Update on my Recovery

Thank you all again for your continued prayers, thoughts, and well-wishes. Whenever I talk to my mom, she says "so-and-so" has been asking how you're doing, and so-and-so said they were thinking about you. THANK YOU. It means everything to me.

A little update on how I am doing/feeling. For the most part, I am feeling really good. I don't have any shortness of breath at rest, or even when walking. However, ever since I got out of the hospital, where my sleep was interrupted every hour, I have a hard time falling asleep at night. So, up until last night, my bed time ranges from 2-3 AM. This is all fine and dandy until I have to wake up at 7 or 8 AM. Then the exhaustion hits. However, last night, I did manage to fall asleep at a normal hour, and hope that this becomes a pattern.

The rough part for me is the anxiety. The doctors forgot to tell me the symptoms of my clots breaking up, which could be: shortness of breath, chest pain, and fatigue. Last Monday, I was having some chest pain, and worried about it all morning. I finally called my doctor, and they brought me in for a PulseOx check and BP check. All of my vitals were strong, and the doctor on call said it is most likely from the clots breaking up.

I have not simply been sitting on my rear these past few weeks. I find I have less anxiety when I am constantly moving and keeping myself occupied. Less time for my mind to come up with crazy ideas. Which, if you have met my son, you know that he pretty much keeps me doing both of those things. Kid is a mover and a shaker, and is turning two on April 1st.

I started a new lifting program last week, with my good friend Jen. It's called "The New Rules of Lifting for Women," and it's based on a book. So far it has been challenging, but nothing crazy, and I'm sure it is helping me get stronger in the off time. When I'm not running I seem to have all this free time, and have been enjoying spending it with Jen, as she is moving out of state very soon.

I also had a follow-up with my PCP, and she said all is well, however, they will not be able to check for clotting disorders until I am off my medication for 2-3 weeks. If they ran blood-work now, it would provide inaccurate results due to the blood thinners.

Along that same line, I had a follow-up today with Dr. Ehteshaam, my pulmonologist. He is a very well-known and in high-demand doctor, and knows what he is doing. They checked my oxygen levels at rest and while walking fast. My levels are really strong, and my BP is low as usual. The doctors have told me many times, if they didn't know I was a long distance runner, they would be concerned with my very slow heart rate (bradycardia). I am usually in the low 50s for resting heart rate. I bragged about this to my husband, who told me the Lance Armstrong is somewhere between 32-34 BPM and Meb Keflezighi is around the same, so I stopped being impressed with myself.

The big news I took away from my pulmonology follow-up, is that I am cleared to run. He said "take it slow and gradually build up again. Don't go running 10 miles on the first day." So, as it stands right now. I will not be running the Martian full marathon on the 13th. I cannot build my mileage up again that fast, and frankly, I don't want to. I may try and switch to the half, or I may not run at all. I just don't know yet.

I did my first run this afternoon, on the treadmill. Dr. Ehteshaam suggested I start there and then try outside. I originally thought I would do just two miles, however, I felt so good after two, I decided to make it a 5K. I did a 5K in 28:07. Not too shabby for three weeks off. I started out very slow, and by the end I had worked myself up to 7.0 mph, and felt very comfortable with that pace. I even cranked it up to 7.5 mph for the last 0.1 miles. I know the clots must be smaller or gone, because I was able to breathe easily on my run (not 100% easy), but nothing like it was. Before I was gasping for air after a quarter mile, and my heart rate was sky-high after that distance too. My heart stayed very steady today, and within a minute of stopping my run, my breathing returned to normal. This is something that did not happen when I was experiencing symptoms.

I'd had a lot of anxiety about returning to running. After almost 3 weeks off, I thought I wouldn't be able to even come close to my average pace. I also thought I might not want to run again after being off for so long. However, a half a mile into my run today, I remembered how much I love running, and I can't wait to start training again!