(I wrote this last year in September on a separate biking site, but thought I would share this here. For the story of the entire experience here is another post I wrote about this).
At the end of January I got sick. Not your normal cold, or even something that may have you decommissioned for a few days or a week. This had me in the hospital twice and bed ridden for six weeks. But this is not exactly what this article is
The day after I was able to shuffle up and back down the hall. Couldn’t bend my leg at all and did a total of about 100 ft. before feeling exhausted.
about, at least not the reasons for my being sick, (I’ll just say that I have some serious auto-immune diseases). Rather, it is about my getting back on the bike from a state of almost no strength and a severe inability to walk on my own.
One of the results for being sick and bed-ridden was that I got a blood clot, (Deep Vein Thombrosis or DVT). This was extremely painful. And what made it worse was that a family friend had died from one he had gotten behind his knee (same place as mine) a year ago. Typically, with this type of thing, the treatment is massive amounts of blood thinners to break the thing up over a day or two. However, I was able to receive a different treatment. They went in surgically and broke the thing up.
The reason they treated mine differently was greatly because of my general heath, or fitness, (I was still sick, but not that type of health). Because I biked everyday for two years before getting sick I was in a narrow health range where they could do this surgery. This was almost completely because of biking.
However, all that aside, being sick, and then having surgery on my leg put me in a pretty weak spot when it came to getting back on the bike and being able to do what once came so naturally to me. I had lost 30 lbs, much of that muscle. I was terribly weak and my left leg was pretty screwed up/traumatized from the clot and surgery. I could barely walk, and even when I did I’d be exhausted very soon after starting.
Recovering
After 4 days in the hospital I was finally sent back home. The thing about this blood clot is that I got a team of doctors who actually helped me get over my previous illness. And so, feeling better than I had in months, despite the stiff/sore/swollen leg I was determined to gain my strength back.
This started slowly. Each day I would go on two walks up and down my street. They were short, but it was something, and I kept at it with the help of my Dad and brother, Jaron, who would come over to help with my walks. I had a cane the whole time, not able to put a lot of pressure on my leg, but soon, after a week, I started to leave the cane behind.
Out for a walk with my handy cane.
Soon, I was able to get on my bike, hooked up to a trainer, and start pedaling. It was something… Not much, but it felt good to sit on the saddle, (which still hurt from losing so much weight) and begin to pedal again. For a
On the trainer, working up my strength.
week, every day I worked hard to get my legs strength back that I had obtained over years of biking previously. I was determined. I think this attitude helped a lot with my recovery. I wanted to change. While still be discouraged about my situation and how tired I’d get over a shot amount of time, I saw the progress. It was the first physical progress I had made in nearly 3 months. That was important to me.
I started work soon after and was encouraged to drive for a few days but I couldn’t do it. I had to bike. I took my mountain bike bike as It seemed like it’d be more stable and easier to sit on and took it out that first morning back to work.
It was amazing!
It was like riding a bike for the first time. The warm air blowing past me as my still weak legs pedaled steadily towards my works building. It felt great and renewed my desire to work back up to where I’d been at the start of the year.
Where I am Now
There’s a purpose to this story. Not necessarily about my sickness, but about what cycling has done for me. It has literally saved my life. It has given me a reason to stay positive during difficult days. While I’m still no where near the biking caliber I was once at, I am getting there slowly. And I think that’s OK. I have a great team who encourages me, and pushes me. Biking can be a hobby, but for most people I’ve known it is more than that. It affects your life. It is a change in how you view yourself and your surroundings. It grows to be an important part of who you are.
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