and we roll the dice ...
deep vein thrombosis ...
nasty shit.
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Mike Friedman is this cat pedaling with Slipstream and he had a DVT take him out horrible last year. That's a scary scenario.
and now he's back after a round of anti-coags ... kicking it big at Dunkirk.
don't know anything about the guy ~ but, that's pretty badass, no matter what.
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it's what Sabine had that took her into hospital a couple years back. it's a frightening weight to carry around, these DVTs ... thinking it could come back at any time.
and tonite, after having one of those freak wrecks on her lunch ride, banging herself up nice and purple, she bit the bullet and went and raced the San Jose twilight crits and did just fine. Even though i wanted her to come straight home.
tough little girl.
my girl.
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7 comments:
i looked up DVT...but have questions
is this common for cyclists?
how did Sabine find out that she had DVT?
she IS one tough cookie...
Sorry for the stupid question. What is DVT?
deep vein thrombosis
check it out here.
basically, it's a blod clot that works its way out of one part of the body and into the wrong parts.
death can occur.
yikes!
Deep Vein Thrombosis - fairly common for athletes who have thicker blood (all those extra red blood cells) and frequently dehydrate themselves.
also risk is greatly increased for girlies taking the PILL.
velogirl did an interesting article on DVT (80kb PDF) if you all are interested.
It's not particularly commom for cyclists, but it seems like a number of them have been suffering from DVT as of late. Must be all the long plane flights...
The classic case is a 40ish person who recently went on a long plane flight (or sits for long periods of time). Going on Birth control pills or hormones will increase your risk. Symptoms include unilateral calf pain and/or swelling.
(sorry, national licensing exam in one week and I have so much info floating around in my brain.)
Very scary...another factor comes into play for Kern, followed one week later by a 20+ hour flight.
Your veins rely on the actions of your calf muscles to push the blood back up to the heart. To help with this, there are lots of little valves in the veins.
Sometimes, when the blood is too thick or the clotting mechanism is out of whack, blood can start pooling and clotting, especially near those little valves. Sometimes they dissolve or drift away but they are so small, nothing ever comes of that.
But sometimes they can grow large enough to impede flow out of the leg. This makes the clot even worse. These clots can then grow quite large. My clot filled my vein from mid calf to mid thigh. Others have grown to fill the veins in the stomach and even reach the lungs.
A piece of this clot can break off and lodge in the lungs. This is called a pulmonary embollism and 1 times out of 3 (although that stat may be skewed because some people have PEs and don't know it) is fatal.
Unfortunately, too many doctors think of the DVT candidate as someone middle to late aged, inactive and overweight. I went misdiagnosed for three weeks although I went to about 5 different doctors and a cardiologist during this time and presented the classic DVT symptoms.
I'm a little pissed about the wait, because the longer a clot hangs around in your veins and grows, not only is it more dangerous, but it does more long term damage. My leg still hurts/cramps/swells during long rides and stuff.
It is actually Lorri from Velo Girls who helped me get diagnosed and treated. She told me I HAD to go to the doc right now and that I should insist on a ultrasound. I left work and spent the next six days in the hospital.
While DVTs most frequently strike the elderly and inactive, especially after surgery that keeps them immobile, DVTs can also be caused by:
Pills or estrogen treatments
Genetic factors (clotting disorders)
Prolonged immobilization of the leg (because the calves can't work)
I know of two other NorCal bellas who have had DVTs recently.
I don't know if it strikes athletes more, or if it just seems that way because you start knowing other people who have had it.
I'd tell Mike that it is scary for everyone to come off coumadin. As much as it sucks (and is dangerous)to take that drug, its a little bit of comfort because you feel protected from DVTs. Because of the damage, we all feel little wigglies in our leg, and each time that happens, you wonder...is it another clot? I measured my calf for swelling and went to the urgent care about 3 times after being taken off coumadin because I freaked. Eventually, that passes and you grow less and less concerned and more at ease.
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