Setting the stage

Before I give the awaited update on how our marathon went I better give an account of why running a marathon was such a big goal and challenge.

In 2004 we had a medical emergency with Rob. Wait let me back up and start from the beginning. Somewhere around High School age Rob started experiencing pain in his lower legs when he would exercise. He went to a few doctors but they weren’t able to find anything abnormal with his feet. Rob started feeling like he was loosing his mind or something but since the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong he eventually started just dealing with the pain as it came. By the time 2004 rolled around he was starting to feel a more constant pain in his lower legs and feet. The pain was no longer only when he exercised. In fact it was worse when he would exercise. He would experience cramping and eventually a numbness in his feet.

One day in 2004 Rob went on a bike ride with my family thinking it was going to be another normal bike ride. As they were nearing the end of the ride they had to climb a big hill. We call it the wall because it’s so steep. As Rob started climbing the wall he began to have severe difficulties. This particular day Rob’s feet hit their cramping and numbing threshold early. He was now trying to climb the wall with numb feet and it hurt extremely badly. Rob finally made it home but I could tell something was wrong. When he told me what had happened and how bad it hurt I took his shoes off to look at his feet. They were still white and cold. I quickly grabbed a heating pad and wrapped his feet to get them to warm up. We both knew something was really wrong with this picture and I told him we needed to figure out what was going on.

The next day we had some blood drawn to start getting blood work done up on him. A few days later he was scheduled to have an angiogram. As he was being prepared for the angiogram the doctor was baffled that he had a seemingly healthy 24 year old on his table. Normally it’s old guys who need these kinds of procedures done. Rob had to explain to him what had been happening with his feet. The doctor agreed to do the procedure. Rob was wide awake during the whole thing so the doctor was talking to him explaining what he was seeing on the screen. He was still confused as to why Rob would be lying on his table until the dye moved past Robs knees. The doctor fell silent in disbelief to what he was seeing on his healthy 24 year old patient. A normal person has three main arteries that supply blood to your lower legs and feet. Rob’s arteries had occluded (stopped from a blockage) just below the knee and well “if you don’t use ‘em you loose ‘em.” Two of the three arteries in Rob’s lower legs were completely gone. He only gets blood to his feet through one artery now. This gave a good explanation as to why Rob’s feet go numb fairly quickly during physical activity. Now we knew why his feet were going numb but what had caused his arteries to be blocked off? More tests!

It’s not very normal to get blood clots in the arteries because the blood is constantly moving. It’s even odder to see an artery become occluded. The fresh blood the arteries carry eventually find a way to get to where it needs to go.

The doctors were concerned that Rob might have a hole in his heart that was throwing clots. He was quickly scheduled to have his heart looked at. Luckily he came away with a clean bill of health on his heart. So he was scheduled for more tests. I can’t remember what test it was he was scheduled for on this specific day but I do remember thinking it was weird that he hadn’t called me all day to tell me what the doctors had said. When Rob finally called me around 5:00 pm he was calling to tell me that they were admitting him to the hospital. Whatever test it was they had done resulted in more tests and a chest x-ray. Not only did Rob have four arteries completely blocked off, he had developed multiple DVT’s, deep vein thrombosis, these clots were causing a blockage in his veins in his lower legs which is what was causing the constant, more severe pain. Also, the dvt’s were throwing clots and causing pulmonary embolisms. He had blood clots in his lungs. Yikes! He was admitted to the hospital so they could start him on Coumadin. They wanted to immediately start thinning his blood. Thinning the blood too fast could cause its own problems though so they started him off pretty slow. Rob was in the hospital for 5 days before they were comfortable with his blood levels. It was insane!

We have great family and friends who were so great at visiting and keeping him company. I would almost have to say that one of the most fun date nights we’ve ever had was when all our friends came to the hospital and we played games in the cafeteria. All of our friends except one couple eventually left. With Rob in a hospital gown with his IV in tow, and myself, Lance and Sabra we wandered down to Primary Children’s Hospital, ate dinner in their cafeteria, laughed at silly jokes, walked through the U of U hospital and over to a wing of U of U’s lab buildings to see Lances lab rats, Sabra washed her hair with one of those no water shampoo shower caps, laughed at each other, played games, laughed, talked forever and laughed some more. Lance and Sabra sure helped us forget our worries that night.

After all the tests were done, we found out a few major things about my hubby. The pain he experienced during exercise from his High School age and on was from his arteries being blocked off. The severe pain he started feeling in 2004 was due to veins in his lower legs and feet being blocked. The severe asthma he was dealing with wasn’t just from asthma. He had pulmonary embolisms inhibiting his breathing as well. The one remaining artery in his left leg had re-routed itself in order to supply enough blood to his foot. The doctor didn’t want to do anything for his four missing arteries because he had this notion that Rob was young and healthy and that his arteries would eventually grow back. Not sure if that will ever happen and if it does how long it will take. Rob has to take Coumadin for the rest of his life to thin his blood. He can no longer play contact sports because he bruises too easy. He has to be very careful about not experiencing any head injuries. The culprit behind all the fun we had was a blood disorder called Protein C deficiency.

Rob still experiences pain from cramping and numbing in his feet and lower legs when he exercises. It’s not as bad when he rides a bike because his feet aren’t pounding on anything but running causes numerous amounts of pain. When we go for a run Rob’s feet usually start cramping and going numb shortly after we start. I don’t know why he continues to run but he does. He has always had a desire to run a marathon and so he figured he had better get it done while he was young so he wouldn’t have to deal with the severe pain as an old guy. Also, what better marathon to run than the Chicago Marathon? It’s a huge event in the city and it’s very flat.

As you can see, running a marathon isn’t just insane for the sane people. It’s insane for the unhealthy insane people too. We were going to attempt a marathon even with all of Rob’s health problems, that’s really INSANE! However insane we were though, we made the commitment, paid the registration fees and started training.