oldfatfool
Guru
Keep up the good fight Col.
GWS ColinJ.. DVT/Pulmonary Embolism
- Thread starter potsy
- Start date
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D
Deleted member 1258
Guest
Keep rolling Colin, despite the setback it sounds like you're making progress.
totallyfixed
Veteran
- Location
- The only county without a McDonalds
We will be heading up to Lancashire to get a new road bike built for dr_pink within the next 3 weeks so it would be good to pop in to say hello [finally got the insurance money for the bikes]. If that's ok let us know if there is anything we can bring you.
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Yes, but it is at such a frustratingly slow pace. Mind you - it beats the alternative!
I've started overtaking (some) people again when walking. My normal walking pace is quicker than most people's so it had felt very odd being overtaken by sprightly pensioners while I desperately hunted around for somewhere to sit down and rest!
I marched round to the market today and the friendly stall holder remarked on how much more colour there is in my cheeks now. Back in August, pre-diagnosis and treatment, I had become a deathly pale colour, so little oxygen was getting into my blood!
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
A bike built in Lancashire ... at Paul Hewitt's perhaps?
It would be good to see you both again. Nice of you to offer to bring stuff, but I'm okay for everything, thanks. Well, if you had a spare sack of cash, that would always come in handy!
We could meet up and go to a cafe. Just give me a few days notice because I will probably be arranging to meet up with Calum and SlowerThanASluggishSloth in November and it would be a shame to have a clash of dates.
totallyfixed
Veteran
- Location
- The only county without a McDonalds
Will do, and not Paul Hewitt's, a lot closer than that, it's a bit special as one of it's functions will be hill climbing competitions. Hopefully you will get to see it as it will be built while we wait after a special fitting so we can spec it as dr_pink wants.
Great to hear you are getting better, my shoulder and neck still screwed, facing another altercation with the solicitors tomorrow
.
Great to hear you are getting better, my shoulder and neck still screwed, facing another altercation with the solicitors tomorrow
.
Great to hear you are continuing to get better, Colin 
It's a long and intensely frustrating thing recovery - Mrs Scoosh is recovering from a shoulder 'incident' in August and the progress is (literally) painfully slow. She had been running 5ks and really enjoying them before the incident, now she might be able to jog lightly - by January !!!
Like you, she has her up days and down days 
but the overall trend is upward - as is yours. 
Keep at it, keep being so encouraging to others - and thank you (again
) for all you are doing to assist many folk on CC. 
Oh - OK, then ....
It's a long and intensely frustrating thing recovery - Mrs Scoosh is recovering from a shoulder 'incident' in August and the progress is (literally) painfully slow. She had been running 5ks and really enjoying them before the incident, now she might be able to jog lightly - by January !!!
Like you, she has her up days
and down days but the overall trend is upward - as is yours. Keep at it, keep being so encouraging to others - and thank you (again
) for all you are doing to assist many folk on CC. Oh - OK, then ....
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
A lot closer ... interesting!
There is an article on Jack Pullar's hillclimb bike in Cycling Weekly today. He managed to get it down to 12.2 pounds by lopping off or removing a lot of parts, and drilling others. Kept gears on the back though for 'The Rake' and used a 39/25 for the top bit when his legs went.
Good luck with you and dr_p's recoveries and getting the compensation!Great to hear you are getting better, my shoulder and neck still screwed, facing another altercation with the solicitors tomorrow
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Cheers and I hope that Mrs S. makes a full recovery ASAP too!Great to hear you are continuing to get better, Colin
It's a long and intensely frustrating thing recovery - Mrs Scoosh is recovering from a shoulder 'incident' in August and the progress is (literally) painfully slow. She had been running 5ks and really enjoying them before the incident, now she might be able to jog lightly - by January !!!
Like you, she has her up days
Keep at it, keep being so encouraging to others - and thank you (again
Hmm, a, er ... lollipop?
(Searches for glasses!)
BigonaBianchi
Yes I can, Yes I am, Yes I did...Repeat.
- Location
- Iskele TRNC & Mordor UK
get well soon mate
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
My latest update ... It's a lonnnnnng one so I think I'll wait until the end of December or when something significant happens before reporting again!
My INR level has stabilised at a good therapeutic level so I am able to go through to the second week in January before my next blood test. That is because my Warafarin dosage has been adjusted to compensate for the high vitamin k levels in my healthy 'greens'-rich diet. The important thing is to be consistent in what you eat and drink so the Warfarin can work properly. My advice to anyone on Warfarin is to speak to their anti-coagulation clinic and discuss the issue with them. I found that some staff at mine were fairly insistent that I should cut down on the greens, but I couldn't see the point in trying to fix one problem, only to potentially cause another by eating an unbalanced diet.
I am getting stronger. I can now walk about a mile before I have to sit down for a minute or two and I can carry 10-15 pounds of shopping in my rusksack while doing so. That is a big improvement on where I was at the start of November.
My left leg feels like there is still some clotting in it, but the swelling, discolouration and discomfort in it is probably only half what it was before.
Shortness of breath is much less of a problem. I still can't run up and down stairs or ride my bike, but I can now walk fairly briskly and cope with everyday life.
My heart is behaving itself most of the time! A month ago, it was still doing some very alarming things - I was getting bursts of irregular rhythm, or a very fast heart beat, even when just sitting down reading. That was pretty scary!
I am no longer getting the sudden severe stabbing chest pains. As you can imagine - they were very scary!
My personality is returning to what it was before I got ill. That may or may not be a good thing! A close encounter with death had left me weak, timid and fairly humourless. I'm now itching to do more walking and to start cycling again. I've got my sense of humour back, and I am also now getting bad-tempered about annoying things that I was too poorly to bother about a month ago!
Now then ... the big news is that I saw my respiratory specialist yesterday. I had a good chat with him and the overall assessment was that I should feel 'cautiously optimistic'. He said that clots normally clear up in 6-8 weeks of Warfarin treatment but mine were particularly bad so he isn't surprised that my recovery is so slow. As long as I feel that I am improving, that's fine.
I am due to come off Warfarin towards the end of February. The doctor has booked me a battery of extra blood tests a couple of weeks before that to check for any signs of residual clotting to see if it is safe for me to stop taking the drug.
I asked about what the long-term effects of this illness will be on me. He told me that it wouldn't become clear until I stop making progress. At some point, my fitness will either get back to where it was pre-illness, or I will discover that I have a more permanent problem. There is a good chance that an embolism as bad as mine will have starved parts of my heart and/or lungs of oxygen to the extent that they suffered infarction (necrosis, or tissue death!). If that is the case, my body may repair some of the damage, or some medical intervention may be possible to improve matters. We'll cross that bridge if/when we come to it!
Finally, I asked about exercise ... Is it safe to really push myself? The advice was to work as hard as I feel able to, as often as I want to, but (obviously) to back off if I start to feel ill or exhausted.
At one extreme, Frank Vandenbroucke died of a (cocaine-induced?) pulmonary embolism; at the other, Serena Williams returned to full competitive fitness after suffering one at the end of 2010. I am hoping for the best (coming back from my illness fitter and stronger than before), but I'm aware that anything is possible. Fingers crossed!
That's all for now, folks!
My INR level has stabilised at a good therapeutic level so I am able to go through to the second week in January before my next blood test. That is because my Warafarin dosage has been adjusted to compensate for the high vitamin k levels in my healthy 'greens'-rich diet. The important thing is to be consistent in what you eat and drink so the Warfarin can work properly. My advice to anyone on Warfarin is to speak to their anti-coagulation clinic and discuss the issue with them. I found that some staff at mine were fairly insistent that I should cut down on the greens, but I couldn't see the point in trying to fix one problem, only to potentially cause another by eating an unbalanced diet.
I am getting stronger. I can now walk about a mile before I have to sit down for a minute or two and I can carry 10-15 pounds of shopping in my rusksack while doing so. That is a big improvement on where I was at the start of November.
My left leg feels like there is still some clotting in it, but the swelling, discolouration and discomfort in it is probably only half what it was before.
Shortness of breath is much less of a problem. I still can't run up and down stairs or ride my bike, but I can now walk fairly briskly and cope with everyday life.
My heart is behaving itself most of the time! A month ago, it was still doing some very alarming things - I was getting bursts of irregular rhythm, or a very fast heart beat, even when just sitting down reading. That was pretty scary!
I am no longer getting the sudden severe stabbing chest pains. As you can imagine - they were very scary!
My personality is returning to what it was before I got ill. That may or may not be a good thing!
A close encounter with death had left me weak, timid and fairly humourless. I'm now itching to do more walking and to start cycling again. I've got my sense of humour back, and I am also now getting bad-tempered about annoying things that I was too poorly to bother about a month ago!Now then ... the big news is that I saw my respiratory specialist yesterday. I had a good chat with him and the overall assessment was that I should feel 'cautiously optimistic'. He said that clots normally clear up in 6-8 weeks of Warfarin treatment but mine were particularly bad so he isn't surprised that my recovery is so slow. As long as I feel that I am improving, that's fine.
I am due to come off Warfarin towards the end of February. The doctor has booked me a battery of extra blood tests a couple of weeks before that to check for any signs of residual clotting to see if it is safe for me to stop taking the drug.
I asked about what the long-term effects of this illness will be on me. He told me that it wouldn't become clear until I stop making progress. At some point, my fitness will either get back to where it was pre-illness, or I will discover that I have a more permanent problem. There is a good chance that an embolism as bad as mine will have starved parts of my heart and/or lungs of oxygen to the extent that they suffered infarction (necrosis, or tissue death!). If that is the case, my body may repair some of the damage, or some medical intervention may be possible to improve matters. We'll cross that bridge if/when we come to it!
Finally, I asked about exercise ... Is it safe to really push myself? The advice was to work as hard as I feel able to, as often as I want to, but (obviously) to back off if I start to feel ill or exhausted.
At one extreme, Frank Vandenbroucke died of a (cocaine-induced?) pulmonary embolism; at the other, Serena Williams returned to full competitive fitness after suffering one at the end of 2010. I am hoping for the best (coming back from my illness fitter and stronger than before), but I'm aware that anything is possible. Fingers crossed!
That's all for now, folks!
dan_bo
How much does it cost to Oldham?
Nice one Col- keep it up!
Rohloff_Brompton_Rider
Formerly just_fixed
No reason not to be on the bike really Colin? 1 mile walking = 4 mile steady cycling ish. Got to be worth a try to bimble on the mtb? You never know till you try.
Rohloff_Brompton_Rider
Formerly just_fixed
OP
OP
potsy
Rambler
- Location
- My Armchair
Ooh, 4 mile forum ride? Cake stop at the half way point?
