Unfortunately I didn’t pull up too well from the Biopsy after my last update. I can safely say I’ve never been in that amount of pain before for such a long period of time. I had to call for the doctor half way through Wednesday night as I was having difficultly in breathing and muscle spasms through the back and chest. I was on a heavy dose of Morphine every 2 hours but this seemed to not work. They requested an X-Ray that night and then the following day a CT scan to find out the problem.

There was some internal bleeding in between the ribs and they may also have hit a nerve with the needle going into the lung. This explained why it was so painful. They doubled my dose of pain killers and I lay rested in the bed for the next 24hrs.

The Doctor also told me yesterday they thought there was a possibility it was a cancerous nodule in the lung. He had seen this many times in other patients and I was relived i guess when they told me it was Pneumonia.  I have had Pneumonia before back in 2007. It was a lot worse then what it is now. So fingers crossed.

I am just happy to be out. I am starting to walk ok now. More than a few hundred metres as the lung gets quite sore. The doctors requested I keep it light for the next couple days and let the lung wall recover and the bleeding also. The doctors still couldn’t believe I raced on Saturday.

I am not allowed to fly out for a few more days. My friend Bella has arranged a nice home stay here in San Diego for me to stay at. They are really friendly and taking care of me.

I just would like to thank everyone for all the messages.

I will head to Europe next week and look forward to the challenge ahead.

Regards

Sticksy

Thought I would update you on what has been happening.

A couple weeks ago on the Gold Coast I started to cough up a small amount of blooded phlegm. I didn’t feel any different. Training was ok nothing too flash, just average. As i felt quite normal I didn’t think much of it and continued to train in my normal day to day routine as we do as athletes. I did get a blood test just before leaving and all was fine.

Once arriving into the US last week, I started to get a sharp stabbing back pain on my left side and had a slight difficulty breathing. I didn’t really worry too much as i thought it must of been all the sitting from the long haul flight over from Australia. During the week before both the blooded phlegm and back pain were getting slightly worse but as I tapered more into the race I still felt quite good.

The race wasn’t the best. I finished 26th. But I went as hard as I could possibly go the 10km run, it just didn’t feel at all comfortable, normal or controlled. Post race I rung my Australian Doctor to tell him my symptoms and he requested I go get a lung scan straight away to check for blood clots before I flew out the following morning to Mallorca Spain. I had an X-ray , then the doctors requested at Cat scan as a small lesion showed up in my left lung. After some more tests they ruled out a clot which was good news. But they thought it was either Tuberculosis or Pneumonia. And of course when you mention the highly contagious TB , basically the room was shut down and anyone coming in and out has to wear face masks and keep a distance.

So thats where I am still.  I’ve had 2 out of my 3 tests come back as negative to TB which is good news so just waiting on the 3rd and final test to confirm that.

I’ve seen more than 15 doctors in 2 days now. I have at least 3-4 blood tests daily as well as others scans. I am in the Isolation ward. The food is bad but the staff are all very nice.

I just have to stay in my room most of the day and if I go out a face masks must be worn at all times. I go down to the cafe for some bad coffee once a day and get plenty of space with my mask on. I find it funny.

So i continue to wait here for at least another couple of days. It is very boring some times but I don’t really have a choice. I do want to continue to head to Europe as soon as possible once I know what it is. I am confident this will be only a minor hiccup in my Olympic preparation and still have a positive outlook on beating this very soon.

I will keep you posted.

Sticksy

Just wanted to inform you that Emma and myself have gone our separate ways a couple weeks ago. Everything will be ok and we will push through it and get ready for London. We are still friends of course and will be cheering for her in London.

I am busy getting ready at the moment as I leave Australia this weekend for San Diego World Series then onto to Europe after that. I am looking forward to getting on the road.

Unfortunately Sydney WCS wasn’t the best for me. I was racing with a lot of base miles in the legs and not a lot of speed work. This is slowly changing with the focus of course on August.

Anyway , thanks for all the support for Emma and myself during this difficult time. I really do appreciate it.

Sticksy