‘A BLOOD CLOT CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE’
DANIELLE NOLAN HAS HER LIFE BACK ON TRACK AFTER SUFFERING A BLOOD CLOT JUST TWO WEEKS AFTER GIVING BIRTH. SHE IS NOW RUNNING 100KM IN MAY TO RAISE FUNDS FOR THOSE WHO HELPED HER RECOVER FROM THE CLOT, WHILE ALSO RAISING AWARENESS OF THE DANGERS OF A CLOT. DANIELLE SPEAKS TO JESSICA FARRY.
DANIELLE Nolan gave birth to baby Éanna in October 2019 and was home f rom hospital days l ater. She f elt f i ne, and was keeping active at home, as much as possible af ter giving bir th. But within days of having her baby, s omething didn’ t f eel right, and she would soon end up back i n hospital with a blood clot.
Exactly a week after being discharged from hospital, Danielle, who is from Blacklion and lives in Manorhamilton, was getting ready for a visitor.
She hopped in the shower and got a shock when she saw her leg.
“I felt totally normal. I looked down and my leg was totally purple from the hip down to my toe. I knew there was something wrong. I shouted at my husband, he came up the stairs and he said the best thing to do would be to go into A&E. It kicked off from there,” she told The Sligo Champion.
Danielle didn’t feel unwell. There was no pain, and nothing to indicate something was wrong except for the colour of her leg.
“The day before I had a little bit of pain in my back but I had been at the doctor with Éanna for a check-up and he just said it was probably muscular from the labour. The next day the pain was gone, so it was just the leg.”
She rushed into A&E at Sligo University Hospital, and it wasn’t long before it became clear that there was something serious wrong.
“They were brilliant in A&E. Because I was out of hospital so recently they sent me back up to the maternity ward instead of going through the doctor in A&E because I think they knew what it was straight away even though it wasn’t the normal symptoms of a clot.
“Usually with a clot you get a crampy feeling in your calf and it can be red and sore to touch. I didn’t have any of that. I just appeared really strange to them. I went up to the maternity ward and they reacted so quickly because they knew what it was and how dangerous it can be. They started me off on blood thinning injections before they knew for certain that it was a clot. They sent me for scans and fairly quickly they realised how bad it was.”
She remained in hospital over the weekend receiving treatment and waiting on a scan on the Monday. She underwent the scan, and it showed that the situation had got a lot more serious over the weekend.
The scan showed that some of the blood clot had broken off and had made its way into Danielle’s lungs, which can be fatal.
It was a bit of a shock to Danielle and her husband, as she felt that because her leg was looking better, it was as if she was on the mend.
“Once they started me on the injections the colour of my leg got way better so it appeared that I was getting better.
“But the pain started getting worse and my leg started swelling up. I think it was 10cm bigger than my right leg by the time I was moved to coronary care. So even though it looked to be improving on the outside, it wasn’t. It was pretty scary.
“The staff were brilliant. Éanna was coming in and out everyday, Anthony was bringing him in. When I got moved to coronary care, it happened so quickly, Anthony was there with Éanna so the midwife stayed with Éanna for a while to let Anthony get me sorted out.”
Despite everything that was happening around her, and even with a newborn baby, Danielle never panicked.
That’s just her way, she says.
“There was no point in panicking. It wasn’t going to change what would happen to me. They explained everything. The doctor who was going to be doing the procedure came up and drew me out a picture to explain everything and what he was going to do. Having that was reassuring.
“We were looking at it taking it one day at a time. I just stayed as calm as possible and kept smiling.”
It took some time for her to feel back to normal again, but she got there in the end. Danielle had even signed up to take part in the VHI Women’s Mini Marathon, which was cancelled as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
But, her fundraising had started and she still wanted to do something to raise money for the Coronary Care Unit in Sligo University Hospital. And that is when the ‘100k in May’ challenge was born.
“I’m really good now. For the first two and a half months I was exhausted. I couldn’t walk to the end of the road, I couldn’t take care of Éanna properly, Anthony had to do that. After Christmas I started getting back to myself and in the last few weeks and months I was back to myself. I signed up to the mini marathon to give myself a goal and a kick up the backside to start exercising again. That’s how this whole thing came around with the challenge.”
The challenge she speaks of is running/walking 100km during the month of May, while also raising funds for the Coronary Care Unit at Sligo University Hospital. It has really taken off, and has
THERE WAS NO POINT IN PANICKING. IT WASN’T GOING TO CHANGE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO ME.
already raised €4,000 of the €5,000 target.
“It’s so much bigger. With the mini marathon it was just friends and family donating and saying fair play. When that was cancelled I was thinking ‘ah crap people have donated I have to do something’. I said, sure I’ ll do this. I was originally going to do 50km with my Dad but then decided to do 100km. My brother said he’d do it, and my sister said she’d do it. It spiralled and some of my cousins and friends signed up so it was like 25 people at first and now it’s up to 250 people,” she explained.
Danielle added: “It’s really simple. Especially nowadays I didn’t want to pressurize people into donations. Some people are just telling me that they’re doing it and work away yourself. I have a gofundme so it’s a group gofundme and all donations go into that page.
“We can keep an eye on the target then. We set up a group on Strava and it’s called ‘100k in May’. You can join that and keep track of your progress and see how everyone else is doing. It’s nearly like the new Instagram, people are putting up pictures and liking it. I set up an Instagram account too so that’s where a lot of funds are coming in.
“If you roughly do 25km a week then you’ ll get to 100km so I’ve 28km done this week. It’s much easier than you think. Some people have 50 or 60km done already.”
And while Danielle has come out the other side, her story can serve as a warning to others to be wary of what to look out for after giving birth, as she didn’t show any of the usual symptoms.
“They were baffled when I presented with the symptoms I had and I’ve been in a few times for check ups and they want to use me as a case study to teach other doctors and nurses about what to look out for.
“Friends and family who are pregnant at the minute know to look out for it. I don’t smoke, I didn’t have a section, I was really active after I got home, the usual things that would make you susceptible to a clot, I didn’t have so it shows you that it can happen to anyone.”
To donate to Danielle’s fundraiser, or to join the ‘100k in May’ challenge yourself, check out the gofundme page which is available on gofundme.com/f/sligocoronarycareunit