My Story: Maris Jameson

By Maris Jameson

Most athletes don’t realize what a gift their body is until it betrays them.

I ran for years, about 10, and started triathlon mostly out of boredom. The challenge was impressive: Learn two new sports (swim and bike) and then go out to a few races and own some souls.

After my first season (which consisted of just one race) I began having unexplained fevers and pain…everywhere. The pain was so awful I would lie down on my kitchen floor because it was the coldest place in my house and the cold provided some relief. During these flares of fever, anywhere my body would touch a surface – my bed, the floor – left bruises from my bones hitting my skin. I was in and out of the hospital for months and inevitably, my life began falling apart.

At 25 I found myself jobless and having to move back in with my parents. Finally, my primary care doctor – who never once gave up on me – figured it out, and I was diagnosed with a very rare disease called Familial Mediterranean Fever. FMF is a disease where your inflammatory system is on overdrive so little bumps and bruises become 105 degree fevers and unmanageable pain. Unemployed and feeling totally alone I knew I needed to get my life back in order.

One day, out of the blue, I called TriSports.com just to see if they might be hiring. They were and I started the next day. The day I started at TriSports.com was also the day I did my first round of chemotherapy – my doctors thought it “might” help as my immune system was out of control and chemotherapy suppresses your immune system. Chemo did help but the side effects were awful. There I was working with amazing athletes, meeting pros like Leanda Cave, Torsten Abel, Chrissie Wellington and I would have to sneak to the back bathroom to throw up after taking the chemo.

The cure was almost as bad as the disease and the feeling of defeat never subsided, but somehow having these amazing triathletes as my colleagues, working in the industry and meeting pros that you only usually read about gave me my fight back.

A few months into my job at TriSports.com, I began taking an experimental drug at the National Institute of Health and it’s worked. I’ve literally been given a second chance. Slowly I began to feel better, and I got back to my roots and started running again. For Christmas, my boyfriend gave me the best gift I’ve ever received – a TT bike – I learned to love riding a bike. Finally, I got back in the pool. For the past eight months I have felt the “pain” of training – the lung burn, leg cramps and it’s the most glorious feeling I’ve ever had in my life. It’s at these moments when I’m making my body work for me instead of being a victim as it works against me. Presently, there are days when I’m still sick. I have fevers and pain, spend nights in the hospital but at the end of the day I am tougher than this disease – and triathlon taught me that.