Former Olympian Glynis Nunn opens up about the shock health scare that almost ended her life
In an emotional Junior Sport column, former Olympian Glynis Nunn opens up about the shock health scare that almost claimed her life last month.
Junior Sports
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THIS is going to be a hard column to write but I am taking this as a cathartic measure to not only get things out of my head but to help others.
And hopefully it will activate some parents to apply for some financial backing for their sporting child.
Some four weeks ago I was admitted into hospital acutely suffering from inability to breath. I could have never imagined something as serious as what I was suffering from could have happened to me.
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I am very active in work and life on my little farm. I run, I coach and am not sedentary in any way.
I have never smoked, have had surgery multiple times many years ago, had two children, and I’m not what I would say overweight, but, and yes, there is a but, am on HRT and have been for some years to deal with symptoms that in themselves drive a woman crazy.
Being healthy and a past elite athlete does not prevent a person from developing blood clots.
I didn’t feel sick but have been told that I could have died. Pretty confronting.
A few weeks before this episode I had a sore calf – there was no redness, no swelling, no heat. The thought of deep vein thrombosis did pass through my head after a few days because it didn’t feel like a pulled muscle.
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But then the pain passed and only came back every now and again and in my busy life I put it on the backburner.
I did head to the doctor to check be it some weeks later and he sent me off for a scan which was negative.
I was diagnosed Nurofen to deal with the occasional pain – seemed logical.
A day later I began to be short of breath. I thought I just had the start of a virus and was a little out of shape.
I rested, and my breathing went back to normal. With this in mind, I figured my body was just being dramatic and went back to work.
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As the days went on, I became tired, my breathing worsened to the point where I could not walk from the bedroom to the front door or down the paddock to feed the horses. I asked to be taken to hospital.
On presenting to the Beaudesert hospital (by the way Dr Timothy Devine, you were terrific – thank you for making me realise this was quite serious), I was sent to Gold Coast Private for a CT scan.
Apart from having an elevated pulse at the time and increased respiration, my blood pressure was a little elevated but I had no other physical signs.
My CT apparently showed a “large clot burden’’ in both lungs. I was in shock to actually receive that diagnosis.
I wasn’t bulletproof after all. With no real cause for the clot other than maybe the low dose HRT I am on, I am still in the dark.
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My biggest take away from this experience is that you have to listen to your body and don’t dismiss ANY symptoms. I can hear my family and friends breathing a sigh of relief.
I have been advised that my relative level of fitness and good health saved my life and the ability of my lungs to stop the clots from travelling further was a bonus.
I was immediately given Clexane and started on blood thinners.
It’s something I will have to get used to for the rest of my life because while I am on them, I am in no danger of further clotting. I am following the treatment “to a T”.
The most important thing is to help educate others about the signs, even though I didn’t have any.
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Shortness of breath, pain on breathing, light-headedness, anxiety, rapid pulse, sweating, fainting and coughing.
No matter how old you are, or how fit you are, don’t discount anything.
While I am on the mend, I am struggling with what has happened. I have been told that I need to appreciate that significant deconditioning can occur with such a life-changing and threatening event.
I used to feel invincible and suddenly to be very vulnerable and even disabled and told not to do too much is hard.
Anxiety and depression is rearing its ugly head quite often.
I would like to thank those around me for “dealing” with my moods and swings of emotion. I am grateful I have people who care and are so supportive – thank you.
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I have found there are no guarantees. Despite the training in the heat or the rain or the successes that have been well documented.
Despite the hard training sessions, despite all of the discomfort that went with it, I was never guaranteed the result I was chasing.
That’s life.
In those moments of discomfort, I believed it was all worth it. I held on to that belief because that was all I had.
We don’t know what will happen tomorrow. But we have to believe that anything is possible.
Of course, the words above are more than just about running. Running is merely a metaphor, and a good one at that, for life.
Keep believing and keep looking for that something special. Keep dealing with discomfort because that is what makes us alive.
It’s the belief, the ability to imagine the possibility, that makes us human.
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Now to my message in explaining this: People need to take opportunities when they can.
The Gold Coast Academy of Sport along with the Carbine Club of Queensland is offering a $5000 scholarship to a talented young athlete aged between 14 and 18.
It doesn’t matter about what sport you do – whether it is high profile or not.
Don’t question if you are good enough, don’t put it off. Grab an application form and send it in.
Let the selection committee decide who is most worthy.
What is there on offer to young aspiring athletes?
Not a lot other than parental support. I cannot encourage athletes or parents enough to apply for this bursary.
It can and will help parents to overcome the costs of coaching, travel, equipment and other expenses of sport.
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There are movies that I am sure many have seen where an athlete or person have been given an opportunity of support and then risen to great heights.
Movies like The Blind Side, a great story about a young black man who was taken in by a family because he was alone and on the streets. He went on to be selected in a major national football team. It makes me cry every time I watch it.
Another is Dead Poets Society with Robin Williams. On the first day of classes, they are surprised by the unorthodox teaching methods of the new English teacher John Keating, a Welton alumnus who encourages his students to “make your lives extraordinary”, a sentiment he summarises with the Latin expression carpe diem, meaning “seize the day.”
I am telling you to seize this day! Don’t put things off.
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Don’t let the opportunity of being in line for a $5000 scholarship slip through your fingers because you didn’t apply.
How do you apply?
Simply go on to the website goldsport.com.au or contact via email or phone to inquire about the application form.
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