Friday, May 23, 2008

Is this a rerun?

Well, I'm back in the hospital. Turns out that the severe muscle pain I was having in my groin/ thigh of my right leg was being caused by a massive blood clot in my groin and four smaller clots in my calf. Yep... 5 clots.

The clot in my thigh is the one that is of most concern- any clot above the knee raises concern. It's a really big clot and it's way up high in the groin. The biggest concern is that it could break up or dislodge and move into my lungs causing a pulmonary embolism. Which I hear is a bad thing.

This time, I am in Sharp Memorial Hospital and my room is on the oncology (cancer) floor. My roommate is an older gentleman with pretty severe cancer in his abdomen. I have potentially dangerous clots, but I don't have cancer. I know a little about cancer (ok, a lot) and know enough to know that it's a terrible thing and overtakes the lives of the person who has the cancer as well as those around that person. Sitting here in my bed, I feel like crap from the throbbing in my leg, but I'm confident I'm going to be better. Many of the other folks on this floor don't have that luxury. Life is all about perspective... and I'm a lucky sonofabitch. Hopefully I'll get to home Sunday... I hope.

I'm getting two shots a day in my abdomen, that burn like hell, that are blood thinners/ anti-coagulants. I'm also taking a drug called Coumadin that keeps the blood from clotting. I'm getting my blood tested every day and they have me as immobile as possible, though I am allowed to get up to go to the bathroom... so I don't have to use the little plastic jug (so I've got that going for me). Basically... I'm gonna be fine in a few days and then I can go back to healing from the other injuries.

Speaking of the other injuries... the knee fractures look pretty good. I might have a little tear in the meniscus that is keeping the knee from being able to go totally straight. The best news is that the thumb surgery was a total success and I will not be losing the end of the finger. It's an ugly thumb... trust me... but it's going to be a complete thumb again. I'm going to lose the thumbnail that was on the thumb at the time of the crash, but the nail bed looks healthy and I should be growing a new nail. So it looks like, with the exception of the clots, I'm actually healing.

So it ain't all bad... (plus I've gone from 205lbs the night of the crash to 185lbs... yeah... losing weight)

Thanks for the support and well wishes- it means an awful lot to me.

Tim

12 comments:

Kazeebo said...

Saw Blue Squirrel's update yesterday...yessiree...blod clots are no fun. Fingers crossed and prayers your way Sunday comes soon and finds you going home.

Anonymous said...

Hi Tim
I recently went thru a similar problem which all started from an ACL surgery .. I got the clots in the hospital and eventually went to the lung(dr's thought I was having asthma problems). lots of coughing. I was on coumadin for 6 months.. and calf pain for months.. but cycling helped a great deal.. after 6 months they repeated the scan and all was good..

keep listening to your body and be well

Tim M

Mark Ritz said...

I read the comments from Twitter about going back in the hospital. Damn! Hang in there, big guy! You're in our prayers. And I'll see you at Interbike.

Anonymous said...

Oh no Tim!!!!! Donna mentioned something... and now it's confirmed. Yikes.. sorry you have landed there. Heal quickly.... warm thoughts, big hug.

Anonymous said...

hey Tim,

Hope all is well... my father is permanently on some of the medications your having to take (he had a stroke a few years back). You are lucky to have caught the clots before something worse happened!

I have broken both my collar bones so far this year in commuting crashes (NOT accidents, drivers hitting cyclists in the bike lanes... grumble grumble). With all the bad news of so many cyclist being injured this year... there's nowhere to go but up, right?

Unknown said...

Been there, I feel for you. I was in the hospital longer with the post-op thrombophlebitis than I was for my amputation.

And the weight loss isn't a surprise your body requires a lot of energy to rebuild itself after what happened.

http://home.maine.rr.com/pegleg/newbike.jpg

Josh Boggs said...

Holy crap, man! Continued best wishes on a speedy recovery.

That coumadin is some sick stuff. My Yakima rep was on it for clotting and got nailed with his board while surfing... damn near bled out! Be careful!

Oh, yeah. I think I'm going to try and get a Coltello for track racing. Any idea if there are some left in that sweet baby blue color?

Anonymous said...

Damnit, Tim! Stop with this shit. You need to hurry up and get better! I'll be thinking about ya, and get better quick.

Anonymous said...

too bad the office contest to see who could lose the most weight in a short amount of time is no longer going on. You may actually have a chance at winning......20 pounds in 1 month is a fair amount.

bikesgonewild said...

...timasiguy...glad they caught that & despite the hospital replay, it could a' been a lot worse, as i'm sure you know...

...re: your cancer ward observations...when i was in the cardiac ward 6 years ago (hereditary stuff), in talking w/ the nurses, i found that most of 'em really prefer cardiac because the majority of their patients leave w/ a smile (albeit weak) on their faces...the cancer ward unfortunately has a much higher mortality rate & lot more sadness...

...but aren't nurses just 'kick ya in the ass wonderful' when yer busted or screwed up & really need 'em...i go back once a year-ish w/ a card or flowers just to say thanks (again)...i only do it on my bicycle & i literally walk my bike right back into that ward & those folks always dig it...when you're healthy, you're their success story...

...btw...had a female cardiologist who rode a bontrager mtb into work at times & i was always answering cycling product questions for doctors & nurses that rode bikes...hey, it's marin & pretty enlightened, right...

...anyway, get strong & get healthy, dude...from an old ex-industry guy...

blackmountaincycles said...

Ask your doc about the effects of post-blood clots and flying. You might not be able to make those long treks to Taiwan. Also, compression socks (good ones that are expensive) may help too. A fellow long-distance air traveller hipped me onto compression socks for long flights and they keep the blood from pooling in your feel. They might not go well with shorts, though, and really won't go well with your hot pants.

Anonymous said...

At least they caught them, and you're being taken care of Tim. Stay strong, you are in our prayers, and thoughts while riding.