Originally Posted by
AKbruin
Jeez, it's been a long time since I've looked at this thread. To be honest, it's not something I'm eager to think about, but I guess I should update my own story.
2011: I got off the rat poison (coumadin) and everything was normal for a couple years.
2013: I wanted to get in a dozen or so hot laps at Northstar's bike park on by DH bike. Naturally, I'm near the end of my last run of the day on a jump line I'd done 100's of times before when . . . fade to black . . . I come to consciousness in a heap with a bike patrol and others standing over me. I don't know or remember what happened, but I'm pretty sure I significantly overshot a tabletop by taking the booster jump on the side and hitting it diagonally. Anyhow, I manage to drive myself to the ER, where they call the heli and lifeflight me to Reno, where I learn that I had a lacerated liver and kidney, punctured lung, concussion, and other stuff.
Six weeks later I get another blood clot in my calf. I go on Xarelto this time. I also see a number of specialists locally and at Stanford, and the consensus is that the second clot, like the first, was probably the result of trauma. After three months, the docs okay me to get off the blood thinners.
2014: One month after getting of blood thinners, I got a pulmonary embolism. I had been mountain biking the week before and was at the gym doing my normal warmup, but I felt kinda shitty. Not terrible, but not great. Having had the previous clots, I was aware of the a PE's symptoms. So I told my doc about it over the phone and he thought it was highly unlikely, but he ordered the blood work that morning and then called me and told me to immediately go to the ER, where they found clotting in my lungs and calves. It kind of fucked me up psychologically for a while. It's hard to explain, but I didn't want to leave my house or work for a month or so. One of the things that got me out of that rut was going to my daughter's first ski race.
After this PE and third clotting incident, all my docs basically told me I'd have to be on blood thinners for the rest of my life. Again, I have no hereditary conditions, so the cause is mostly trauma based and the more clots you get the more likely you are to get further clots.
Present: Being on blood thinners (Xarelto), the big concern is internal injuries--concussions and destroying my internal organs. Honestly, I have not noticed extra bruises or cuts bleeding more at all. In terms of lifestyle, I've never received any clear guidance from doctors. Some are very conservative and think I should take up video games, others have encouraged me to maintain my lifestyle but with added precautions and awareness. I have obviously chosen to adopt the latter advice.
I've more or less stopped mountain biking. I continued to trail bike for a year or two but I found myself with a Ricky Bobby complex--I wanted to go fast and it was hard to enjoy going slower. I also felt like it was harder to control the injury risk on a bike, where I was always a pedal-strike away from disaster. I still ski a lot--between 60 and 100 days a year. But 85%+ of those days are in the backcountry. I don't huck things much in the resort and don't go into the park that often any more. In the backcountry, I do ski steep, exposed lines. But I figure in fall-you-die terrain it doesn't matter whether you're on blood thinners. But I'm also dialing it back at least a little when skiing and I rarely take beater falls these days.
Honestly, I don't think about it that much these days, which is the way I prefer it. Once in a while though, something will come up and force me to take stock. For example, a few years ago, NBA star Chris Bosh had a PE, came back, and then got a blood clot in one of his legs. Even though he wanted to continue to play, the Miami Heat and NBA would not let him. I don't have the full medical story here, but the fact that professionals wouldn't let someone on blood thinners play basketball--a sport I never thought was all that dangerous--was certainly alarming.
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