Renal ultrasound

I had the last of my latest series of kidney tests done today.  It was a renal ultrasound, which is pretty much exactly like the ultrasounds I had when I was pregnant (goo smeared on your abdomen, devices swooshed around over the goo, pictures on a screen).  Luckily, this time there were no living beings inhabiting me, just my kidneys!

I had to lie on my side, then my back, then my other side so that they could get a really good look.  The technician wasn't sure that the cyst she found was even the thing they'd asked her to look for because it was so tiny so she got a second opinion from the consultant.  In the end they both agreed that it was indeed that tiny cyst, which they thought was so insignificant as to have no effect on my donation - yay!  I was feeling really pleased until she said that some urine wasn't fully draining from one of my ureters - the tiny tubes that go from your kidneys to your bladder.  It was only a small amount - but could potentially mean I need further tests - SIGH.  More news as it breaks...

Week Eight

Tuesday - 9.5 miles
Wednesday - 7 miles
Saturday - 2.5 hours (15 miles)
Sunday - 2 hours (13 miles)

On Monday, I bumped into my friend Sally whilst at the hospital.  She's a student physio and has been doing her placement at the same hospital as me.  Last year she helped me out a lot with the Paris marathon (I don't think I could've completed it without her) and we'd been chatting about whether she could come and give me a sports massage between my two marathons on race day.   When I saw her, she told me that she'd rearranged her calendar in order to be free that day - how great is that? - it'll be so lovely to have a friendly face at the midway point to sort out my aching muscles.  We are also going to do a 'practice run' in a few weeks' time to make sure everything goes smoothly on the day.

Monday afternoon I had my pre-kidney donation psych assessment, you can read more about that here and here.

Tuesday I had a pretty terrible day at work, so I headed out for a run as soon as I got home.  I wanted to go to Midnight Runners but due to the size of the group and the exercise stops, it takes 3 hours (door-to-door) to run a 10k.  Lately I've been finding that I just can't spare the extra 2 hours so I've been running Tuesday evenings on my own.  I ran the Midnight Runners route but with St James's Park and Millbank added on to make up some extra distance.  I was in such a bad mood I didn't take any photos, but this one again sums up the kind of run it was:

On Wednesday evening I did the same route again, only this time I stopped to take a picture of the fabulous view from Tower Hill (the lower route is closed at the moment due to resurfacing works; on the higher route you get the amazing sight of the Tower of London with the Shard in the background). 

 On Thursday my fabulous new trainers arrived.  They are both beautiful and very well padded.  I wore them round the house all evening!

We had friends visiting us this weekend, so I knew I had to get up early to run on Saturday.   Because I was wearing my beautiful new trainers, I wanted to avoid the mud so I planned a route which partially replicated the Horsham Joggers route last weekend. 

As usual, Sussex was very pretty.  As always happens when I get a new pair of trainers, I was extra vigilant to any sign of them being less than perfect, and as always I started inventing loads of problems.  My feet feel numb! They're too tight!  They're not like my other trainers!  (which is ridiculous as they're incredibly similar) - I'll get used to them I'm sure.  This is exactly why it's so important to break them in a couple of months before the actual race.

Nevertheless I got round, it didn't rain and there were plenty of signs that spring is on the way.  

Saturday evening, I drank a lot of prosecco and amaretto and stayed up til 3am with our friends.  This is not conducive to early morning runs (no! you don't say!!) and I eventually surfaced about 11am feeling rough.  Coffee, paracetamol and a brisk dog walk helped a bit and by the time I got back to London at 3pm I had convinced myself I had to run for at least an hour.    Within the first couple of miles, I felt completely normal and managed the whole 2 hours after all.  I was quite surprised how comfortably I can do a half marathon these days, this used to be A Really Big Deal and now it feels almost like a short run.  So weird.

The best bit about it was that the Mall was closed for some reason.  I love running down the middle of the Mall because it's the finish line of the London marathon so it always feels quite evocative.  I stopped and took this photo as I doubt I will be taking photos on the actual day... When I finally see this view I expect it'll be quite emotional!

Tonight I added up the total I've done so far this year in my training and it came to 332 miles (534 km), which is 41.5 miles (67 km) per week!  I'm now at the halfway point of my training plan, only eight more weeks to go until the ultra, though I have a couple of marathons to get through first...

Donations, as ever, are extremely welcome: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/marathonmadness

Psychological assessment

Before non-directed (altruistic) kidney donations it is mandatory to have a psychological assessment with a psychiatrist.  The reasoning is:

"Donation of a kidney can affect people in different ways and your mental health is as important as your physical health. A psychologist or counsellor will almost always see non-directed kidney donors to talk about their reasons for wanting to donate and the potential psychological impact on them"
--from the Give A Kidney website

Bizarrely, this is not required if you are donating to a friend or relative (though there is certainly an argument that it should be).  I was quite worried about it, as discussed in my previous post on the subject as I felt it would be very difficult to argue I was sane if a psychiatrist said I was not!

My appointment was on Monday and I had an hour in a tiny room with a psychiatrist, which was fairly nervewracking.  Questions included (and I've probably forgotten some):

• Why do you want to donate a kidney?
• What made you think of it in the first place?
• What do your family and friends think?
• How do you think you would feel if you changed your mind nearer the time, how would you cope with that?
• Are you expecting to hear from the donor after the operation? 
• How would you feel if the operation wasn't a success for the donor?
• Do you have any history of mental health issues? (this is not a deal breaker by the way)
• Do you take Class A drugs?
• Do you drink alcohol?  (also not a deal breaker!) 
• Are you religious at all?

I told him at the end that I was worried about this assessment because I'm not like normal people and he said, none of the people who come to see him for non-directed kidney donation are normal, which is strangely reassuring!  He also said that he could not see any impediment to me proceeding with donation but my case would be discussed at the multidisciplinary team meeting (which involves the psychiatrist, the kidney donor nurse I met at the start of the process and the consultant nephrologist). 

So for now, back to waiting and crossing fingers!

Week Seven

Monday - 7.5 miles

Wednesday - 10 miles
Saturday - 3 hours at heart rate zone 3 (15.5 miles)
Sunday - 3 hours 10 minutes (19 miles)

On Monday I had the opportunity to run while it was still light.  I don't get that chance often during the week, so even though I'd run Worthing Half the day before, I laced up my trainers and headed out.  It was a beautiful evening and I had a lovely run, though fairly short as I was feeling sore and didn't want to overdo it.

Wednesday was a bit of a rough day at work and I knew I needed to get some decent miles in.   I didn't take any pictures but this sums it up pretty well:

I decided to do my usual river run with a lap of the Serpentine, but by the time I got to Green Park it was already pitch black.  As I came up the final hill, a male runner appeared alongside me and we matched each other's pace for the last few hundred metres to Hyde Park corner.  Sensing an opportunity, I asked him which way he was going, and he replied he was running to Hampstead.  He asked why and I explained I didn't want to run the Serpentine on my own in the dark and he agreed to accompany me most of the way.  His name was Paul, he was training for Brighton marathon, and the miles passed easily as we chatted about running, work and kids before saying our goodbyes at Marble Arch.  It's very rare this happens in London and it made what was a pretty miserable run into a really great experience.  I doubt I'll ever see him again, but cheers Paul.  You're a star!

This weekend I had two back-to-back long runs, so to make things easier on myself I decided to run the heart rate run that I skipped last weekend.  I'd never heard of this before but George advised that for some of my training runs, I should try to keep my heart rate below 135.  I discovered I can set my Garmin to tell me if I'm running in zone 3, which is 125-142 beats per minute and it lets me know if I'm going too fast or slow. 

Saturday was a particularly mild day and the route I chose was loops around the forest in my trail shoes.  It was MEGA MEGA muddy and because of the heart rate thing I had to go quite slowly, so I took lots of pictures!  Here's a collage:

I managed an average heart rate of 139, so slightly higher than planned but not too bad.  I got very, very muddy and slipped over twice, luckily I wasn't hurt.

As I was running, I started wondering what the point was of running so slowly, so I googled when I got home and apparently:

"Running in zone 3 is especially effective for improving the efficiency of blood circulation in the heart and skeletal muscles.  This is the zone in which lactic acid starts to build up in your bloodstream.  Training in this zone will make moderate efforts easier and improve your efficiency".

On Saturday afternoon, I went down to the running shop to invest in some new trainers.  After a very helpful conversation with the staff, I have ordered these little beauties:

When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.  Running trainers are possibly my favourite indulgence these days and I can't wait to take them out for a spin!

On Sunday, I went out with Horsham Joggers again.  They were doing 18 miles, but I needed to do 3.5-4 hours so I ran to the start point to add on an extra 3 miles.  It was all going well and was an exceptionally beautiful route....

....until about 12 miles when I started getting some pain in my calf.  I put it down to yesterday's hills (and failing to do any stretching whatsoever afterwards - naughty)!  This run was pretty hilly as well and as time went by I was starting to get the odd stabbing pain as well as muscle tiredness.  As it happened, the route went past my house and I decided to bow out there and get in the bath, so I didn't quite get 3.5 hours.  It's been a pretty big week for mileage, plus 350 metres of ascent in the last couple of days.

Feeling OK though and next week is a step-back week.  Now it's time for a date with the foam roller *cries* as I was having a few issues just walking home from the station...

As ever, you can sponsor this insanity here: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/marathonmadness

Note: I haven't been sponsored for a while and it always cheers me up, so if you were thinking of getting round to it, now would be a very good time.  Thank you xx

Reasons not to donate a kidney

I had a phone call today to book my psychological assessment for kidney donation, which is probably the most nervewracking part of the entire process.  It terrifies me that a psychologist has the power to derail the whole plan.   I'm not the most "normal" of people even on a good day (!), and I feel I have to somehow convince them that I'm not bonkers or otherwise my name will be crossed through with red pen and that'll be the end of it.  It's not often that one person has the power to overrule important decisions in my life and to be honest, I'm quite nervous. 

So I thought it'd be a good idea to think of all the reasons people might not want to donate, and today I'm going to talk about why they don't apply to me.  Thank you to everyone who's spoken to me honestly on this topic so far.  If you can think of anything that puts you off that I haven't mentioned, I'd love to hear it, please comment or send me a message!  It's part of my preparation for the psych assessment so you'd be doing me a massive favour.

1. The operation.  Most people wouldn't have an operation under general anaesthetic unless it was a life-threatening situation.  Lots of people don't like hospitals.  The vast majority of people don't like the idea of being in pain afterwards or being cut open.  There is a risk of mortality in any op that involves a general anaesthetic. This is the reason I most understand for not wanting to.  I'm not that thrilled about it either, but I work in hospitals and I know the care will be excellent and I'll be well-looked after.  Pain is temporary...  And after all, the risk I'm taking, as a fit, well, healthy person, is way lower than the risk the recipient is taking by having a general anaesthetic.

2. I might need a spare kidney to give to my child/sibling/parent if they need one.  This argument is a bit of a non-starter.  First of all, they probably won't need one - after all, how many people do you know who have had a kidney transplant?  Anyone?  Transplants aren't exactly common.  Also, you might not be a tissue match for your child/sibling/parent, in which case they'll still be on a waiting list until an altruistic donor comes along to start the chain.  And you might not be a suitable match - chronic kidney disease usually occurs in people aged >65, by the time your child is that age your kidney may not be useful any more.  They might be better off with a deceased kidney belonging to someone their age.  But most of all, it will probably never happen.

3. I might need it myself.  Well, you might.  But as you've been screened for every possible risk of kidney disease, your chances are lower than average. 

4. The reward isn't worth the risk.  Many people would consider donating if a loved one or friend needed a kidney, but feel it's not worth risking it for someone they don't know.  I understand this reasoning too.  I think it helps I've seen quite a few patients on dialysis.  Here's a video about it.  The guy in this video is coping really well, lots of people don't.  Patients have to go in three days a week, often they feel drained and tired on the day after, so they only get one day a week of feeling 'normal'.  A kidney transplant can often mean they're able to return to their usual activities feeling infinitely better.  It might be a risk for me, but the reward for them is absolutely huge.  I often feel that I'm lucky and this is a way I can share that luck with someone less fortunate at no loss to myself. 

5. It might affect my quality of life afterwards.  Research suggests people who donate a kidney tend to live longer on average than people the same age and sex who don't.  I found this amazing when I first heard it but it's true!  It's because donors are screened so thoroughly that any underlying conditions would have been detected and treated.  A small minority do have complications, but it really is small (1% ish I think) and the vast majority of those are infections, which do eventually resolve.  People have asked me if I will have to stop drinking alcohol - the answer is no.  People have asked me if I'll have to stop running - the answer is no.  The donors I've met have all told me that it's had no effect on their lives whatsoever.  Remember, people are BORN with only one kidney and don't even realise (in fact sometimes potential donors find out during screening that they can't donate for that exact reason)!  My kidney function is excellent, so my remaining kidney will cope just fine.

6. I can't afford to take the time off work. (Recovery is 6-8 weeks).  This is a reason, but it's not insurmountable.  Most companies give you sick leave, and even if not, you are doing something life-changing.  Surely it's worth the inconvenience?  Would you do it if you were donating to a relative?  If so, there's a way around it.  You can reclaim travel expenses and other reasonable costs. In my case, I'll have just finished my degree, and am lucky I can afford to have a gap before I start work.  Shout out to Mattgreen for making that financially and practically possible.

7.  I don't want an ugly scar.  This probably matters more if you're young - once I got older and had a child, scars stopped bothering me.  I do get it though - I declined to have my BCG aged 15 because I didn't want a scar (!) The operation is laparoscopic (keyhole) so it involves small incisions and a small scar - this just doesn't concern me at all to be honest.

8. Why should I make a sacrifice for someone I don't even know? I don't see it that way. Why should you give money to charity?  Why should you speak up if someone's being racist?  Why should you give up your seat for a pregnant woman on the bus?  The answer is, you don't have to, it's optional, and so is this.  It's your life, you choose how you live it, do whatever makes you happy.  Helping people is what drives me, it's why I chose my career, it's how I was brought up, it makes me feel like a useful human being.  I'm unlikely to ever achieve anything really stellar in my lifetime, but if I manage to help a few people then that's good enough for me.  I almost feel like it's an opportunity, I don't care who gets it, I don't care if they never contact me, I'm just glad I can help.  I don't think that's brave or inspirational, it's just logical.  What's the point of me hanging onto a kidney I don't even need when 300 people die every year waiting for one?  How could I not?

Week Six

Tuesday - 11 miles

Friday - 8 miles

Sunday - Half marathon race (13 miles)

This week Guilia and I finally managed to go for a run together after work on Tuesday.  I needed to do about 15 kilometres, Guilia needed to do 11 kilometres, so I planned a nice 13k route and off we went.  My appalling ability to plan routes combined with us having so much fun running round the Serpentine that we decided to do all of it meant I ended up doing 17 kilometres (11 miles)!  Giulia is faster than me so it was fairly quick too.

On Thursday night I had planned to do another run but by the time I left work it was dark, raining, bitterly cold, I was absolutely knackered and still had a bit more work to do at home.  I decided to leave it til the following morning, which wasn't likely to be any better weather-wise but at least I wouldn't be so tired.  So... Friday morning....

 These are the runs which make you a marathon runner - forcing yourself even when you don't want to to get up, lace your trainers up and get out there.  This was meant to be one of those runs where you do a fast section in the middle and as I knew I had a race coming up on Sunday I thought I could practice running quickly.  As you can see it didn't go that well... only 2 of my "fast" kilometres could even vaguely be counted as fast.  But I tried!

This was taken on the way back home, usually a beautiful view of the Shard from here but not on Friday morning!!

This weekend was Worthing half marathon.  I'd run it last year and got a PB of 1:51:25, which I was delighted with at the time, and had enthusiastically signed up for the 2017 race a few weeks later.  A year has rolled around and Toby and I were going to run it together for his first half marathon.  Unfortunately it was not to be as he's got tendonitis in his knee and was advised not to run by his physio :(

But we headed off for a weekend in Sussex, with the plan that I'd just run the half anyway.  I was due to run 1-2 hours at heart rate 135 on Saturday, but in the end I was so tired that I couldn't face it and made an executive decision to scrap the plan *shock horror*.  I slept for 9 hours, got up and ate an epic hotel breakfast, went back to sleep for another 2 hours and finally dragged myself from my bed at 2.30pm - this is not normal for me!  To compensate, Toby and I went for a lovely long walk in the Sussex countryside so at least I did move a bit.

This morning we got up early and headed off to Worthing for the race.  All the way there, I moaned.  I haven't had the right breakfast, it's cold, it's raining, I hate races, I hate half-marathons especially, why is that girl wearing a foil blanket?, why is that man carrying a million gels, it's a half for goodness sake, I hate running fast, I'm not even going to run this as a race, I'd rather do a 4 hour training run than this, I'm really cold, have I mentioned I hate races?  Toby yet again demonstrated his saint-like qualities putting up with me.

At the end of my whine-a-thon, I turned to him and said, "I'm going to race it, aren't I?" and he said, "Obviously".  And then I did. 

 

 I ran a blinder of a race.   I started behind the 2 hour pacer as I couldn't get any closer to the front - no staggered start! - but overtook him in the first few minutes.  I started making ground on the 1:50 pacer and overtook him after about a mile or two.  I was feeling good and as the kilometres went by, I started to think I could keep up this pace. Toby called me about halfway to see how I was doing and I told him I still hate races and the only good thing about going fast was that I'd be at the pub sooner, which made the bloke next to me snigger.  It was all going well until 16km when the 1:50 pacer overtook me.  Being overtaken by pacers kills PB dreams because it messes with you psychologically and I was NOT having that today.  I dug deep and picked up my pace.  At the looped section in Ferring, I managed to get away from him.  I focused on my breathing, relaxing my shoulders, taking big strides, not lifting my feet too high to save energy.  These pictures were taken in the final hundred metres and give an idea of how hard I was working:

Do I look like I'm having a fun time?  I really do hate races.
I love this picture though because you can see how massive my strides were, I was just so desperate to get to the end. 

 I survived the last kilometre by thinking, "I'm never racing a half marathon EVER AGAIN.  I am never running this particular race EVER AGAIN.  I am DONE with PBs just as soon as I get this one".  And then it was over.  Confirmed chip time 1:49:15 - not bad for an old lady eh? 

First medal of 2017!


So I haven't really done enough running this week but I think it was worth it.  I'm pretty sure I couldn't have run like I did today if I'd done 90 minutes yesterday.  I'm a bit stiff and probably will be hobbling round work tomorrow but feeling super-pleased with myself, I never thought I'd beat last year's time and it was really quite a respectable showing considering my long runs frequently hit 6:00 or even 6:30 minutes per kilometre.

I rewarded myself with the most enormous roast at the pub - life is good again!

That's it for this week, except for a little bit of kidney donor news....  This week sees the launch of NHSBT's new campaign around Living Donation, timed in the run up to Valentine's Day.  The video is pretty bizarre but it made me laugh!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TR4M1vGbSE

And the ubiquitous fundraising link: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/marathonmadness

Week Five

Tuesday - 8 miles

Wednesday - 10 miles

Saturday - 4 hours (23 miles)

I knew I had to run on Tuesday night as this was a busy week so it was with some disappointment that I noted the weather forecast:

I got home from work and straightaway put my contact lenses in, because it's easier running in rain when you don't have to worry about glasses and once they're in, you may as well go.  So off I went to one of my Top Ten Wettest Runs Ever.  Although the actually running time was only 1 hour 15 mins, I spent more than 3 hours outside, much of which was spent doing bodyweight exercises in puddles.  Any thought of sprinting goes out the window in these conditions and I just focussed on getting round, getting home, and getting in a hot shower.  It was tough but these are the runs that build resilence.  A really amazing crew and positive attitudes aplenty despite the weather.

Photo Credit: Máté Fülöp

On Wednesday I had my DMSA scan at the hospital.  There was a three hour gap between injection and photographs and this seemed like the perfect slot to squeeze my other weekly run, with the massive luxury of it being in daylight hours!  I checked with the staff and they were fine with it, so I set off straight from my appointment for a few loops of Southwark Park.  Unfortunately it rained throughout....

On Thursday I woke up with a horrible cold.  I'm not sure if this was due to the running in the rain, the recently started hospital placement, or just sitting next to someone on the tube sneezing.  In any case, I was feeling pretty rubbish and hadn't had much sleep.  I had planned a nice long run for Saturday and invited various people along, all of whom eventually had to pull out due to injury or illness.  So Friday night, I'm knackered, ill, and facing down 4 hours of tarmac running on my own.  I googled, "running with a cold" and found this article which says symptoms above the neck "don't pose a risk to runners continuing workouts".  I laid out all my kit and went to bed.

 Note new purple OMM bag with hydration, my inner running kit geek is leaping with joy at this! 

I got up at 7am, feeling rough, but determined.  On went all the kit and I headed out without even opening the curtains.  To my eternal disappointment and contrary to the weather forecast, when I went outside it was raining.  AGAIN.  What a week!  But it was too late now, I'd already taken a triple dose of immodium and my body would not be happy if I didn't run it off.

I set off and I could immediately tell that this was going to be a good run.  I found myself having to hold back because my legs were just so full of energy and power that they wanted to just GO.  I did the first few km at marathon pace: 5:36, 5:39, 5:37.  I had to force myself to slow down.  The rain wasn't bothering me, I felt strong, I was actively enjoying running for the first time in a fortnight.  Toby phoned me about 8km in and I was happy and chatty, and he kept me company until about the halfway mark.  I stopped at Hyde Park Corner to take a photo to try to show how crap the weather was, but it wasn't denting my mood at all.

By 30km in, I was thinking, "never has a long run been this easy!"  Perhaps last week's stepback week had acted like a kind of tapering?  I sailed onwards through the parks: Battersea, Hyde, Green, St James's, Southwark.  Even at the end I felt like I could've kept on going and easily finished the marathon, but I knew I didn't need to and there was no point risking injury.  It was already the longest run I'd ever done outside of a marathon, nearly 2000 calories burned, job done!

That evening, Iz was visiting me in London so we went ice-skating, possibly not the greatest idea after a 23 mile run but it was good fun and maybe even a little bit crosstraining.  By the end of the day I'd done more than 50,000 steps - definitely equivalent to a marathon race day.

On Sunday, my new-and-improved training programme had me down to do walking/cycling/swimming instead of the prescribed 3 hours run (thanks George)!  We decided on cycling, even though neither of us particularly enjoy it (!!) and it was a cold day with a bitter wind.  I thought it'd be a good idea to cycle round the Olympic Park as there were no cars and both of us are a liability on bikes.  Off we went, kicking off with an hour's walking searching for a Boris bike station (Iz berated me for not having looked up whether there even was one before we set off).  Eventually we found one.  We started cycling.  It was very, very cold.  Iz didn't have any gloves so she stole mine and my hands turned into blocks of ice.  We managed 30 minutes cycle to the Velodrome, then 30 minutes drinking hot chocolate and thawing, then 30 minutes back to the Aquatics Centre.  Not going to win any awards but hey at least I wasn't sitting on the sofa!

Hoping that next week, the weather gods will be a little kinder.  Until then, here's my fundraising link if you feel that way inclined.  Much appreciated xx

DMSA

Today I had my DMSA kidney scan, which was such a simple test there's actually hardly anything to say.  DMSA stands for dimercaptosuccinic acid, which is the name of the dye they use to make the kidneys show up on camera.  The dye was injected into my arm, not even via a cannula, which only took five minutes.  After that I was allowed to leave the hospital for 3 hours, then return to the nuclear medicine department for the pictures to be taken.

This involved lying on my back while a gamma camera took pictures to determine the structure and location of my kidneys.   The gamma camera is a very fancy machine which looks like this:

It rotates around to take pictures from both the front and back, which takes around 20 minutes.  Then I had to wait a few more minutes for the radiographer to confirm that the pictures were clear enough, and that was it!  Pretty straightforward.  Fingers crossed everything looks good - not sure when I will hear back but imagine in the next couple of weeks.