Saturday, April 22, 2017
An Easter Misadventure
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| Me. Full of the joys of the trail a couple hours before falling ill... |
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| ...to this. |
Last week, I should've been running a 31 mile ultramarathon in the beautiful Trossachs national park. That didn't happen, as many of you know. Instead of running, I spent that time in a hospital bed attached to a drip.
So here's the story of what went down:
I was at the end of what I thought was a normal cold and woke with a slightly scratchy throat on Monday. I actually felt pretty okay and went for a gentle run in a local park that morning. Funny thing is, my legs felt great and I was feeling ready for the big race in 5 days time. I came home, ate lunch and had a shower. That's when I felt something wasn't right...
I got a fever which developed into headaches so severe that I was finding it difficult to go up the stairs without crawling. Honestly, I’ve never felt pain like it before. I had spoken to NHS 24 and been to out of hours earlier, where I was given a basic antibiotic and co-codamol to manage the pain of what looked like fairly standard tonsillitis. But the pain didn’t ease and progressively got worse. The painkillers eventually stopped touching the pain and, worse, the come-down from the medication was so severe I started having hallucinations and couldn't sleep. At this stage, it was clear that something really wasn't right.
On Thursday, an out of hours doctor came to the house and gave me an injection of voltarol and decided to call an ambulance because of the state I was in. That injection was the first thing to ease the pain and I finally slept for about an hour. I was then taken to the hospital in the ambulance and did a series of tests: bloods, CAT scan, chest x-ray, and a lumber puncture. They initially thought that I might have meningitis, so the doctors wanted to rule that out. My bloods showed a high level of infection. I had to be given a transfusion of plasma because my blood wasn’t clotting. I was put on an anti-biotic drip and fluids to replace what I had lost through the tests and fever sweats.
The tests came back and, thankfully, no meningitis. Turns out I had nothing more than pneumonia, but they think that my mucus membrane failed and some of the infection got into my bloodstream, thus the severe headaches.
Needless to say, no chance of running the Great Tartan Skidaddle ultramarathon.
I was delighted to be given the all-clear from the hospital and was discharged on Saturday after being admitted on Thursday. Unfortunately, it didn't end there.
When I was discharged from hospital, I reacted poorly to my medication and had a terrible stomach and then experienced a distressing tinnitus that it kept me from sleeping (it was a loud and unrelenting noise of what sounded like crickets and running water). These are apparently normal, if not rare, side effects on the antibiotic that I was on. At the best of times, my body doesn’t react well to antibiotics, so the strength of this course might've been to blame.
I've now finished the course of medication and now feeling much better, if not totally wiped out. I've been sleeping which is a relief, but my energy levels are pretty low. Everyday is a bit better though and I was able to walk to the post office yesterday, which felt like a small victory.
Ultra Another Day?
I'm gutted that I didn't get to do the run after 12 weeks of training, which I made it through without injury. Still, I'm proud of the £675 that was raised for St Rollox. That money will go to support our destitute friends, who literally have no other form of support. So thank you so much for your generosity and I hope that all of you aren't too disappointed that I wasn't able to complete my challenge. If you want to give to St Rollox, there is still time. Just click here to go to the fundraising page.
I do actually plan to run the race as a "solo" event. The organisers of the race say that they'd be keen to meet me at the end of the solo run. Some of my friends from the trail running club are keen to do some sections of the course with me as well. So even though I didn't do the race, I'm still determined (or just stubborn?) to do finish it -- one way or another. I'm not sure when that will be... much will depend on my recovery, but I'll let you know!
I do actually plan to run the race as a "solo" event. The organisers of the race say that they'd be keen to meet me at the end of the solo run. Some of my friends from the trail running club are keen to do some sections of the course with me as well. So even though I didn't do the race, I'm still determined (or just stubborn?) to do finish it -- one way or another. I'm not sure when that will be... much will depend on my recovery, but I'll let you know!
Emma and I both really appreciate your prayers during all of this and for all those nearby who did practical things for us like watching the kids.
The doctor ordered that I take another week off working and then play it by ear after that. So I have at least another week of doing nothing (or very little) to make sure that I make a full recovery. I don't know when I'll be back to 100%, but just taking it one day at a time.
God bless,
Paul
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