Ok ready for a crazy story? Ever heard of Rhabdomylosis? Well I hadn't either...until a few weeks ago. So I decided to join this boot camp, which if you know me at all is just hilarious, but there was a groupon and it seemed like a good idea at the time. So I went to the first class and was really excited and thought it was a tough workout but that I would get better at it with time. Then the next day my arms were really sore but I figured they were just sore no big deal, thats what happens when you exrcise I guess. But it hurt realllllly bad! Two days later... my arms hurt so bad I could barely move them at all, it was so painful. About halfway through the day I am completely unable to bend or stretch them and I was noticing at they were warm and a little swollen. I kind of figured something was wrong but I just thought maybe I pulled something or did the exercise wrong. So that day I get home from work and I take a shower and I really noticed that they were getting a bit more swollen and pretty hot, but I was going to ignore it and go to Mt. Pleasant to party with my friend Carly. In a twisted act of fate my car broke down less than a mile from home so I didn't make it to Mt. Pleasant (thank god because it probably would have resulted in kidney failure).
So when Eric finally came to rescue me from the broken down car situation and we were just like ok lets go get food and beer. So we get to the Draft House (our favorite dirty bar food place) and I took my coat off and I was like "wow, do my arms look swollen?" and we looked down at them and they were exploding. They were huge and buring hot and very hard, which was alarming. So there I am, sitting up and the bar crying because I was in so much pain and I just knew something was really wrong. So we ate and drank a bit, maybe beer would help? No, bad idea.
Once we left the bar I called my mom (shes also my personal nurse) to tell her what was going on and she said that when an extremity is hard and swollen like that it could mean you have a blood clot. So she said "you need to go to the ER right now". Turns out what was happening was the extreme repetitive weight lifting was causing my muscles to break down and release protein into my blood. Which your kidneys cannot handle that much protein so it can result in kidney damage or failure. SCARY!
Then to make matters worse they had to call the surgical team because they were concerned that my arms were swelling so much that they were either going start to get permanent muscle damage, they were going to swell to the point where they might just kind of...pop, or they were going to get so tight they were going to cut off the circulation to my hands. So they were watching to see if they had to do the surgery where they just cut slices down my arms and just let them release the pressure. It was terrifying, the whole experience.
In the end I did not have to have surgery nor did my kidneys fail, though they are still not functioning at 100%. I stayed 3 days in the hospital and now I am just taking it easy and drinking lots of fluids.
The whole point in telling this novel of a story is because I am so scared that this could happen to someone else! It was so unexpected, I would never have imagined something like this would happen. The hospital staff stressed that I should contact the gym I went to and tell them that this is a real issue and that it happens more than we know about, especially with the popularity of boot camps like this growing. I will still be returning to the gym, but most likely keeping away from the weights, I will stick with running!
So work out smart everyone. Know your limits and focus on a balanced diet and moderate exercise. Be mindful of your body. I hope you enjoy my chubby arms in my hospital pic....
So when Eric finally came to rescue me from the broken down car situation and we were just like ok lets go get food and beer. So we get to the Draft House (our favorite dirty bar food place) and I took my coat off and I was like "wow, do my arms look swollen?" and we looked down at them and they were exploding. They were huge and buring hot and very hard, which was alarming. So there I am, sitting up and the bar crying because I was in so much pain and I just knew something was really wrong. So we ate and drank a bit, maybe beer would help? No, bad idea.
Once we left the bar I called my mom (shes also my personal nurse) to tell her what was going on and she said that when an extremity is hard and swollen like that it could mean you have a blood clot. So she said "you need to go to the ER right now". Turns out what was happening was the extreme repetitive weight lifting was causing my muscles to break down and release protein into my blood. Which your kidneys cannot handle that much protein so it can result in kidney damage or failure. SCARY!
Then to make matters worse they had to call the surgical team because they were concerned that my arms were swelling so much that they were either going start to get permanent muscle damage, they were going to swell to the point where they might just kind of...pop, or they were going to get so tight they were going to cut off the circulation to my hands. So they were watching to see if they had to do the surgery where they just cut slices down my arms and just let them release the pressure. It was terrifying, the whole experience.
In the end I did not have to have surgery nor did my kidneys fail, though they are still not functioning at 100%. I stayed 3 days in the hospital and now I am just taking it easy and drinking lots of fluids.
The whole point in telling this novel of a story is because I am so scared that this could happen to someone else! It was so unexpected, I would never have imagined something like this would happen. The hospital staff stressed that I should contact the gym I went to and tell them that this is a real issue and that it happens more than we know about, especially with the popularity of boot camps like this growing. I will still be returning to the gym, but most likely keeping away from the weights, I will stick with running!
So work out smart everyone. Know your limits and focus on a balanced diet and moderate exercise. Be mindful of your body. I hope you enjoy my chubby arms in my hospital pic....
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