A 23-Year-Old Almost Lost Her Leg After Attending a Spin Class–
And now she’s sharing her journey on social media to bring attention to the life-threatening condition called rhabdomyolysis.
The following written content by Zara Hanawalt
Kaelyn Franco attended her first spin class on September 15 — and it nearly cost her her leg or, worse, her life.
When Franco, 23, got off the bike at the end of the 45-minute class, her legs immediately buckled. “I thought that was strange at first, but then I was like maybe it’s just my muscles are tired, weak, and just a little bit sore,” the Massachusetts resident told TODAY. And being that Franco is, in her words, “someone who played sports all [her] life,” both she and her cousins (with whom she attended the workout) thought nothing of it.
But by the following evening, Franco found herself nearly crying in pain. She struggled to walk and bend her now very swollen legs, and her urine was dark brown in color. It became clear that something was very wrong. So she went to the hospital, where tests showed that her levels of creatine kinase, an enzyme that increases when there’s muscle damage present in the body, were wildly elevated. “At my highest my CK levels were 259,000 (the normal range is between 33-211 U/L). Doctors said they hadn’t seen such levels before,” she wrote in an Instagram post detailing her experience.
Franco’s diagnosis? Rhabdomyolysis (often called “rhabdo”) is a potentially life-threatening medical condition that occurs when damaged muscle tissue starts to break down, sending its contents into the bloodstream, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More specifically, as muscles break down, they release a protein called myoglobin and the aforementioned creatine kinase enzyme into the bloodstream (thus, why Franco’s levels were so high), which can manifest as symptoms such as muscle pain (way more than your typical post-leg day ache), muscle weakness (barely being able to move your limbs), and dark-colored urine — all of which require immediate medical attention. (Related: Paralympic Snowboarder Amy Purdy Has Rhabdo)
The kidneys are responsible for removing this myoglobin from the blood and flushing it out via urine, but in large quantities, myoglobin can damage the kidneys. That’s part of why rhabdo can also lead to serious health complications including (but not limited to) kidney damage or failure, seizures, permanent disability, or even death. And in some cases — such as Franco’s — it can cause acute compartment syndrome, a painful condition wherein pressure within muscles (brought on by swelling) builds to dangerous levels that can cause nerves, veins, and arteries in the area to die, Denise Pate, M.D., a physician at the Medical Offices of Manhattan and a certified spin instructor, previously told Shape. And this may result in permanent and extensive muscle damage. Read more from Shape.
