hi friends! my lovely pal Jill is taking over my blog today to share her amazing story. Enjoy! She blogs regularly over at In Good Faith. Enjoy!
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In April of 2010, as a healthy 23-year-old woman finishing up my second year of law school, I was blindsided by a random illness {Lemierre’s Syndrome} that almost cost me my life. While it was the most terrifying ordeal of my life, the experience has taught me a lot about myself, and has had a huge impact on my feelings about health & fitness.
On a Friday night in April 2010 I came down with a sore throat. I asked my (now) husband to pick me up some Emergen-C. It was the last week of classes and I feared my immune system was feeling the stress of impending finals. By the next day the sore throat was so bad, I felt like I couldn’t swallow. I also had a fever which was spiking up to 104 degrees and debilitating chills that violently shook my whole body. A few days later, after the health center couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me, I was taken to the hospital in an ambulance, where I was quickly discovered to be in septic shock. My condition kept worsening and later that night I was intubated as I experienced “acute lung failure.” At one point a person was manually squeezing a bag to provide my lungs with air.
I was ultimately placed on an ECMO machine {extracorporeal membrane oxygenation} which circulated my blood out of my body and through a machine, oxygenating it for me so that my lungs could rest. I remained asleep on this machine for 12 long days. Eventually doctors gave me large doses of steroids and my lungs began to heal. When I woke up I had no idea how serious my illness had been, or how long I had been asleep. I assumed about 2-3 days.
When I was finally extubated and could sit up and talk, a nurse helped me stand up for the first time in two weeks. My legs felt like jelly. I couldn’t stand, let alone walk. Over the course of the next ten days I received physical therapy three times a day to get my muscles moving again. I had lost 15 lbs, most of it from my lower body. I started by taking a few steps and progressed to the point where I could walk a loop or two down the hallway in the hospital. When I took some of my first steps my husband cried.
When I finally went home I wore oxygen at all times. I had a PICC line {an IV line} through which my husband had to inject antibiotics three times each day. My husband and I would take {very short} walks outside to build up my strength. Luckily, being young and otherwise healthy, I healed quickly. Within about two months I felt almost back to normal. Because of the amazing work of my doctors I have full lung capacity and am perfectly healthy today.
Prior to my illness I worked out intermittently. I never “needed” to work out until late in college when my bad habits started catching up to me {oh, hey, $2 24 oz. bud lights and late night food}. Regardless of what I did, my weight stayed within about a ten pound range where I felt decently comfortable.
But after experiencing lung failure, I made the decision in December 2010 that I wanted to run a 5k race. I had never been a runner and had never run more than a mile in my life. Still, I felt a strong urge to USE the body that I was so thankful.
In January I began the Couch to 5k plan, where I started running for only 60 seconds at a time — which was VERY hard for me at first! However, I stuck with it, and in 2011 I ran two 5ks. In 2012 I ran five 5ks, one 8k, and and 10k. Then this year I accomplished something I never dreamed of– I ran the Cherry Blossom 10-miler with Teri and my other girlfriends, finishing with a 10:59/mile average pace {great for me!}. That’s me, second from the left.
Running, as well as Pure Barre, biking, and strength training have become habit for me now. I do not take my body, my lungs, or my health for granted. Some days I will literally take a big, deep breath during a workout and smile, feeling grateful to have lungs that work! This doesn’t mean that I don’t have days where I skip workouts or when I just don’t want to get off the couch— we all have those days– but I now feel a desire and commitment to fitness that I never had before.
I urge you- take advantage of your health and get moving! Our bodies are truly amazing and you’ll be surprised what you can accomplish.
2 Comments
Sophie
atGood for you!
What bad things with your health you have been through! You came out stronger then before & well done you, running the 5 k like that! Your husband & parents must be so proud of you! 🙂 xxx
Wishing U Well Medical
atIt’s really interesting story and surprised, i like it….