Say What?

I was sidelined for a couple days this week while I waited for the level of coumadin in my blood to drop to a more normal level. I routinely go in to have my blood tested to make sure I'm getting just the right amount of coumadin (often referred to as blood thinner or rat poison) . My INR is supposed to be between 2 and 3 but I registered a 5 on Tuesday. That's way too high and the nurse administering the test told me that I was at high risk for a bleed and to go home and take it easy for the next couple days until the number fell to a safer level. It takes time to establish just the right amount of the drug to take each day. One's diet can have a big effect on their INR number. I'm back within range now and hopefully, we'll soon figure out the proper dosage for me so I stay within range. I took a drive with Toby on Tuesday afternoon to Lake Pepin to try and capture some video of eagles flying the bluffs along the Mississippi River. We didn't see any but stil...

I met up with the Fat Tuesday group for my first night ride in decades. What a blast but what a workout! I'm not nearly recovered enough to be doing that to myself.  It didn't help that I was running a squishy 4 pounds of pressure in my tires making it a little slow-going when I could've easily been running closer to 10 psi. I was finishing near the back of the pack each time we'd regroup but I was smiling. I didn't wear my glasses so I couldn't read my Garmin with its heart rate data but I knew I was redlining at times. The graphic to the right shows what I'm talking about. I hit a max heart-rate of 177 at one point which is pushing it for this no-longer-a-young-pup! I was surprised to see how many other fat-bikers were out there in addition to the 23 in our group. The trails come alive at night and I had no idea! It's a much more happening place after the sun goes down than it is during the day. My GoPro lens kept icing up in the steady light sno...

It's been more than two weeks since I've needed to use oxygen to abort a cluster headache. I want to believe they're gone for many months to come but I'm hesitant to believe that. This has been my longest running phase of these god-awful headaches that I've ever experienced so who's to say they won't soon be back. Regardless, I'm having my first glass of wine in months (red at that!) to see if I can once again safely do that. My canary in a coal mine so to speak. I called today to have them pick up the 5 oxygen tanks I have. They'll be by in the morning. I hope I don't have to see these delivered to our door again anytime soon. I stopped in at work today to pick up some paperwork to get the ball rolling on reestablishing my medical to work traffic. Hopefully, that will go smoothly but if it doesn't, so be it. I'll be a retired controller and that won't be so bad. This has by far been the most stressful few months of my life. Bet...

I would've thought that with all this time off I'd have found time to update my blog before now but the motivation just hasn't been there. I'll try to do better. Glenn Hamilton has left the building! Glenn has been a controller in my area of specialty for the last 17 years or so since transferring from Albuquerque Center. In all that time, I've only ever worked with Glenn a handful of hours because of our schedules. He's a diehard Minnesota Vikings fan and would bid a schedule opposite mine that allowed him to take in their games. He always struck me as the kind of guy I'd like to have worked alongside; very competent and easy going. Here's a link to a set of photos I took at his farewell party. Glenn is just left of center wearing a Hawaiian shirt in the photo to the left. I believe Glenn chalked up 32+ years with the FAA. Wishes for many years of retirement bliss, Glenn! I'm slowly making my way back to more normal health but I've still ...

This is part 3 of 3 about my most recent blood clotting ordeal. Find part 1 here and part 2 here . I wanted to say a little about the staff on the vascular floor (3rd floor) of Southdale Fairview. They are such a caring group of people. Everyone I came in contact with there was always so pleasant and I made a point of learning their names and showing the same warmth back to them that they were giving me. They are such good people! Also, the staff in Interventional Radiology: I actually looked forward to being wheeled down there each time (3 total) to have a procedure done. They were the ones who restored the blood flow to my leg and I have them to thank for their efforts in saving my leg for me. But they were also a pretty cool group of people and I enjoyed our conversations. Also, I've never had more people praying for me than I have this past week and I very much appreciate that. Trust me when I say that for all of you who have offered up your prayers and well-wishes or stop...

Part 2 of 3 about my most recent blood clotting ordeal. Go here for part 1 . Dr. Foley ordered an echocardiogram bubble test to check if there was a hole in my heart between the two upper chambers. It's actually a common occurrence that affects upwards of 25% of the population and is referred to as PFO, or Patent Foramen Ovale. It can lead to a DVT (deep vein thrombosis clot) moving from the venous side of the heart to the arterial side which appears to possibly be what happened in my case. Without a PFO, the chances for a DVT posing a stroke risk just aren't there. The clot moves via the veins back to the heart and into the lungs where it's stopped and results in a pulmonary embolism or PE. Where a PFO is present, the clot may migrate to the arterial side of the heart and work its way to the brain and cause a stroke or it may become lodged in any number of places as the clot is carried along via the arteries. In my case, a clot became wedged in the popliteal artery. ...

Where to begin? I'm finally home after my longest stay ever (4 nights) in a hospital and it's so nice to be back. I've been having more clotting issues related to my Factor V Leiden condition and once again they nearly got the best of me. I had noticed some cramping in my feet for the past several weeks as well as some pain in my lower left leg when I'd try and workout. It became so debilitating Sunday morning that I couldn't even walk on the treadmill for two minutes at a speed of 1 mph. There was a sharp pain in my shin that was now radiating to my calf which felt exactly like a lactic acid burn when muscles are overworked and starved for oxygen. Because the pain had been more toward the front of my leg I put off any thoughts that it was clot-related but now that it was migrating toward my calf, I was reconsidering. I went up to talk with Tammy about what I was experiencing and she insisted I head over to Ridges ER in Burnsville to have it looked at. She...