Hello All,
As per the title, are there any survivors of serious illnesses on here ?
Reason being, I'm slow and don't do big distances and would love to 'follow' others of similar ability on Strava to get and provide some encouragement for each other.
Me.
I have suffered several Sudden Cardiac Arrests (SCA's) and am among the lucky 5% to survive one. I now have an ICD (Implanted Cardioverter Defibrillator) in my chest looking after me. It has saved my life three times in the year I have had it, the last time was just under a month ago.
I still get out on my bikes but limit the rides to less than an hour and typically do about four off road miles a day in about twenty five minutes. The biggest rides I'm doing are about 11-12 miles in about an hour.
A Cardiac Arrest is different to a Heart Attack in so far as it is caused by dodgy electrics in the heart rather than blocked plumbing. Thankfully my plumbing is fine. Sometimes it is hard to get out there and anxiety, panic and general worry can play is big part.
I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has faced or is continuing to face serious health issues and how they are getting on.
Hi Colin_P. Whilst I consider my self lucky - I suppose and especially in the current climate of high stress and recent retirement from 31yrs of Self Employment and Cancer of This that and the other constantly hitting the headlines,I am doing more than OK.
My youngest brother fast approaching 67yrs of age had massive heart attack some several years back and immediately after feeling positively "out of sorts" earlier in the morning.
He is still riding both his Off Road and Road bikes and whilst he no longer conducts "One Man Time Trials" he can certainly put the miles into a trip out.
Also,some 15yrs back he was diagnosed with a Tumour the size of small plum in the groin (his words --- He has now got three goolies) but that was just the beginning.
After 5yrs of Watch & Wait he was then informed that they were going to be treating him for Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma. It turned out that it was a particularly nasty variant - Mantel Cell - B Cell. After all of these years of being absolutely bombarded with the various options available as the tumours moved around his body he is still one of those that looks as though he has never experienced THE BIG C !!!!
He is still with us and complete with his fourth lot of new hair growth. Long may he and others out there continue to fight,survive and wag two fingers at the problems associated with cancer.
As for me,I have only experienced a Total Left Knee replacement and a Cancerous Bladder Tumour removal in 2007 and 2010 respectively.
The one thing that cycling continually has to offer,rain,hail,fog or snow is the chance to get out there and focus on something other than health issues.
That is :_ until some arse-whole in a car,lorry or other means of mechanised transport causes otherwise.
it's right at the bottom of the scale in terms of severity & extent so no need for drastic action. I now have a mountain of literature to go through to decide if what route I want to go down regarding treatment options or just "active surveillance" to begin with & only go for treatment if it gets any worse. My head is now spinning trying to take it all in 
