Apparently this is quote from Paulo Coelho, the author.
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| I can't find the many actual photos I've taken of detour signs when biking, oddly. |
After finishing the TRAM on July 31, I can describe my biking attitude as, "Let's GOOOO!" I knew that I'd have to take a few days off for my planned varicose vein surgery on Monday, August 10. All went well with the surgery, and I was dutifully lying down with my legs elevated on Monday and Tuesday.
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| The mummy |
I took the bandages off, and things were not remotely as scary under there as I had imagined. A lot of big bruises and a lot of teeny, tiny cuts. No problem. Wednesday morning went well and I was feeling good. From the beginning, I hadn't needed any of the pain meds they prescribed (Tylenol was good enough) and I had figured out how to get comfortable for sleeping. So I was thinking about easing back into a bike ride the following weekend.
Wednesday afternoon, I thought, "well, that right upper calf area/back of the right knee sure does hurt... kind of like when I had a blood clot in 2010." You can see where this is going, friends.
The clinic had already planned to do an ultrasound on my left leg on Thursday because, based on the procedure they did, it was the one where logically and scientifically a clot would be expected to be if one were to get a clot (even though they did stuff on both legs).
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| Presurgery, the surgeon took a purple marker to map out his plan |
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| This eventually wore off, after the bruises took their place |
Long story short, it took some convincing (very oddly, and also disappointingly, considering that I've had a clot before and learned then that I have a genetic predisposition for clots), but the first second they put that ultrasound roller thing on my right leg, they knew that I was right. (I actually have 3 clots in that leg.) I obviously caught things right away, so I'm just hanging out, taking injectable blood thinners and not doing any vigorous leg exercises (or engaging in risky activities that would be bad if one were on blood thinners; they cautioned me not to use a chainsaw, which made me laugh). Once an ultrasound suggests I'm good to go, I'll be good to go.
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| Haley and I had a great walk at the wildlife refuge this past weekend |
On the bright side, the blood thinners alleviated my leg pain pretty quickly. I had an ultrasound last Friday that shows that things are better, but not resolved, so I'm just kind of waiting. But better is better.
On a bike ride, I don't usually follow the detour signs - I just plow through the closed off area until it is completely impossible or extremely unsafe to continue. I kind of have to follow the detour this month. I'm a little impatient (especially with this beautiful biking weather!) and feeling a bit too self-pityish, but shouldn't be for a few reasons:
1. The surgery itself went really well and the pain was not bad. The people at the outpatient surgery center were FANTASTIC.
2. I knew what a blood clot felt like so I didn't waste time like in 2010, letting it get really, uh, established.
3. I have medical insurance.
4. I have been taking nice walks with Haley, my dog, and mostly at the level before.
5. I am not scared of needles.
6. I had to advocate for myself when they said, "that's virtually impossible." And now maybe they know not to pre-judge situations.
7. I'll be totally fine.
8. I'm mapping out my fitness plans for the winter, with this extra downtime.
9. My neighbor gave me flowers, without even knowing any of what's been going on; they were a thank you for watching their cat.
10. I'm thinking about next summer, with this extra downtime, and the fact that I cannot do the BikeMS TRAM next July because we have a big trip to Europe planned next summer. So I need an alternative biggish thing for my fundraising for the MS Society. This is the planned and good type of a detour!
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| The surgery team and pre- and post- op folks sent me a get well card - that's nice! |
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| Flowers from my neighbor, from her yard |
So, my friends, stay tuned for what I end up doing next year instead of the TRAM. I have a good idea of what it will be, but need to think about it a little bit more. In the meantime, trust your body, trust your instincts, and if you know something is not normal, keep on pushing to get it figured out.
p.s. The MS Society is still accepting donations toward this year's ride, if you wanted to donate, but didn't get around to it - https://events.nationalmssociety.org/participants/Go-Maggie-Go.
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