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Off the trail and busy with doctors in Anchorage. Not what I had expected as we happily pulled the hook Sunday afternoon on Willow Lk. Disappointed doesn't cover it. Sad doesn't touch it.
As you all know, my race ended in Skwentna. At the time, I had felt grateful to make it to Yentna in one piece and had been through what felt like several marathons in this short run up the river. My heart was beating at 200 beats per minute about an hour out.....for hours. I arrived Yentna in rough shape. I could hardly breath, stand straight up and was experiencing great pains in my chest, neck and back. My chest was feeling tightly restricted. I was light headed and it took all I had to care for my lively team before trying to reach John about medication and advice.
I waited in Yentna until my heart rate came down. About 11pm, it came down to 138. I took off for Skwentna. We had a beautiful fast run up to SKW but I was still experiencing strange symptoms. My left arm was in pain now and my chest was experiencing sharp shooting pain.
I had a doctor on hand to talk to in SKW and decided after staying 5 hrs with no sign of change to not gamble with my life for the dog race. It's all fun and games until something like this happens. Priorities change quickly. I AM SAD. I am sad not to go to Nome one last time with my beautiful team, we worked hard to get the team there this year. This was going to be my last run to Nome for awhile as we had discussed as a family earlier this year to concentrate our time, money and energy on other important things in our life for a bit. I had been so looking forward to this great trip across the state with my team one more time.
What I'm learning...I have A-Fib
A heart condition that can be managed by medication, diet change and possible surgery. I will be visiting a heart specialist later this week and will do whatever it takes to get this under control in order to keep living a happy and healthy life. As depleted as I feel today, I know this time shall pass and I ask for your love, prayers and respect during this time. If you know me, you know that I'm one of the most positive, optimistic people on this planet and in time will bounce back.
Thank you to all who have been part of my Iditarod journey. Its been one of many ups and downs. Last years run was incredible, full of learning, overcoming and faith. I'll cherish the incredible memories made with my special team and strive to move on. It's the dogs, the villages and the distance wilderness travel that always brought me back.
Sending up prayers for the other teams on the trail and wishing all a great and safe race. Life is a gift and I'm thankful to still be in it.
Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 12:58 pm
