GWS ColinJ.. DVT/Pulmonary Embolism

[Calum]

Colin!! Hello!!!

I haven't been checking the forum at all recently. - I was in China over the summer and i'm back in Bristol at the moment. (Not perminantly, I hope to move back to Leeds again depending on the job situation etc...)

I've just read through this entire thread and i'm totally gutted to hear that you've had such an awful few months. Let's hope this improving picture keep doing does just that and we see you back on the bike sooner rather than later! I expect i'll be back up north a fair few times in the next few months visiting friends, so i'll make sure to call in at Hebden for coffee and cakes! Also, if I drive up, a cruise through the Dales and a pub lunch might be in order!

Keep getting better and keep us all posted on improvements/updates.

 

[phil_hg_uk]

A bit of news regarding the customer who died I was telling you about earlier in the thread, I got a phone call this evening and someone has been appointed to sort out his estate. He is coming to see me regarding the stuff I used to look after for him, but his only relative is someone he has never met who is in his ninties in another country who will get around 1/2 a million windfall because he never left a will.

 

[ColinJ]

Colin!! Hello!!!

I haven't been checking the forum at all recently. - I was in China over the summer and i'm back in Bristol at the moment. (Not perminantly, I hope to move back to Leeds again depending on the job situation etc...)

Oh, hi Calum! I was wondering the other day if you'd been off on TEFL duties!

I've just read through this entire thread and i'm totally gutted to hear that you've had such an awful few months. Let's hope this improving picture keep doing does just that and we see you back on the bike sooner rather than later!

I was pretty gutted too!

Cycling will start again once I've cracked the walking problem.

Joking aside, it has been a scary and humbling experience. My breathing is a lot better now, but I am often aware of strange pressures and twinges in my chest that I have never felt before so I am constantly on edge in case some little piece of clot breaks free and causes havoc in my heart or brain. I can live with (the thought of) sudden death (if you forgive the pun!) but dread suffering serious and permanent damage ...

I expect i'll be back up north a fair few times in the next few months visiting friends, so i'll make sure to call in at Hebden for coffee and cakes! Also, if I drive up, a cruise through the Dales and a pub lunch might be in order!

That would be great! Just give me a few day's notice in case I have an appointment or something else organised.

Keep getting better and keep us all posted on improvements/updates.

I'll do my best, so here's a short update ...

Yesterday's blood test showed my INR is settling in the desired therapeutic range so my Warfarin dose is being kept the same and the blood test interval relaxed to 3-weekly - hoorah!

I have decided that I will eat slightly less of the healthy green veg that I normally eat lots of, because it can counteract the effect of Warfarin. I'll eat more of different types of veg instead - e.g. carrots.

 

[Calum]

Well keep getting better please! My parents are off to France in mid-November, so i'm thinking of stealing the car and heading up to Yorkshire for a few days. A ploughman's lunch in the Dales might be a pleasant change of scenery (and remind me of why I need to head back up to that part of world!).

 

[ColinJ]

Well keep getting better please! My parents are off to France in mid-November, so i'm thinking of stealing the car and heading up to Yorkshire for a few days. A ploughman's lunch in the Dales might be a pleasant change of scenery (and remind me of why I need to head back up to that part of world!).

Sounds great but if you remember back to that first forum ride we did together 4 (?) years ago, we already had snow and ice by that time of year! Maybe we will get a longer autumn and milder winter this time?

 

[Calum]

Wow yeah I remember it well. I think we rode up to Waddington? I was in my first year of uni at the time so it feels like a very long time ago indeed! It doesn't really matter if the weather is terrible though, we could drive up to a nice pub in Skipton for lunch and do a loop of the places we love to ride around. I expect you'd enjoy a day in the countryside you're used to riding around.

 

[ColinJ]

Wow yeah I remember it well. I think we rode up to Waddington? I was in my first year of uni at the time so it feels like a very long time ago indeed! It doesn't really matter if the weather is terrible though, we could drive up to a nice pub in Skipton for lunch and do a loop of the places we love to ride around. I expect you'd enjoy a day in the countryside you're used to riding around.

I think the first ride with colly and bokonon was a bit more local than that, but we did ride to Waddington towards the end of that winter.

Time to get some sleep!

 

[Calum]

Indeed! I remember meeting Colly for the first time that winter (it was farking freezing!)

Sleep well sir!

 

[Steve H]

Ha ha - the CycleChat cafe - we'll be doing the real cafe in a week or so!

I might have a picture taken with Steve H on Sunday so you can judge for yourself!

(I'm only about halfway to avatar-like slimness, and slightly less so since my b-in-law bombarded me last week with chocolate, bread, cheese and other goodies that I normally resist!)

Not sure standing next to me for the photo will give a good comparison! I make most people slim!

 

[potsy]

Not sure standing next to me for the photo will give a good comparison! I make most people slim!

You even made me look short

 

[ColinJ]

Time for another quick report ...

I walked into town to meet Steve H last Sunday. I had to stop for a rest a couple of times on the way out but made it back without stopping.

On Thursday, I walked to the local market and did my fruit and veg shop, needing just a 30 second rest before heading home.

On Friday evening, I walked to the shops and back, needing one stop each way.

This afternoon, I walked out in the sunshine to meet Pennine-Paul, bromptonfb + A.N.Other. I got there without stopping for a rest, did some shopping afterwards, and got home without needing a rest.

I'm able to stand for much longer in the kitchen when preparing meals. It was a real nuisance having to keep standing and sitting down again every 30 seconds.

Still painfully slow progress, but at least I am progressing!

My initial recovery timescale looks unrealistic. I think I will be very lucky to manage a decent walk by Christmas, let alone in November. If that is true, then that pushes back any cycling until well into the New Year. Oh well ... It will take as long as it takes!

 

[colly]

Glad you're making progress Col. Keep on keeping on.

 

[potsy]

I might have a picture taken with Steve H on Sunday so you can judge for yourself!

Not noticed a new avatar Colin

 

[ColinJ]

Not noticed a new avatar Colin

I did take a couple of pictures which featured me, plus another of Steve and his bike by the old packhorse bridge. The pictures of me are not very flattering so I probably would have scrapped them unless I could use my photo editing software to improve them but I wanted to send Steve his picture. When I went to download it to my computer, I discovered that some kind person had tidied my bedroom office area while I was in hospital. As a result, my organised chaos has been replaced by disorganised tidiness and now I can't find anything, including the USB lead for the camera!

 

[ColinJ]

I was going to leave it another week or so before posting in this thread again but a few people contacted me today and asked how I am and it is easier to reply here than squeeze my replies into text messages!

Overall, 'Two steps forward, one step back' is how I would describe it now. An hour ago, it might have been 'Two steps forward, four steps back' because I was feeling pretty poorly.

I did more walking this afternoon than I have managed since before going into hospital back in August. I felt stronger, my breathing was better and my bad leg lasted longer before it started to play up and forced me to rest. That's the 'two steps forward'.

The 'four steps back' was when I started to feel ill in the kitchen this evening. I don't know if I had overdone things this afternoon but I didn't feel at all good.

I haven't said much in this thread about my heart - I've mainly written about my bad leg and shortness of breath. Well, my heart has also been affected. The docs picked up on it as soon as they saw my ECG on entry at A & E. They spotted an irregularity in the rhythm. When they saw the CT scan of my chest, they decided that it was probably caused by the main clot pressing against the side of the heart. Hopefully, the heart will not suffer any lasting damage and I'm sure that they will be checking it again once the clots have been sorted out.

I'm feeling better now. My heart has settled down and I am resting, but it is a scary feeling when it plays up - let's call this evening 'one step back'!