You read that title correctly unfortunately ladies and gentlemen...the marathon training has been postponed for the next week or two due to (drum roll please): GALLSTONES!!!!
That's right sports fans, a little 5.4 millimeter gallstone decided it didn't like being cooped up in my lil' ol' gallbladder and wanted to go exploring, and in the process got stuck in (and therefore blocked) one of my bile ducts. Now I don't know how many of you have ever had an escaped gallstone, but I can tell you (and I promise you can take my word for it) it is not a pleasant experience! Mine was particularly painful due in large part to the fact that the blocked bile duct set off a sort of chain reaction that inflamed my gallbladder and caused me to develop pancreatitis. Not fun at all!
The thing that is particularly "galling" (pun intended) about the whole thing is that I'm only a few weeks away from the
Tacoma City Marathon, which I've been training for since January, and now may not be able to run.
I should have known that something was wrong earlier than I did...my runs during Weeks 10 and 11 were definitely some of the worst I've had since I started my training program with
Fleet Feet Bonney Lake.
Week 10 Overview: This was a rough week for me, I did all of my runs except for my long run on the treadmill at the gym because I was feeling so crappy.
Monday: 3 miles in 30:35...my knees were still pretty sore from the 17 mile run the Saturday before, so to the gym I went.
Tuesday: 4.5 miles in 43:45 with two 1 mile tempo runs in 16:54...I was able to do my tempo runs both at 8:27 pace, but I was extremely winded in between them, and my stomach was in a lot of pain, which made it even harder to breathe.
Wednesday: Stretch/Rest
Thursday: 3 miles in 27:26...pushed myself really hard, but my run felt terrible. I was in a ton of pain, stomach-wise, and it made it very hard to breathe during the run.
Friday: Stretch/Rest
Saturday: 18 miles in 3:01:32...my stomach issues (which I was mistaking for an ulcer at the time) made it so difficult to breathe that I was winded within the first half mile and stayed that way the entire run. My running buddy Katie even commented on the fact that I was more winded than normal, and without her pushing me, I probably wouldn't have been able to finish.
Sunday: Stretch/Rest
Week 11 Overview: I didn't get very far into week 11's training runs because I got sidelined with my gallstones.
Monday: 3 miles in 28:28...it was the first day of my Spring Break, so I decided to do my run outside. The weather was great, my stomach was not.
Tuesday: Stretch/Rest...ended up driving down to Bend to visit Michael.
Wednesday: Stretch/Rest
Thursday: 8.1 miles in 1:23:00...combined the mileage I missed on Tuesday to what I needed to run Thursday so that I could get everything done. Little did I know it was the last (and extremely painful) run I would complete that week.
Friday: The last straw for my poor body...all the food I had been eating for the past week and a half had been making me extremely sick. I had been chalking it up to indigestion and what I thought was an ulcer and trying to push through the pain. But when Michael took me out to dinner that night and I couldn't even keep 5 bites of my clam chowder down before I had to rush to the bathroom to throw it up, he said enough was enough and he was taking me to the hospital whether I liked it or not. So to the emergency room we went on Good Friday evening. I was in an extreme amount of pain, but still convinced I didn't need to go to the hospital (I have a very irrational fear of seeing doctors...they always seem to give me worse news than I'm expecting). After describing my symptoms to the doc, he said that it actually sounded like a gallbladder issue to him, and probably had nothing to due with stomach acid/ulcers, as I had previously thought. So to the ultrasound room I went, with Michael in tow (not exactly the place you want to have to go with your boyfriend who is terrified of the idea of children) and the ultrasound technician started taking pictures of my stomach and gallbladder. She discovered that my gallbladder was full of HUGE gallstones, and that one particularly crafty little devil had escaped and was blocking one of my bile ducts...
...it's the round spot right in the middle of the picture. She got pretty excited and told me that it was the largest gallstone that she had ever seen outside of the gallbladder (my doctor later informed me that it's not a good thing when your ultrasound technician gets that excited) but that I had bigger ones still inside it. After seeing the pics, the doctor said I was going to have to have surgery to remove my gallbladder and potentially even the stone (if it didn't pass on it's own) because I was at a higher risk to keep having this problem happen since I had already had one stone escape. So I was admitted to the hospital and blood work was ordered to see just how bad everything was. Michael even got the pleasure of sleeping in a chair in the ICU with me for the evening...lucky boy!
Saturday: Blood work came back revealing that I had developed pancreatitis as a result of the blocked bile duct (which explained a good majority of my pain) and I was put on IV fluids and antibiotics to get rid of the infection. I met the surgeon, who was a very nice man, but who informed me that he didn't feel comfortable operating on me until the infection had cleared up, so as not to inflame my pancreas any more than it already was. And so the waiting game was on...
Sunday: Blood work numbers still way too high, no surgery for me.
Monday: Blood work numbers still not exactly where the doctor wanted them, so again, no surgery. I was starting to get extremely frustrated by this point because a) I just wanted this whole process to be over with and b) I was exhausted. Just a little piece of friendly advice: if you're looking to get some rest, don't go to the hospital! I was woken up every 2 hours during the night so the nurses could check my vital signs.
Tuesday: Surgery Day! My blood work was finally good enough that the doctor was convinced it would be safe to operate, so in I went, and out went my gallbladder. Woke up groggy and in a lot of pain, but the surgery went well and the doctor said there were no complications. They performed a laproscopy on me, so I have three small incisions in my right side and one in my belly button. They had to pump my stomach full of gas in order to perform the surgery, so I looked extremely bloated, which wasn't pleasant. And since I couldn't really walk, I had to have these weird air pressure leg cuffs around my calves to massage my legs to simulate walking so that I wouldn't form blood clots. I was a sexy sight that day!
Wednesday: Once the doctor came and checked on me and the nurses were able to see that I could eat small amounts and take my medication without getting sick, I was released. Michael's parents came and picked me up and took me back to their place until Michael got off of school. He then went and picked up my mom at the airport, who had flown in to take care of me. I was put on a soft food diet, which means I can't eat anything with a consistency much more than mashed potatoes for the next two weeks. After that, I can try to incorporate more normal foods into my diet. But now that my gallbladder is gone, I have to be very careful of what I eat, since I no longer have the organ that helps process fatty foods...so no more fried foods and really rich foods for me (basically, no more tasty food!).
Thursday: Wasn't feeling well, having thrown up twice during the night because my medication was a bit too strong for my stomach when I took the full dose, so I wasn't really up for travelling. So my mom and I stayed one more day with Michael and his parents, just relaxing and trying to get a handle on my pain and nausea.
Friday: Was finally able to head home. Michael was so great during the whole experience, and so were his parents, but there's just something about being in your own home to recover that makes you feel better. You don't have to put on a brave face, you can be as miserable or as lazy as you want, and no one knows it but you.
Saturday: Had a couple visitors in the forms of Jessica (who brought me some gorgeous tulips) and Jayne who helped my mom and I run an errand for my vehicle. My mom mowed my lawn for me and cleaned up some of my flower beds and even had the time to make me homemade soup, clean my bathroom and kitchen, and do my laundry...she is Super Woman, I swear!
Sunday: Enjoying the last day of relaxation and motherly attention before she heads back home to Boise tonight and I attempt to head back to work tomorrow. Most normal activities (like getting dressed or walking around the grocery store) still leave me pretty winded and tired, so I'm not sure how well I'll be able to do at work tomorrow, but I'll do my best, and if I need to get a sub for the afternoon, so be it. I figure I have to try to go back to work though since I already missed a full week after Spring Break due to this stupid gallbladder issue. Fingers crossed I can make it through the day!
So that's the story of how my marathon training got derailed temporarily...here's hoping that I heal fast and can get back to running as soon as possible. Who knows, I may still be able to run TCM (all be it, slowly) after all...think good thoughts everyone!!!!
Has an injury ever gotten in the way of something you were trying to accomplish?
