Trying, One step up and two back?

I tried!  Really, I tried.

I failed!  I really failed.

I started working out to help improve my health issues.  It was not excessive, just three days a week with elliptical or indoor cycling.  It was challenging but refreshing, although I felt increasingly fatigued.  I went to the physician, who sent me to another physician, who sent me back to the Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist who performed my surgery about six years ago.  He evaluated me, and I learned more than I wanted to know.

What I learned was an untreated sinus infection can lead to bronchitis, worsening of asthma, and chronic cough.  Oh, so that’s why I feel bad?  He explained that continued contamination leads to nasal membrane swelling, obstruction, and mouth breathing.  Nasal congestion can cause snoring and lead to sleep apnea as well.  OK, I know that is happening.

The acute sinusitis I failed to treat created a low-grade chronic infection.  The presence of nasal polyps makes treatment of sinusitis difficult.

Here is the real bummer.  My sinuses have made me miserable.  Pressure, pain, drainage, and difficulty breathing have been issues.  I now learned that this is also a possible issue with my stomach pains.  As my sinus pressure impacted blood circulation to my eyes, I have sudden, patchy, blurred vision and blindness.  My sinus infection has spread into the bloodstream, affecting the brain and eyes.

My respiratory system was already weakened from the Pulmonary Embolisms.  As excess mucus is produced, and there’s a lot of it, it drains.  This excess mucous irritated my digestive system.  Nausea and loose stools follow.

I know, it’s TMI.  I know I need to grab hold of my bootstraps, find courage, and make progress.  Am I a mouse of a man?

I need to recall my tennis wisdom.  In tennis, losing one point isn’t the end of the world.  It happens to the best of us.  If I can consistently win a few more points that I lose, I will succeed.  I will be ahead of the game with healthy eating and exercising if I consistently out-stepped my steps back.  If I expect perfection (and many of us do), I am setting myself up for disappointment and guilt.  With the medical issues, I do not need that to develop.

Carry on, my friends, carry on!

Why am I alive with a long road ahead!

I will never forget July 7, 2017, like it was yesterday.  It was the day I should have died.  It was a Friday.  I went to work early after being out of the office for nearly two weeks.  I had to go to the second floor that day, I climbed the flight of stairs, and when I reached the top, I thought, "I think I'm going to faint." I continued having issues throughout the day.  I had significant stiffness in my calf 18 months before and occasionally since.  The two weeks before July 7, I complained of stiffness in my calf.  One week before, I was almost unable to walk because of the extreme calf pain.  I did some deep massage with the massager.  I drove home that night and complained I was dizzy and felt terrible.  I was wheezing and had great trouble breathing.  I was in a cold sweat on the couch.

I went to urgent care, where they refused to treat me.  Instead, I was whisked to the ER.  As previously reported, as soon as I arrived, I was pushed to the front of the line and got an EKG, ultrasound, and a CT that showed I had numerous blood clots in my legs and lungs.

I think "it won't happen to me" for so many issues than it happened to me.  It should have killed me.  The Doctor even said it should have killed me.  Doctors are puzzled as to how I survived with that many clots in my lungs.

Because I waited so long, I may have a pulmonary infarct (a portion of my lung is dead because it lost too much oxygen).  I still experience pain and may struggle for the rest of my life, managing with blood thinners.  If I get in an accident, I could bleed out, or if I get hit in the head, I could have a brain bleed.  These are all the things I worry about daily.  July 7, 2017 (or the 8th when reality set in) will always be hard for me.  I will never forget it as the day I should have died. 

"Every year, more people die from preventable blood clots than from breast cancer, AIDS, and traffic accidents combined," said Dr. Samuel Goldhaber, Chairman of the Venous Disease Coalition.  "It is so important to raise awareness about DVT and PE because although blood clots are common, few Americans have sufficient knowledge about blood clots and how to prevent them." The most recent statistics show that 1 person dies every 6 minutes in the United States from blood clots. 

The Vascular Disease Foundation urges Americans to learn about the risks of venous blood clots to help prevent these deaths.   DVT occurs when a blood clot forms in the deep veins, usually of the pelvis or leg.  DVT can be dangerous in two ways.

First, DVT can be fatal if a blood clot breaks free from the leg veins, travels through the heart, and lodges in the lung arteries.  This complication, called pulmonary embolism (PE), causes between 100,000 and 180,000 deaths per year in the United States.

Second, because blood clots can permanently damage the veins, as many as half of DVT survivors can experience long-term leg pain, heaviness, and swelling that can progress to difficulty in walking, changes in skin color, and open leg sores (known as ulcers).  This condition, called post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS) or "chronic venous insufficiency," can significantly impair quality of life.

So, besides living with the constant thought of "why did God let me live," I have had significant pain in walking.  It is so hard, at times, to move the legs.  I am holding out hope there are no long-term issues, yet getting less and less confident.  I can only take this one step at a time.  Moreover, each step is getting more challenging, so it seems!

Some good news is that I got my Bionx D500 wheel rebuilt.  That should significantly decrease my concerns over the summer riding season.  I had broken well over nine spokes last summer, and the lacing was unreliable.  Relaxing the wheel is exceptionally hard due to the motor.  Factory lacing should be stable.

I am looking forward to getting on the bike and biking to work.  I felt better When I could do that in August and September.

On another good note, my son recently purchased a condo in a great location - Breckenridge, CO. This year, I will take two or three one-week trips to get away and try to relax.  While I assume he would not ask me to pay for the stays, I will spend like it is a low-cost hotel, which he welcomes as he is rarely home Monday through Thursday, and I can afford to get away.  It is far from an inexpensive hotel, but it is one of the best in the city!  The views are great, biking is incredible, there are slightly sloped paths, and the town is open during the summer.

Until next time,  Carryon, my friends, carry on.