Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 105, April 2018 | Page 21

ROAD RUNNING
to my doctor immediately. As my mom reversed out of the parking lot, my doctor
phoned to say it was an emergency and that I must get to Sunninghill Hospital
urgently, because the surgeon was waiting for me. My 70-year-old mom grabbed
the envelope, then took off. I’ve never seen her drive like that – she even ramped
pavements, which the kids thought was very funny! Meanwhile, I googled a deep
vein thrombosis in the carotid artery… It said survival prospects were 0%.”
Recovering after the
second operation
Trying to Stay Calm
When they arrived at the hospital, Wendy told her mom to take the kids home while
trying not to panic in front of them, and called her friend Sandy to come help her.
“She filled in the forms as they put sensors all over me and took 26 blood samples
to test every marker in my body! At 5pm the surgeon came to see me and spotted
that I had no vision in my right eye, which he said was due to the limited supply
of oxygen my brain was receiving. I hadn’t even noticed – instead, typical runner,
I actually asked when I would be able to run again. He just laughed, and said he
should have known I would ask that, since he was also a runner, then said, ‘You will
run again, but first we need to save your life.’”
Wendy was told she would go into surgery on Friday afternoon and was put on
blood thinners, endured numerous injections in the stomach and made to drink
a lot of water. Unsurprisingly, she barely slept that night. The next morning, the
anaesthetist came to check on her prior to the operation, saying she was third in
line and scheduled to go in at 1pm, but she says he kept looking at the monitors.
“Fifteen minutes later I was in theatre. I didn’t know it at the time, but he had
spotted my oxygen levels dropping at a rapid rate. I was literally dying in front of
him!”
The surgeon did an angioplasty through her arm in an operation that lasted three
and a half hours, and when she came round again, he came to see her. “He told
me only God knows how I was still alive, because the blockages appeared to
have been there before the marathon. It turns out I was born with some veins
and arteries in the wrong place, between my ribs and collar bone, so every time
I moved my arm I would pinch them. However, the body adapts, so I had grown
many smaller capillary veins to compensate. He said that probably would have
given me problems later in life anyway, but the real problem now was the birth
control pill I was on to maintain a normal cycle. It had caused microscopic blood
clots, which had built up and begun blocking these tiny capillaries, so I had no
bloodflow and oxygen on my left side from my throat to my elbow. He said he
didn’t know how I had survived, let alone run a marathon, but that my running
fitness had probably saved my life!”
Back on the Road
Thanks to that fitness, Wendy bounced back from the operation quickly. By the
following Tuesday she was already driving her kids to school, and the next day did
her first walk, but to her great regret, she had to ask her running friends to sell all
her half marathon pre-entries lined up for the next few months. Another operation
followed 20 days later, to remove the rib that was pinching her vein, and she says
that actually knocked her more than the first operation. Still, she was walking again
soon after the second op, and walked her first parkrun 5km four weeks later.
She then ran the Pirates Hat Race in Joburg, followed by the Gansbaai 10km down
in the Cape while on holiday, but says it was an interesting experience. “I actually
managed to run most of it, but with a different posture. I had been hunched and
slouched, due to not getting enough oxygen, and that had led to the injuries,
“It made me
realise that my
life had been
passing me by,
and that life is
there to be lived,
so whether you
choose to climb
a mountain
or take up
painting, or run
marathons, you
should just go
for it.”
because I was dragging my legs.” She then did the Dis- Chem 5km Dash in Joburg,
the Randburg Valentines 10km and the new Hot Legs 15km race as she steadily
built back up to fitness. “I can run fairly hard again, but have to run consistently so
as not to spike my heart rate. I’m just enjoying the time on my legs, and finishing
races with a smile on my face.”
Doing Things Differently
These days Wendy wears an ICE band on her wrist with her brother’s contact
details, in case anything happens while she is out running, and she says she has
been amazed by the phenomenal support her running family gives her. “We have a
WhatsApp group where I let them know when I am going running, and they check
my Strava results, and encourage me. Also, thanks to social media, my running
club and running friends, I can’t go anywhere without people hugging me and
saying welcome back, and how surprised they are to see me running again so
soon.”
“I’m actually more determined than ever to run… it is hard to accept eight minutes
per kay when I can remember flying at 5:45 per kay, but I’m getting there bit by bit.
Fortunately, I’m off the blood-thinners now, which had side-effects that included
low energy, fluid retention, and sore bones in my feet, and my blood tests show
that the markers for blood clots are gone. Added to that, I am watching my diet
carefully and trying to get more sleep.”
Unsurprisingly, this frightening near-death experience has made Wendy rethink a
lot of things about her life and attitude, and she says she is doing things differently
now. “I could have gotten out of bed one morning, dislodged a clot, and died on
the spot, or during a race. It made me realise that my life had been passing me by,
and that life is there to be lived, so whether you choose to climb a mountain or take
up painting, or run marathons, you should just go for it.”
“It’s given me a new lease on life, and I’m now doing much more with my
boys, going on new
adventures, and giving
them more time. I’m also
encouraging them to
run, and we do parkruns
together as well as the
Zoo Trot events each
month. Overall, I’m no
longer focused on having
the right house, a pool
or car, but on quality of
life and relationships.
And if my story and my
new attitude can inspire
one other person to get
off the couch to take up
running, then I will be
happy.”
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