My Experience with Rhabdo

16.5

Strange how a few numbers can be pretty frightening.  16.5 was the CrossFit workout that I performed 2 days before I was hospitalized with rhabdomyolysis (rhabdo for short).  My gym held a small intramural competition, and one person from each team would perform the workout the night it was announced.  I volunteered for my team and I was prepared.  I was thoroughly hydrated, ate well all week, was loose and ready to go.

But once the workout was announced, my heart dropped.  21-18-15-12-9-6-3 of thrusters and burpees (168 total reps). I didn’t want to do this workout. It was the same workout from 2014 (14.5) that I skipped…on purpose. I decided to give it a go away.  I am use to thrusters and burpees, and I could always stop if I wasn’t feel right.

Well…I completed the workout.  I felt pretty good but my triceps were a bit stiff.  Other than that, I felt great.  The next day I made sure to stay hydrated just in case.  Just in case?  In case of what?  Yea, I was thinking about rhabdo even though I felt ok.  For some reason I was really nervous.  I was constantly checking my arms and my urine color to make sure everything was normal.  By that Saturday, my left arm was pretty stiff and I couldn’t bend it.  I kept ice on it and stayed hydrated.  Late Saturday morning, I went on a hike with my pups.  It was supposed to be a short hike, but ended up being a rigorous 2 hour hike.  By the time I got home, I was unable to bend my arms.  I could barely remove my shirt to take a shower.  I decided to use the bathroom before I showered and wouldn’t you know it….my urine was off in color.  Instead of being a clear pale yellow, it was a clear light brown…much like diluted tea.  Well, that set me on my course to the ER.

After a few tests the ER doctor confirmed that I had rhabdo. He informed me that my creatine kinase (CK) levels were so high that they were undetectable because their lab only can read values up to 42,600 U/L.  This was pretty scary since normal CK levels, for adult females, are usually no greater than 145 U/L.  From there I was off to start my extended stay at Abington Memorial.

Time in the hospital was pretty easy.  I hung out with my new bestie, Ivy (get it…I.V….Ivy?!), and watched reruns of Supernatural….pretty awesome.

The toughest part was being away from boyfriend and the pups.  I missed my boys a lot. Also, waiting for test results sucked!  I was initially given an aggressive I.V. drip to prevent kidney damage. The next set of blood work still had my CK levels above 42,600 U/L, so they decided to rerun the blood work with dilutions to get an actual value. My CK levels from the ER were 85,340 U/L, and dropped to 48,100 U/L by the next day (after three I.V. bags). On Monday, my CK levels rose up to 62,042 U/L and my liver enzymes were extremely high (above 1100 for AST), though the remaining criteria for kidney function (albumin, bilirubin, and creatinine) all stayed in range and never elevated.  The doctors ordered an ultrasound of my kidneys and liver to make sure there was no damaged to either. The liver was slightly enlarged due to the stress of the rhabdo, but nothing serious.

I receive my blood work on Tuesday and my CK levels dropped dramatically from the day before…down to 44,000 U/L.  The doctors were ready to send me home….but I didn’t feel comfortable enough to go home yet. I spoke to the nurses and they agreed and felt I should stay one more night, and advocated on my behalf to the doctors. Because of their amazing-ness, I stayed another night on around the clock I.V. (NOTE: Your health is your call. If you EVER have questions then ASK.  Do not hesitate. This is your life and you only get one!)

Day 5 blood work came back any my CK levels were down to 23,352 U/L and my liver enzymes were trending downwards! WooHoo!  Time to go home!

As soon as I got home…I showered…twice.  Showering never felt so good. I had instructions from the hospital to stay hydrated. The actual instructions were “keep a straw in your mouth at all times”.  Kind of crazy, right?  But I wasn’t taking any chances. So I calculated how much fluid I received every 24 hours from the I.V. bags (I had a total of 15 my entire stay) not including all the fluid I drank while I was in the hospital. I gave myself a goal of drinking 5L of fluid, including Gatorade and juices to keep my electrolytes balanced, and used this amazing cup my bestie Maggie gave me:

After a week of hydrating around the clock (literally peeing every hour), I had a follow-up with my doctor.  My CK levels were down to 1,075 U/L and liver enzymes were almost back to normal.  I had a follow-up with a GI doctor for my liver and some final blood work.  After all the tests came in….results said that I am back to normal.  Well…as normal as I can be 😉

Now the hard part, getting back into an exercise routine after rhabdo.  It’s a lot harder than I thought. My triceps still hurt when I do push ups (which I just started doing, I couldn’t even do push ups on my knees after a month of recovery). A little more than a month ago, I decided to try Bikram yoga at Jenkintown Hot Yoga. Best decision I have ever made.  I love this place and it has really helped me get back on track. I feel like a different person mentally and physically.

I am now back on track and started the Oxygen Magazine 2016 challenge!  I figured this is a good way to start using body weight workouts and slowly incorporating weight as my arms continue to rehab.  I chose Christmas Abbott’s team because, well….frankly, I just love that badass!  I already have her book, The Badass Body Diet, and it’s really easy to follow. You will see a lot of posts on my IG account tagged with #TeamChristmas and #Badassbodydiet. Stay tuned as I continue to work through the rhabdo recovery and start my new journey into health and wellness.