Saved by stranger’s poo!
There was nothing that I wouldn’t try to get back to full health – literally…
Lesley Paterson, 37, California
Crossing the finish line, I could hardly contain my excitement.
It was May 2007, and I’d just won my first triathlon in America.
I’d moved from Stirling in Scotland to San Diego, California, in 2001, with my husband Simon, now 47.
It’d been a few years since I’d taken part in a triathlon, but when I’d been in Scotland I’d lived and breathed sport.
I’d been the only girl on an all-boys rugby team for five years, and I first joined a triathlon club when I was 12.
Two years later, I was the Scottish champion!
‘Well done!’ Simon grinned after the race.
‘Maybe I am pretty good at this after all!’ I replied.
The medals kept coming and I became a professional triathlete, earning a living by doing what I loved.
‘It really is a dream come true,’ I told Simon.
Then Simon and I set up Braveheart Fitness Coaching, a mental and physical training programme for athletes.
Life was great – but by December 2010, I was beginning to struggle.
I would constantly feel exhausted and nauseous.
Then there was the uncomfortable bloating and pains in my muscles.
But I was in intensive training four times a week,
cycling, running, weightlifting. So I suppose it was no wonder that I was feeling fatigued! Next I started to struggle with brain fog, where I’d completely forget what I’d been talking about. I was also suffering from headaches and finding it really hard to focus.
‘Maybe you should ease off for a while,’ Simon suggested.
But I was determined to power through.
I was cycling with a friend in summer 2011 when the alarm bells finally rang.
She told me about somebody she knew with Lyme disease.
It’s caused by bacteria and is transmitted to humans through infected tick bites.
She’d felt exhausted, nauseous and complained that her brain was foggy.
‘Her symptoms sound exactly like mine,’ I gasped.
Concerned, I went to my local clinic to be tested.
The results confirmed that I did have Lyme disease.
Although I was gutted, I was determined to fight it.
I educated myself by reading up on the disease online, and went to see a specialist.
He explained that it was very likely the condition had been lying dormant in my system and I could’ve been bitten by an infected tick years ago in Scotland.
The infection impacts different systems within the body, causing problems with concentration, nerves and muscles, as well as the gut.
Although there was no cure, it was possible that
antibiotic treatment might put me in remission.
Despite my diagnosis, though, I refused to let Lyme disease control my life.
I continued to push myself in triathlons, even winning my first world championship back in 2011.
But in late 2013, my symptoms grew a lot more intense.
I suffered more brain fogs and I also experienced terrible diarrhoea and gas.
I even had a few accidents while actually competing!
I can either pull out of the race and find a loo, or win and poo myself, I thought. And, really, that was a no-brainer for me!
Doctors said that my gut’s good bacteria had been almost wiped out by all the medication, which had worsened my condition.
I did try some alternative therapies but didn’t really ever get back to full health.
Listening to a health podcast in 2016, I heard about an unexpected treatment option.
The medical professionals were speaking about faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), or poo transplants. The idea was to repopulate a patient’s gut with healthy bacteria from a donor stool, to help get the digestive system working well again. At first, I found the idea of having someone else’s poo inside my body gross! But, the more I listened, the more intrigued I became.
Simon, who has a background in science, agreed that it was a good idea.
So I made contact with Glenn Taylor, the speaker on the podcast who was also Director of Science at the Taymount Clinic in Hertfordshire.
In the run up to the procedure, I loved the reaction I got telling people what the doctors were going to do.
‘That’s really disgusting!’ my friends squealed.
But while a poo transplant sounded grim, I’d do anything to get my life back.
I was booked in for 10 transplants over 10 days, in which each donor stool would be screened for disease, frozen, and made into an implant to be inserted my bottom.
I had my first transplant on 5 February last year.
A plastic tube attached to a large syringe full of poo was pushed up into my intestine.
Once the stool was in my body, I was held upside down for 20 minutes to allow the faeces to get where they needed to go.
I did find that it was a little bit uncomfortable, but there was no actual pain as such.
Each transplant was done in just 30 minutes.
When the procedure was over, I had to try and keep the donor stool inside me for as long as possible before going to the toilet.
The benefits kicked in straightaway.
I had much more energy and the brain fog disappeared.
When I got home after, I was on fighting form, ready to throw myself into more competitions.
I still have Lyme disease, but my gut problems have vanished. For now.
People may grimace at the thought of a poo transplant, but, for me, FMT treatment was just what I needed.
Better in than out!
The Brave Athlete by Lesley Paterson and Simon Marshall is available from Amazon.
Once it was in my body, I was held upside down