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Medical Saga continues (some cycling related content)
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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

8/17/18 5:14 PM

Doc thinks PVCs, and will see the Electrocardiogram 48 hour monitor results before referral, but does not anticipate to refer to cardiologist at this point.

Have to go back 'fasting' for blood work for LDL/HDL, was not happy with what she saw. And I was 12 lb heavier than I thought, and those two things need to be curtailed.

Guess I am just going to have to live with the PVCs, annoying but benign apparently. Glad this condition is non stroke risk and no blood thinners etc.

So unless the ECG show something funny...

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daddy-o
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 3307
Location: Springfield

8/17/18 6:31 PM

👍👍

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

8/17/18 7:34 PM

Yeah, definitely better this than Afib, although Vfib is not so good either, as death follows. ;)

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

8/18/18 4:24 AM

Benign is good

Don't know anything about the condition, but I hope it indeed is just a minor annoyance. Is it something you can feel when it happens?

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

8/18/18 8:40 AM

>Is it something you can feel when it happens?

And then some, it feels like your heart wants to jump out of chest after a shortness of breath for a second. And repeated events make you heart hurt a little, which the mental effect of is self explanatory.

PVC is exactly that, Premature Ventricular Contraction. So the lower chamber fires early, like just after or seems like same time as Atrial firing. So it then gets two atrial pumps of blood before it fires again. That next correctly timed pump is a thump due to the extra volume in the chamber. Just prior it feels like a left lung shortness of breath that subsides the instant the blood clear with the heavier thump/pump.

Getting them occasional is one thing, and you get used to it. But it started doing one after the other. Now this is only at resting HR, so if it does it on the bike while at 70-max HR I don't notice.

I do not think it is a case of just noticing it more, and that it is actually doing it more. It has only done repeat performances instead of the occasional events a day here and there in my lifetime. Until now that is, it has been a few weeks this time around.

So when it repeats you say WTF, And you start thinking I don't want to have a stoke. Then your Adrenalin adjusts for that flight/flight situation in your brain and makes it worse.

Fun fun fun.

Side note: second day on the monitor I skipped coffee in the morning [argh] . Had no effect on the plaps, nor diminished them. So this is good I feel. If I had to give up coffee that would be second to giving up sax. ;)

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

8/23/18 12:41 PM

Heard back from the Clinic re: 48 hour monitor results.

Sez it furthers the previous opinion that I am having benign PVCs. They said no irregularities other than PVCs showed. This of course if a proper diagnosis is good news.
They did not feel the need to refer to cardiologist. But I asked for a referral, both as a second opinion, and siting I want to confer with a sports cardiologist going forward in my riding path as far as high HR exercise is concerned.

But no flags, which may calm me down so the stress of WTF when I get them repeatedly does not make the occasional the frequent.

The last approx 48 hours is the first time in weeks I have not noted the palp/pump/skip symptom. Maybe it took the Dr., using the 'B' word to get me outta the loop. ;)

Not to mention I have been prudent about getting longer versions of what is called sleep, you know when you are in bed thinking about stuff instead of falling asleep. ;)

This bout has occurred when my normal frequent riding has been disturbed by an AQI here I won't ride out in. So I walk with a face mask, much lower respiratory turnover/volume. ;) Yada

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

8/24/18 5:54 AM

Benign is still good

That's encouraging. If you do talk to a sports oriented cardiologist, let us know the advice.

And yes, this stuff does play mind games.

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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC

8/24/18 10:39 AM

AQI???

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

8/24/18 10:58 AM

Air Quality Index. Wildfires! Lets hope my Sept plans for the Crater Lake Jaunt are not negated like last year due to an AQI that is dangerous to breath outdoors. 9/8 and 9/15 this year are the rim drive car closure dates...

As I type this the AQI at Crater Lake is 66, fingers crossed.. But all it takes is some wind direction and a stalled low, and it turns to shit and stays shit for days or a week.

This was typical up to yesterday for over a week. Today the AQI is 18. Not ridden since last Saturday except a 6 mile attempt when the AQI was to high to not feel it in the lungs. It was 122 at best yesterday, blew out just after midnight. Last two Saturdays in the 70s, not terrible.

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

8/26/18 9:00 AM

When we were on vacation earlier this month, we flew into Spokane and drove through northern Idaho to Glacier National Park. After doing a 6-day bike trip there with Trek Travel, we drove up to southern BC and worked our way west, ending up in the San Juan Islands for a couple of days. We were struck by how hazy it was everywhere, even when we were far from any fires and couldn't smell smoke. On the way back to Washington, there was even a point where you could see a distinct layer of smoke in the mountains, with clearer air above and below. The only place we had really clear air was on San Juan island, but you could see the smoke when you looked east over the mainland.

I feel for the folks living out there, as it just seems like the whole northwest is burning.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

8/26/18 9:49 AM

My younger kid is in Cheney, just south of Spokane. It was so bad there just going outside was mask or choke. This was while it was bad here in the yellow and red, it was deep purple, 350 on the scale IIRC.

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Tom Price
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 505
Location: Rochester, NY

8/26/18 5:18 PM

Here in Rochester, NY, we have a haze in the sky from the Northwest fires.

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daddy-o
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 3307
Location: Springfield

8/27/18 3:03 PM

I've never bruised ribs before, this sucks. But it reminds me to say: You folk who are actually dealing with something beyond a nuisance Get Well Soon!

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

8/27/18 3:35 PM

Bad ribs suck all right

I busted a few, along with puncturing a lung in a bike misadventure. Until you mess up your ribs, you don't realize they are involved in every action your body takes. Don't laugh, Daddy!

And get better.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

8/27/18 3:56 PM

You'll be alright. Just don't cough, sneeze, laugh, hiccup. Definitely do not do 2 or more of these things simultaneously ever!

If you stop breathing it will hurt less, especially after you expire... Don't use your hands/arms to support yourself to get up from seated, up or twist around.

If you are taking pain pills, take stool softeners NOW! Trying to crap while constipated, add that to the above list.

Back in 2000 when I broke my clav into 7 pieces, I also bruised my Sternum and had a few non displaced rib fractures.

I feel for you, rest assured.

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daddy-o
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 3307
Location: Springfield

8/27/18 4:44 PM

If I can figure how to make a move by arranging my limbs to keep the area in tension instead of compression it's like nothing.

But until I perfect tying my shoelaces with chopsticks there are some postures that can't be avoided.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

8/27/18 5:08 PM

How did you manage to perpetuate the injury BTW?


I remember sleeping upright with 6 pillows, arm sling and figure 8 brace thing. After a few nights I could not take it anymore. I threw all but one pillow off and lay back, fell asleep. Bliss!

Did not think it through though, upon waking it was obvious I could not get up from laying on my back.

We had a king bed in a room too small for it. This worked in my favor. I put my right big toe sideways under the window sill, bed was 14" from that wall. Luckily I was very fit at that time, and the toe sit up using the sill to rise minimizing twist and any upper body anything worked. I was up. ;)

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daddy-o
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 3307
Location: Springfield

8/27/18 6:00 PM

How, and a tip/technique

Helping someone move, bending over a piece of furniture to stretch and catch a toppling lamp. A real World Cup save, that one. Since Saturday I've learned to be very deliberate. That pillows suggestion sounds like a game changer, thanks. Yeah, leverage is the key getting out of bed, if you strain the spot it's like undoing all the healing.

A while back, fifteen years ago, I figured out a way to approach healing a soft tissue injury. That was for a shoulder, but I'm applying it to this episode too.

It's basically "approach, don't encroach" the pain.

Using the shoulder for an example:
Point at a convenient corner of the ceiling right now (or imagine it...)
Pretend THAT is the place dead center where your range of motion absolutely will not let you point.
You may be able to point at every degree in a large circle around that point though.
Figure out that "pain perimeter" and a few times a day "point it out" degree by degree or quadrant by quadrant, whatever works for you at the moment.
All you want to do is approach the pain, not feel it.
No pain there, none there, none there, oops- slight sensation there, back off.
Next quadrant. third quadrant, fourth.
Over time the pain perimeter, or pain shadow, or blind spot, will get smaller and smaller.
This isn't for torn tissue, just overstretched nuisance issues.

My shoulder back then had its 'pain area' for months. Using that technique it healed up definitely within a month and that was the last of that.

A few years later I had too much fun playing catch one afternoon. The next day I couldn't slide the sunroof panel shut in the car. It took a few weeks but I knew what to do.

Now if I could only apply that to hearts and hips we could all retire.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

8/27/18 6:26 PM

Your couch bout, sounds like another rib episode I had. Me and a friend were off on a SAT in his van with the Time Trial bikes for the 20k circuit. We turned into the place in Rockland Co NY and I turned to grab something outta my gym bag leaning too far and he went over a speed bump. I felt a rib pop out and back in in my back, it was odd.

Hurt some right after, hurt a lot hours later and for a few days. So I must have pulled an intercostal muscle, maybe a couple. It hurt an awful lot like the fractured ribs, just more localized.

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

9/12/18 9:30 AM

Stressin'

They want to double check my ticker due to some test results and me going to Antarctica in January, so this morning I took a nuclear stress test. You get a nuke IV, they take pictures, then you take a treadmill stress test (during which they monitor blood pressure, hr, and rhythm). You tell them when you think you can only last another minute. In the last minute, they nuke you again, then take more pics after the test finishes. The pics are to see if there is any artery blockage.

On the treadmill they increase the speed and incline every 3 minutes. I never use a treadmill so I found it awkward at the initial slow speed, but it got more natural as they ramped it up. There are 3 people in the room, talking to you and taking measurements.

They said I did well. I lasted 10 1/2 minutes, they said they were looking for a hr around 130 and I got to 169 (did not take the beta blocker this am). I lasted 1 1/2 minutes on the last level, don't think I had much left. They said I had a good bp and hr response to the exercise, which is encouraging for riding hard with my conditions.

FTP tests are pretty good prep for this (though I haven't done one in quite awhile).

Now wait to see what the pics show.

My knee held up well!

At this point I don't complain about tests - the more info the better.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

9/12/18 10:10 AM

I am trying to get the GP to refer me to a the cardiologist for a stress test.

"My knee held up well! "

I wonder if/when such 'stress tests' will include a different appliance than a tread mill?? You know, like a bike on a smart trainer maybe....


Last edited by Sparky on 9/12/18 12:43 PM; edited 1 time in total

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

9/12/18 10:38 AM

Ergo stress

There are some ergometer stress tests done, but I think fewer facilities are set up to do this. Also I am not sure if they are only done for certain purposes.

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

9/12/18 11:23 AM

Regardless of how you got it, congrats on the good news!

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