bleeding in my abdominal muscles

[gadoty1]

ok. so last week I decided to tey the P90X ab ripper video. It is a really hard ab video even for me. I have been doing 400 crunches almost every day for the last year and this video hurt! Anyway, I did the video on Thursday and on Sunday I had what felt like a little muscular pain in the left side of my abdomen. It contiually got worse over night and into the next day. By the end of Monday I could hardlly walk and the left side of my abdomen was swollen a little. I went to my local ER and they thought it my be an ovarian cyst. Did a CT and I had a large hematoma n my abdominal muscle. I got transported to Shands in Gainesville to have surgery for it. Got to Shands and they want to be conservative and wait to see if I can stop the bleeding on my own. I have been having my hematocrit levels checked every 6 hours since monday night. It dropped a lot the first 24 hours and has now started to level off but is still dangerously low. They reversed my coumadin on Tuesday in hopes that I would stop bleeding on my own. So I a sitting here waiting every 6 hours to see how my hematoctit level is and hope not to have surgery.
Wanted to say too that because of my On-x valve and the fact that it is in the aortic position, the drs aren't concerned about my INR. They said that the studies have been very promising for lower anticoagulation for this valve. Dr Martin who did my valve replacement in one of the drs participating in the study is here at Shands so I'm assuming the information the drs I'm seeing is accurate.

 

[Ross]

Guess you won't be doing those anymore. I'm wondering, is there something else going on that was unmasked, but they missed it?

 

[Nancy]

I hope they checked out your platelets along with the other bloodwork.

 

[hensylee]

I am so sorry to hear this. Wishing a gentle recovery WITHOUT surgery. Blessins to another Fl girl (you are in a very good place - SHANDS).

 

[olefin]

Sounds like the "ab ripper" really does what it says.
Good luck with recovery.

 

[Lynlw]

OUCH, that sounds very painful. I am glad you went and got it checked out and didn't wait too long, thinking it was just normal after working out hard with new program pain. I am also glad they did the right test and figured out what the problem was right away. I hope you manage to stop the bleeding on your own and your hct starts to get better and you can avoid surgery. I'll keep you in my prayers that this is as easy and painless as possible. Thanks for letting us know.

 

[catwoman]

i have been doing 400 crunches almost every day for the last year and this video hurt!

four hundred? Almost every day???

 

[gadoty1]

the ct showed a small steady bnleed in my ab muscle. They are ust assuming I did this while exercising but they said anything strenuous can cause vessels to rupture and because im on coumadin it just didn't heal on its own. So far my hematocrit levels have been stable now for 24 hours. they haven't started raising yet but at least they arent going down either.
Catwoman: yep, 400 crunches about 6 days a week. I lost 40 lbs sincemy valve replacement and i was trying to get bikini ready but right now I look like i'm about 5 months pregnant. Thats what I get for being vain.
And yes, it is extremely painful. When I try to move i would say it is worse than any of my heart surgeries or childbirth! And lucky me, morphine and dilaudid do not even touch the pain. Everythinh they try to give just makes me sick and doesn't help the pain so I quit taking pain meds. Just Tylenol right now for my hangover like headache.

 

[JimL]

I had an ulcer that bled a couple years ago. That required nine days in the hospital, but perhaps your bleed with be less. However, for the hemocrit numbers to come back up took months. On the good side, I ate lots of good food to rebuild my blood, without gaining any weight.

 

[Ross]

And lucky me, morphine and dilaudid do not even touch the pain. Everythinh they try to give just makes me sick and doesn't help the pain so I quit taking pain meds. Just Tylenol right now for my hangover like headache.

Heck Morphine and Dilaudid did nothing for me except make me stupid and in pain. Sick too!

 

[Bina]

.......
yep, 400 crunches about 6 days a week. I lost 40 lbs sincemy valve replacement and i was trying to get bikini ready but right now I look like i'm about 5 months pregnant. Thats what I get for being vain.......

Oh, good Lord. Please don't endanger yourself for the sake of a Bikini. It just isn't worth it. Best wishes for healing.

 

[drivetopless]

Wow - - - now the P90X is brutal . . . Hard core ab work, huh? You go, girl! Hope you are feeling better and healing on your own soon.

 

[ctyguy]

I don't know if anybody has ever tried Pilates but let me just say....Holy Crap ! You want an abs workout ? Try an hour pilates class. My wife got me to go and its easily the hardest abs workout I've ever done.

I certainly hope this clears and you can get back to your every day life again. Being an On-X guy myself Im pleased to read the quotes from your docs !

 

[gadoty1]

ooh one of these doctors ticked me off!! He was drilling me asking why would I be doing crunches if im on coumadin. I shouldn't be doing anything dangerous like skiing, ,otorcylces etc. Since when is a crunch considered high risk activity?! I told him I made it through all of this health stuff and I feel lucky to be alive I just want to live my life normally. He told me I cant do that. I have to realize I am limited with coumadin.
I always protect my head and I wouldn't do anything that would put me at risk for a major bleed or anything. I'm still gonna go out and boat and snorkel and be myself!! With a nice long recovery I plan on getting back to my exercise routine too! I def. wont do P90X and probably no crunches for a while but I will exercise. This whole bleed was just an unlucky fluke. You break down muscles every day and your body repairs them on its own. I could just as easily tore a ,uscle picking up my 3 year old daughter.

 

[Ross]

Meh, you should have just done the dishes, and sat back in the rocking chair on the porch with your corn cob pipe. After all, didn't you get the memo? You had heart surgery. You aren't allowed to do anything for the rest of your life.

 

[Cooker]

I've had 400 Nestles Crunch Bars with no bleeding ... hope you get it resolved soon but I would suggest backing off after you heal.....

 

[tobagotwo]

I have to agree that I don't see where what you were doing qualifies as risky behavior. It's not something you hear of happening. I suppose if a meteorite fell on you, he'd want to know what you were doing, recklessly walking outside without a meteorite helmet.

I'd have a similar reaction to that doctor's comment, but I'd be less likely to let him slide without a scorching rejoinder.

If you're doing 400 crunches a day and you want to wear a bikini, I'd bet you can pretty much kick sand on anybody who objects to it. Go for it!

Best wishes,

 

[Ross]

If you're doing 400 crunches a day and you want to wear a bikini, I'd bet you can pretty much kick sand on anybody who objects to it. Go for it!

Best wishes,

Of course, you realize, we must have pics!

 

[gadoty1]

nice try Ross . I can't figure out how to put a picture on my profile anyways but it wouldn't be a bikini pic. lol! And I won't stop doing what makes me happy because what would be the point of living? I'm only 29!

 

[Ross]

*** Kicks stones of fire from around feet*** Darn, I'll never get a "The Bikini Women of VR" Calendar made.