March 31, 2008 (Fairbanks, Alaska) – The US National Team’s Kikkan Randall was prepared for the 2008 US Distance Championships but in the end didn’t race at all in any of the events. Instead she visited the emergency room at the hospital in Frairbanks and spent the night there. Here’s her inside story….

Cliff Notes

Last races of the season happened this weekend in Fairbanks, AK at the US Distance Championships. I had high hopes for good races coming off a successful week at Canadian Nationals.

After traveling back from BC and then up to Fairbanks, I developed a sore back. The pain then moved into my hips and into my upper left leg. I figured it was from a fall I had in BC before I left. Because of the back, I skipped the first race, a fun classic sprint, to try and recuperate. I ended up skipping the second race, the 15km duathlon as well, when my back, hips and leg were still sore.

Finally, on Saturday, the condition had worsened enough that it was time to go to the emergency room. It turned out I had a massive blot clot from my pelvis down past my left knee. I spent the night in the hospital and was given medication to help prevent any more clots from forming. Now I have to wait for my body to break down the clot naturally and cross my fingers that there won’t be any lasting effects.

So now the season is over. It wasn’t quite the finale I was hoping for, but at least now I can focus on rest and recovery.

The Full Story

After a great week of racing in the Callaghan Valley at the Canadian Championships, I was really looking forward to finishing off the season at the US Distance Championships in Fairbanks, Alaska. While I tend to be more successful at the shorter distances, I was anxious to test myself in some longer events. I left BC on Monday evening and returned to Anchorage for a short 15 hour stint before hoping in the car with Jeff for the six hour drive north to Fairbanks.

Upon waking up Tuesday morning, I noticed that my lower back was tight and a little sore. The feeling was nothing unusual however, especially given the hard week of racing, a night spent on a pull-out couch and the tight travel quarters on the way back to Anchorage. So I ran a few errands and jumped in the car to Fairbanks. The last few hours of the drive, my back was getting achy. I figured a good night’s sleep would cure me.

Wednesday morning I was still sore and now the ache seemed to move into my hips as well. After talking it over with coach Erik, we decided I should skip the show sprint that evening and let the back recover. So I spent most of the day in bed or laying on the couch, taking it easy. Even after resting all day however, I was still tight and achy all night.

On Thursday I got out to ski. My back seemed to loosen up after a few minutes and I was starting to think positively about racing the next day. I did a little race pace work to spark my body. It felt awful!! My legs were just dead, especially my left one which had been tightening up. By the end of the ski my mood had changed and Erik and I once again decided to skip the race in hopes of letting the body come around.

Thursday evening I took a hot bath to help my back relax. When I got out of the tub, I noticed my legs felt tight and a little restricted. Later, Jeff noticed that my left leg was starting to look noticeably bigger than my right. Now my leg was getting more uncomfortable too.

Friday morning I went out for a ski. I thought classic would be better for my back. As I headed up the first hill, my left leg (which was already feeling tight) was tightening up. By the top of the hill my leg was tingling. I was also struggling to keep my hands warm so I headed back to the wax trailer after just fifteen minutes. I was starting to feel like something was really wrong. The coaches reassured me to skip that evening’s race and to maybe think about ending the season.

Friday evening I went out to Birch Hill where the races were being contested and watched the women’s and men’s races with my parents. My leg was really tight now and painful to walk on. While I was at the races, I met up with a physical therapist named Heini. She took a look at my legs and back and immediately informed me I was out of alignment. I guess one leg was one inch off from the other one and my back was all out of wack. She pushed and pulled on me for a little while and soon had me back in alignment. I walked away feeling a little bit better and once again positive that I might race on Sunday.

When I got back to the hotel after the races, I took a couple quick ice baths. Even so, my left leg was still visibly bigger than my right leg. I was restless through the night, having a hard time finding a comfortable position to sleep in.

On Saturday I met up with Heini again. My back and pelvis were back in alignment and doing great, but the leg was a cause for concern. Heini told me to keep an eye on the swelling and if it got any bigger, to go to a doctor. Jeff meanwhile had told Erik about the swelling in the leg and Erik recommended that we go get the leg checked out immediately. So, when I met back up with Jeff, we decided to head to the Emergency Room.

The Fairbanks hospital wasn’t too busy and I got in to see the doctor pretty fast. After taking note of my activity over the past few days and assessing the symptoms, the doctor wanted to get an ultra sound to check for blood clots. The ER had to call the ultra sound technician in from home, and that took about an hour. While the ultra sound tech was doing the scan on my leg, she was busy pressing buttons and she didn’t say anything when she left the room. So I was thinking to myself, “Sweet, no clots.” But when she came back, she informed me I had a “impressive” clot running from my hip all the way down past my knee. I had a deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

Suddenly things became very serious. The doctor talked Jeff and I through the clot, what it meant and what the treatment options were. He said they wanted to keep me overnight for observation. So I called my parents, and they came over and joined me at the hospital as I was moved up to a regular room. Then the nurse put in an IV and before the night was over I was started on blood thinners and sent through a CAT scan. It was weird to be laying in a hospital bed all hooked up to machines when two days earlier I had been skiing fine and thinking about racing.

Luckily, treatment for blood clots has come a long way in the last 20 years. Patients with blood clots used to have to spend up to six weeks in the hospital on an IV form of heparin, a blood thinner. Now they have treatments that you can do at home. So, the next morning I was released from the hospital with shots to administer to myself twice a day, and a blood thinner called Coumadin. I was told to take it easy, try to keep my leg up, and to get in to see a doctor as soon as I got back to Anchorage. Before leaving the hospital I asked the doctor if it was okay to go out and watch the race. He hesitated but then said yes. So I headed out to Birch Hill and watched the race from the sideline. It was actually more taxing than I thought to walk around, so after a short while I went back to the couch.

Monday morning I flew back to Anchorage with my Mom (a better option than driving for six hours). I am now awaiting more blood tests and more instructions on how to move forward.

This has been a very frustrating, scary and surreal experience. It’s frustrating because I missed racing this week, but more importantly it’s scary. Had the blood clot gone undetected and untreated, it could have dislodged and traveled up to my lungs causing a pulmonary embolism which can be fatal. Hopefully the treatment I’m on now will prevent any new clots from forming and will help the body absorb and clear out the clot.

Now I just have to rest. I’m lucky that this happened at the end of the season and not during it. I’m lucky this happened while I was close to home, and I’m lucky that I have great people around me to help me get through this. I probably won’t get to do all the fun adventures I was planning for the end of the season (can’t risk falling or injury while I’m on blood thinners) but at least I can focus on recovery and maybe pour my mental energy into the finishing touches for the wedding.

So that’s the 2008 season. Thanks for coming along!

Cheers,
Kikkan 🙂