How a doctor's flippant response became a rallying cry for a traumatized mom

'It was a way of getting back to me,' says postpartum preeclampsia survivor Victoria Buker, of the 140 over 90 Run.

This post is part my Your Stories ongoing series, which features the stories of other people affected by midlife trauma, and how they made meaning from the experience.

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Victoria Buker, founder of the 140 over 90 Run

Four years ago, with the windows open and the sea breeze wafting in, Victoria Buker delivered her baby at a Northern California hospital-based birthing center.

The experience was “amazing,” says Victoria, a health and wellness coach.

But several days later, at home, her feet began to swell and breastfeeding made her feel oddly ill.

“Like I was dying,” is how she explains the nausea and wave of doom and sickness that would wash over her.

A ‘cover your ass’ approach to her case

Over the next several days, her worsening symptoms were repeatedly ignored, even when she showed up at the ER nine days postpartum with severely high blood pressure.

But it was the memory from a doctor’s appointment earlier that day that now fuels her work as the founder of the 140 over 90 Run, which raises money for maternal health research and the Preeclampsia Foundation’s Cuff Kit program.

At the doctor’s office, her toes were barely visible, covered by her swollen feet. She had a persistent headache and had largely given up on breastfeeding. Most critically, her blood pressure, which had been slightly elevated a few days earlier, had now passed 140/90. Anything above that is considered high blood pressure.

Her doctor said nothing about the possibility of postpartum preeclampsia, which causes dangerously high blood pressure and can lead to organ failure and death. Instead, she told Victoria to get a blood pressure cuff and call in if her BP was high.

And that was it.

“It almost seemed like a flippant response, almost like a CYA (cover you ass),” Victoria says.

In that moment, it was put on Victoria to track down a cuff, spend money out of pocket, and learn to use it correctly. Many new mothers can’t complete all those steps, she notes. It’s one reason that postpartum preeclampsia is more deadly than preeclampsia that occurs during pregnancy, when women get more attentive medical care.

Finding her way out of the darkness

When she got home from the appointment, her BP was even higher. The doctor’s call service told her it was likely user error and to retake it in the morning. A friend’s husband, who is a physician, urged her to ignore their advice and go to the hospital.

Later that night, at the ER, Victoria was finally admitted—but only after she demanded to see the attending ob/gyn, who immediately diagnosed severe preeclampsia. She was put on emergency IV medications for high blood pressure and an infection.

Recovery was extensive. Physically, her cardiac health markers didn’t bounce back. Her feet were damaged. For postpartum anxiety and PTSD, she began seeing a therapist, took anxiety medications and started eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing.

At about six months postpartum, a thought occurred to her. “I’ve run marathons, I love endurance and being outdoors. I’m a big believer in moms needing to do what makes them happy. I still had a foot that’s hurting, I was still in physical therapy but I thought, I should do a fundraiser, I should run 140 miles in 90 hours.”

“It was a way of getting back to me,” she added.

How trauma can change you — for the better

While she still had a long way to go, Victoria was already transitioning out of the initial stages of trauma recovery and into what’s known in psychotherapy as “integration.” This means making it a part of your life.

Like Victoria, I survived severe preeclampsia and was traumatized by my healthcare providers’ neglectful treatment. My way of coping with it—of integrating it—was to order all medical records related to my pregnancy (which cost hundreds of dollars) and analyze what was recorded in my chart versus what I knew really happened. Finding discrepancies that indicated a larger systemic problem, I wrote several magazine articles, some specifically to motivate journalists to cover the U.S. maternal healthcare crisis.

My vehicle to healing was to write. Victoria’s was to start a non-profit fitness run. Trauma recovery is beautiful in this way, how it’s different for everyone and can often be a motivator for change.

From pain to passion

Victoria has yet to complete 140 miles in 90 hours, but it remains a goal. Instead, in 2020, she reached out to the Preeclampsia Foundation with a “zany” request. Could she organize a run-based fundraiser called the 140 over 90 Run? They were enthusiastic.

The idea took off. Since inception, the run has raised nearly $35,000 by hundreds of participants and their loved ones. As a third-party fundraiser, a full 100% of the proceeds go directly to the foundation.

The money helps new moms with preeclampsia get easier access to blood pressure cuffs. It also raises awareness about another little-known fact: For the rest of their lives, preeclampsia survivors are at an increased risk of stroke and heart disease.

Victoria’s looking forward to reaching $50,000 and beyond for new moms.

“It’s been my pain-to-passion project,” she says.

Website: www.140over90run.com, and 140 over 90 Run on Facebook and Instagram

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