Here are excerpts from my diary during the period when I was suffering from an undiagnosed pulmonary embolism. I have included all the portions relevant to my symptoms:
8/25 Thursday [...] A-pool final with Vince (!!!) We play the Flying Possums [...] We end up winning, although I don't play well.
8/26 Friday [...] I decide that I'm going to get over my slump, and I head to ultimate at Microsoft pickup. [...] I'm more tired than I think I should be. At some point when I'm on offense, I collide with a defender (I think it was Chris, maybe Rick) and get nailed right in the ribs. I know its going to be really bad. [...]
8/27 Saturday [...] I'm still low energy, and now my rib really hurts. Go out to meet Sarah at 6:30 am. I meet Matt, but Sarah isn't there. Matt and I do steady state together for about 20 minutes before I bail. My rib is killing me, and my hamstring is killing me. Later I do "stretch weights" and power through an hour on the elliptical machine. Its really hard to hold level 15, but I manage to finish. Depressing.
8/29 Monday. I row at Pocock with the Charles 8. My rib hurts a lot, but its bearable. Hopefully in another week I'll be OK. [...] I'm not sleeping well due to stress and rib pain. Perhaps this is part of the low-energy problem. I worry about cancer.
8/31 Wednesday. 3x10 row, 24/26/28 for first two, then 15 on, 5 off at higher rate for last set. Played MS pickup at noon, which really hurt my rib. Played for just over an hour, then played fetch with Zoey. [...]
9/2 Friday. 2x15 row. Rib is a lot better today. [...] Play ultimate at lunch, but rib doesn't like the movement and I'm tired from the row.9/3 Saturday. [...] I got up at 6 and went for a row. The water was a bit choppy due to wind, and as a result there were not very many boats. I did 3x10 minutes at increasing, low rate.
9/6 Tuesday. [...] I go home at noon to meet the fence guy, and then plan to do an hour of power on the erg. My plan is to hold an easy 1:49 for the hour. After 10 minutes, I can't hold the pace and decide to do 3x10 on and then 10 off. The second 10-minute piece is way too hard at only a 1:49, and I'm completely exhausted after. I break the last 10 minutes into 2x5 so I can hold pace. I have never been this weak on the erg and it scares me.
9/7 Wednesday. HOCR workout: 10x 2min on, 1 min off, increasing stroke rates. We have a couple ringers subbing in, and the boat feels good. I do OK, but my rib is really sore from yesterday's erg. [...] I played MS ultimate pickup at lunch, and I was terrible in terms of energy. I can run fast for cuts, but after each point I feel like I've played a whole game. I call the doctor, and I have an appointment for Monday morning to see Dr. [XYZ] and presumably get some blood-work done. I'm really nervous that something is wrong; I'm going to drop out of the HOCR lineup if I don't get this worked out in the next couple weeks.
9/9 Friday. [...] We headed to Hamlin for an 8pm Vince game against Guard Seize Them. [...]. I could only play one point at a time; I would become completely exhausted whenever I had to run and would be out of breath as if I had been working out for an hour. My recovery was reasonably good, but there's definitely something wrong. I feel as if I'm not getting enough oxygen, and I'm going anaerobic immediately whenever I start working out. I told Joann how I felt, and I unfortunately managed to scare her a bit. I'm mostly concerned about the Charles boat; I need to either figure out what is going on or bail soon. Hopefully there will be a useful diagnosis on Monday. I take ibuprofen, Tylenol, and Nyquil before bed.
9/12 Monday. 4 by 5 minute pieces, 28, 30, 32, 32. The boat felt really good this morning. I was able to hold on to the pace pretty well, but my confidence is shot. I went to Dr. [XYZ] after showering, and he predictably was suggesting that I was overtraining or wasn't drinking enough Gatorade while working out. I got some blood work done, and results should be back in a couple days. Chest X-ray looks fine. I've got an appointment for Monday the 19th to do a stress test with the cardiologist I saw for my heart skipping. [...]9/13 Tuesday. I did not work out today. I hate that feeling, but I'm hoping the lack of exercise will help. [...]
9/14 Wednesday. No row this morning due to sub problems. I slept in until 7:30. [...] I played ultimate today [...] Pete from ultimate asked if I was sick because I was not as fast as usual. This freaked me out a bit. [...]9/15 Thursday. [...] Went to the PRO club to do leg weights (100 reps, light weight, on both the hip sled and the hamstring curl) and an hour of steady. My heart rate was high for the level (as is normal these days), but I discovered that if I breathed abnormally deep and frequently, my heart rate would go down. My new theory is that there's something wrong with my lungs and that not enough oxygen is getting into my blood. [...]
9/16 Friday. Morning row was a few 2 minute pieces, 45 seconds off w/ the 50+ boat, followed by 20 on 10 off on our own. [...] Went out to dinner in Kirkland with Chris, Joshua, and our visitor, but I had only a salad due to a Vince game at 8:15 in Shoreline. My fatigue level was scary again, and I think some of the Vince folks have realized something is going on. [...]
9/18 Sunday. Got up to row at 6:30. Ran into Matt and Dan [..] and they said Sarah wasn't coming out because of the fog. I did some "steady state" with them, and I couldn't keep up for 10 strokes. I came in after 15 minutes. [...]9/19 Monday. We did 5x5 minute pieces at 28,30,32,34,34. For the first time ever, I was worried about my safety as a result of the workout. I could feel my heart beat in my neck, I could barely breathe enough, and I can't imagine I was doing much for boat speed. When I got to work, I coughed up a little blood. I decided to bail on the Head of the Charles, and I sent an email to the boat. It was one of the more difficult mornings I've had in a while. Everyone was cool, and I got calls from Matt, Trevor and Dwight. Dwight hooked me up with [ABC], [...] who was very interested in my situation. I went to the cardiologist to do a stress test. I was "way above average", and he didn't think anything was wrong. He suggested it was psychological. I filled [ABC] in on the latest, and he is setting me up with a lung expert next week.
9/21 Wednesday. [...] Went to play ultimate at lunch, and I was even slower. I got an appointment to see the pulmonary specialist next Wednesday. [...]9/25 Sunday. [...] I pull a 30-minute erg with an average split of 1:52, where the last 10 minutes or so are about 1:50. I feel a little better. [...]
9/26 Monday. [...] I spend time collecting medical records to send to UW for my pulmonary exam on Wednesday. [...] I play ultimate, and I do OK but not great. I think I may be getting better.
9/28 Wednesday. [...] I drive to UW to meet with Dr. [RST]. He's an athletic guy, and he understands my frustration with appearing healthy to doctors. We talk for close to an hour; I haven't felt so un-rushed ever with a doctor. He gives me an exam, and he thinks its safe for me to work out. He wants to do a stress test where he measures my oxygen and VO2 max; I schedule this for Thursday. The test will rule out two "bad" things. If I look OK, he suspects its some weird deal that seems to happen to a lot of athletes that show identical symptoms. Evidently it can take close to a year to recover. I'm bumming, but I trust him.
9/30 TGIF. I feel crappy again today. Chris and I have a meeting with Jody at 12:30, so I go to the PRO club early. I have a pretty good workout. [...]10/1 Saturday. [..] I watch the first half of the Cal game pulling an erg. I hold about a 1:55 average. The good news is my rib is almost better.
10/3 Monday. [...] I play ultimate at noon, and it goes better than normal. I still get wiped out, but it takes longer (two points) and I can go harder. I have a fantastic layout opportunity in the end zone, and somehow I miss the disc!
10/5 Wednesday. I feel like crap today. [...] I had lots of meetings, and then went to Traffic practice. My stress test is tomorrow.
10/6 Thursday. I have my stress test on the bike. My VO2 max is really low (50), and the oxygen uptake of my blood decreases about 2/3 of the way through. [...]
10/10 Monday. [...] I lifted weights today! My rib hurt a little on bench, but otherwise it was fine. I went light, and only did sets of 5 on the pull-ups. I went easy on my hour of steady.
10/13 Thursday. [...] This afternoon I did another stress test and "won" easily - the machine stops getting harder after 21 minutes. The cardiologist had me stop and the ultrasound looked fine.10/15 Saturday. [In Leavenworth with Joann for a conference] [...] I went for a run, and I did 5 miles pretty hard! [...]
10/16 Monday. [...] At lunch I pulled an erg, and averaged 1:48.8 for an hour! Not a great score, but normally it would be a solid workout. Feeling really good, I sent an email to [RST] telling him all the good news. He agreed it was good news, and we discussed whether or not I should do the CT angiogram on Tuesday because he thought it highly unlikely, given the events, that I have a PE. We decide to go ahead just to be safe.
10/17 Tuesday. I take the test - it was a very strange sensation. I got back to work, and [RST] sent me a bombshell email: I have PE! I head back to the hospital to get an ultrasound of my legs, and I have a big clot that runs down my left leg. [RST] puts me on an injectible blood thinner immediately (I have to do this twice a day), and I start taking Coumadin. What a blow.
10/19 Thursday. Today I've mostly recovered from the shock of it all. I don't exercise (I didn't yesterday either), but I plan to go back at it tomorrow. [RST] thinks its perfectly safe.