/climbing-kilimanjaro)
During the final descent off the mountain (day 8) I
developed a sharp pain in my calf. I assumed it was a pulled muscle from
summiting. It seemed obvious to me, I mean I did just climb the highest
mountain in Africa!
After another week of safari in the Serengeti we flew
home and it was time to get serious about my triathlon training! I was 5 months
out from EagleMan 70.3. I remember e-mailing my coach telling her I had a
pulled muscle and wasn’t able to run. So I started training by only swimming
and biking. My calf was very painful, but triathletes have a very high
tolerance for pain (and are just that stubborn) that I refused to go see the
doctor. I knew that if I rested it,
iced, and took anti-inflammatories it should go away. And sure enough it did!
My leg felt better after a couple weeks. (Later we find out this is because a
giant chuck of clot broke off and went to my lungs). So with a healthy leg I started running and
training hard.
I realized that my splits were much slower than usual. I
told myself that this was because I took a month off to go to Africa and was
out of shape. So I started pushing myself harder. I even almost blacked out in
the middle of the pool during a time-trial test. I just figured I was
dehydrated. Writing this makes me realize how stupid I was… ALWAYS listen to
your body!
During the 4th week back from Africa I started
getting out of breath doing simple tasks- walking up stairs, talking on the
phone, making a sandwich. The last straw was blacking out during a track
practice. That night I went to the ER. And drum roll please…….. DVT in the leg’s
popliteal vein and massive bilateral PEs in the lungs. For the amount of clot I
had I was lucky to be breathing still, let alone trying to swim, bike and run.
The doctors could only hypothesize what happened. The
long plane flight to Africa, my slow heart rate, altitude sickness caused by
high elevation, severe dehydration from summit day and birth control pills was
my perfect storm of destruction. Sometime after returning home the clot in my
thigh to groin broke off and went to my lungs. This is where I count my lucky
stars (30% of people with untreated PEs die. I went over a month before going
to the ER).
So I got nice and settled in the hospital while they
monitored the PEs. I chose to go on the new blood thinning drug Xarelto over
Coumadin. No more Lovenox shots in the tummy! This is where I spent my days
googling the scary statistics of blood clots (which I’m sure some of you are
doing right now). I feel so fortunate to have found Stop the Clot and the Clot
Buster athletes. I went to them for inspiration during the following months of
recovery. Which were TOUGH. Small victories were climbing the stairs in the
hospital, going for a walk, then finally jogging one whole mile. But there’s
always a light at the end of the tunnel!
I wanted my light to be something huge. I wanted to go
out there and celebrate life! I felt so fortunate that I wanted to do something
monumental for those that have suffered from clots, those that have passed
away, and those that will suffer in the future. I registered for Ironman
Cozumel knowing that even if I couldn’t cross the finish line, showing up at
the starting line was already an accomplishment.
I made it my personal mission to raise awareness and
prevention of these nasty little blood clots by racing for the National Blood
Clot Alliance. I raised $6000 along the way! Most importantly I wanted to set an example
that having blood clots does not mean you cannot continue to do the things that
most inspire and challenge you.
On December 1, only nine months after being diagnosed
with DVT/PEs, I became an Ironman! I really took the whole experience in and
enjoyed every second of it. I had a smile on my face for almost the entire race
(ok last few miles were ugly).
(check out my full race report here:
Check out my support crew’s Stop the Clot shirts and
visors!
So even if you’re on bed rest right now in the hospital
or still on blood thinners, keep your head up. Take it
day by day. And always live life to the fullest. You’ll be back
before you know it!"
What else I can see to add to this story...?
We are so lucky that Jessica shared her story with us to provide us with the spring board we need to get 2014 going.
Get INSPIRED and let's get out there.
Thanks for reading,
The Clot Buster
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