Mutant

Winning the war & IDing the cause

I’ve been coming from mountain to mountain and sometimes you feel like you’re fucked but when you say you’re actually fucked, you’re only like, what, 45% fucked.

- Nims Purja

Reflecting

I just spent 4.5 hours in surgery, awake the whole time, trying to restore blood flow to my leg.  It was totally occluded the length of the leg, purple and swollen to twice its normal size.  The first two efforts failed, first going in through the ankle then through the pelvis.  Finally the third one succeeded at going back through the knee and removing the clots with the Philips QuickClear.  My sense is that the standard of care for younger active patients will shift to this procedure quickly after clotting. 

I discovered through my own testing and online research that I have hereditary thrombophilia, a predisposition to developing harmful blood clots in the legs that can travel to the lungs as mine did.  Specifically, I have a Factor V Leiden variant in my F5 gene. 

As a Factor V Leiden Mutant, I plan to name a month dedicated to FVL-Americans and our grievances.  And I need a 31 day month because I have A LOT of grievances.  My major grievance is against multiple daily shots to prevent a recurrence, but there are others.  I have suffered from a lack of victim status so will milk this for all it is worth.  The odds of clotting problems aren’t really terribly high (twice normal) but among people with clotting problems, 30% are my fellow FVM people.  And when we get them, they’re much worse. 

Training

Registration just opened for next spring’s Boston rucking marathon; I’ve done it several times and it is one of my favorite events.  I’m strategizing a plan for returning to training – hiring a swim coach and a shooting coach to focus more on two of my lower impact activities. 

Also, I must cheer on some of my heroes vicariously while my body heals.  Shout outs to Chris Sharma for his killer DWS up Black Pearl and Kilian Journet’s accomplishments in and writing on the Himalayas.  Would do anything to be in Mallorca or Khumbu right now and will do anything to get back in the game soon.

Fueling

I’m endlessly grateful for everyone who has brought me delicious meals this past week.  1,000 thanks.  They’ve physically helped revive my body but also restored my spirits; eating is about the only thing I’ve been able to do so it has been a pleasure to eat so well. 

Supplementing

It is basically impossible to find supplements that are okay to combine with the hardcore blood thinners and anti-inflammatory injections that I have to get multiple times per day, so I’m not bothering.  Not only are most pills a problem, even my pre-workout drinks have ingredients that I need to suspend.  So zippo for the next few months. 

Measuring

I am refocusing on weight training outside of a competitive metcon environment.  To that end, interested to read about machines equaling free weights for hypertrophy and strength.  I’m also committed to getting back to a high step count despite my knee issues, supported by Dr. Howard Luks’ writing on exercise and knee pain.  In short: keep moving. 

Recovering

As with a military attack, with a health attack, one must first fight the war for survival and victory, then turn to an analysis of what exposed the vulnerability so that it doesn’t happen again.  In my case, I discovered my genetic variant with a home 23 and Me test.  They are currently offering a 55% off health and ancestry service and can let you know what you need to be especially attuned to.  It would probably make sense for doctors to prescribe Eliquis (apixaban) post-surgery to people with my genetic condition so that they would avoid the pain and danger that I went through this month.

Closing

I am quite suspicious of expressions of vapid cheeriness that “everything has a reason”.  I think that quite a lot is just meaninglessly shitty including much of my recent days.  But there is the Zatopek Effect, the phenomenon of sickness or injury forcing athletes to take more rest and recovery in which they gain form and put up new PRs after returning.  No evidence yet that is possible but some hope that I could discover some upside from less milage and longer rests.  TBD.