GWS ColinJ.. DVT/Pulmonary Embolism
- Thread starter potsy
- Start date
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Well Done, Colin - and well done also for the manner in which you have shared a lot of painful personal stuff with all of us on CC - Thank YouBest news I've had all day
You have made us all much more aware of some of the health hazards/ warnings we often choose to ignore and might even have saved a life or two ...
Now we can genuinely wish you a Happy Christmas and an even Happier New Year !
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
It's called Moss Lane. I've ridden up it as far as the footpath, but it would be something to ride up that bit too. It is very steep and it can be slippery, a mixture of cobbles and concrete. I think that it would be doable on a mountain bike, but you'd have to be very strong to power your way up it on a road bike fast enough not to lose your balance, have the front of the bike lift up, or the rear wheel slip.
I think that Moss Lane should have been chosen as the route for the local part of the Pennine Cycleway rather than The Buttress which I recently depicted in this post. The Google StreetView car went almost up to the footpath at the top of Moss Lane - you can see the metal railings here next to the footpath curving round to the left as it gets steeper.
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
I know that lot of people on CC will be quietly suffering serious illnesses in private, but I decided that I'd write about what I'm going through because it is largely preventable and/or curable providing that people know what to do, what not to do and what to watch out for.Well Done, Colin - and well done also for the manner in which you have shared a lot of painful personal stuff with all of us on CC - Thank You
You have made us all much more aware of some of the health hazards/ warnings we often choose to ignore and might even have saved a life or two ...
As you say - this thread could help somebody avoid death or serious illness in the future, and if so it was worth the effort of writing all these posts. Besides, if I hadn't, I probably still be getting loads of phone calls and PMs asking how I am so I save time and energy keeping my CC pals up to date in one place.
Thanks for that. I feel that I can now officially say that I'd be surprised and peeved to 'wake up dead' from this illness!Now we can genuinely wish you a Happy Christmas and an even Happier New Year !
It was a bit touch and go at first, but I feel like I'm getting stronger every day now and have gone back to 'Plan A' - to get to my mid-80s or beyond, like my parents, grandparents and many other close relatives. Okay, it might not happen, but at least I'm no longer scared of it not happening!
In case I forget to do it later, Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year to y'all too!
I'll eventually join some of you on more fine CycleChat forum rides, but I still like the idea of doing a forum walk. I'll mention that idea again when I feel up to doing 7 or 8 miles including a couple of decent hills. Maybe some time in late January, early February?
Pennine-Paul
Goth on a bike............
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Poacher
Gravitationally challenged member
- Location
- Nottingham
So how many sprouts is too many? I guess there could be many different answers to that.
Really glad to hear about your progress, Colin, and hoping to see you on another Rutland ride before too long (although I don't mind waiting - better late than never - hmmm, think that was said last time!). GWS, Happy Christmas and a Healthy New Year!
Really glad to hear about your progress, Colin, and hoping to see you on another Rutland ride before too long (although I don't mind waiting - better late than never - hmmm, think that was said last time!). GWS, Happy Christmas and a Healthy New Year!
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Thanks chaps - I'd already spotted the sprouts story! I'm not going to let it put me off my 'greens' but I certainly won't be asking for second helpings this year. Pity ... I love sprouts!
In case I forget nearer the time - a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all, and thanks for the support since I got ill. All being well, I'll be out riding with you again soon (ish).
In case I forget nearer the time - a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all, and thanks for the support since I got ill. All being well, I'll be out riding with you again soon (ish).
D
Deleted member 1258
Guest
Have a great Xmas Colin and an excellent New Year.
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
I don't want to post about every single health problem that I have so I'll leave it another couple of weeks before I report on my condition again, but I'll mention something that just amused me ...
I was just waiting to take my regular evening dose of Warfarin and was feeling a bit tired. It struck me that I seem to have been tired a lot since I started taking the drug and I haven't exactly been exerting myself, so I thought I'd do a search for 'side effects of Warfarin' and see if fatigue is one of them. (Apparently, it can be.)
Now why is it when faced with all sorts of ghastly possibilities including such joys as hepatitis, spinal cord infarction, leukocytoclastic cutaneous vasculitis (?), tracheobronchial calcification, retinal haemorrhage etc., the one thing that leapt out of my laptop screen at me and had on my feet and shouting "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!!!!" was ...
... penile gangrene!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm going to have to take up some religion or other so I can start praying that I never suffer from that particular problem!
I was just waiting to take my regular evening dose of Warfarin and was feeling a bit tired. It struck me that I seem to have been tired a lot since I started taking the drug and I haven't exactly been exerting myself, so I thought I'd do a search for 'side effects of Warfarin' and see if fatigue is one of them. (Apparently, it can be.)
Now why is it when faced with all sorts of ghastly possibilities including such joys as hepatitis, spinal cord infarction, leukocytoclastic cutaneous vasculitis (?), tracheobronchial calcification, retinal haemorrhage etc., the one thing that leapt out of my laptop screen at me and had on my feet and shouting "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!!!!" was ...
... penile gangrene!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm going to have to take up some religion or other so I can start praying that I never suffer from that particular problem!
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Time for another update, which is that ... I should have kept my big trap shut! 
I made a really optimistic post on 15th December and things did indeed seem to be progressing rapidly. I'd read about how other people with my condition suffer significant setbacks and I'd had a bad setback myself back on 27th October which had scared me, but I thought that I'd put all that behind me. I hadn't!
I went down to Coventry for Christmas. I walked to Hebden Bridge station with my rucksack - no problem. I walked from Coventry station to my sister's house - no problem. I walked the dog with her - no problem. Went shopping with her - no problem. I began to think that I'd be doing some gentle turbo sessions in January ready for getting back on the bike in February - dream on!
I walked round to a friend's house on the Friday before Christmas. It's only about 1 km from my sister's. There is a short hill to go up which probably gains about the height of a house in about 150 m. I charged up feeling pretty good and sat down with my mate to chat away for a few hours, catching up on old times. Still no problem.
At the end of the evening, I stood up to go home and felt a twinge in my leg where the DVT had been discovered. It was enough to make me wonder was going on, but was not actually painful. I set off to walk back down the hill and within 30 seconds I was short of breath again and my pulse was racing. Damn!
And that was that - a few weeks worth of progress was wiped out in a few seconds. I can only assume that a bit of residual DVT went walkabout and got up into my lungs.
I've had my ups and downs since then but have gradually improved overall back to where I was mid-December, so I am about 6 weeks behind where I thought I'd be at the end of January.
Ho hum ... It's a blow to my former confidence that I would make a full recovery without the need for any intervention other than the Warfarin. Having said that, I am feeling okay today.
It looks like my recovery is definitely going to be a succession of two-steps-forwards-one-step-back stages, so I'll just have to hope that I eventually get well again and try not to get too upset at these setbacks.
I have another appointment with the consultant at the end of March to discuss the results of a battery of blood tests which he has told me to have a couple of weeks earlier. I'll try and do a lot of gentle walking before then to get myself as fit as I can without over-stressing my body.
I still consider myself lucky though - I've read some real horror stories of young men and women keeling over and dying in front of their kids with this illness. Many don't even get the chance to try for a recovery.
Apparently, 75% of Americans do not even know what a DVT is! Another scary statistic - on average, one person a month gets off a long-haul flight at Heathrow and dies at the airport from DVT/PE. (I know that a lot of people pass through Heathrow, but it does make you think that the dangers of DVT when travelling are still not being taken seriously enough.)
I was going to say "I'll do a CycleChat forum ride some time in 2013, or die trying" but it would be wiser to say "I'll try hard to do a CycleChat forum ride some time in 2013, but if it isn't possible, there's always 2014"!
Oh, to end on a more positive note ... The weight fell off me when I got ill last summer because I almost stopped eating for a month. When I came out of hospital, I got my appetite back and started eating sensibly again, plus I was treating myself to a bit too much comfort food. As a result, by the end of the festive season I was pretty much back up to 15 stone. (I was 16.5 stone when I got ill.) Well, the good news is that I have the eating under control and am back down to 14.5 stone, and steadily losing weight. My target is 12.5 stone, so I am halfway there. I look and feel better for it. When I finally do get cycling again, I should have a slim body to work with and I'm looking forward to getting fit again.
Assuming nothing major happens in the mean time, I'll report back again in a month or so.
I made a really optimistic post on 15th December and things did indeed seem to be progressing rapidly. I'd read about how other people with my condition suffer significant setbacks and I'd had a bad setback myself back on 27th October which had scared me, but I thought that I'd put all that behind me. I hadn't!
I went down to Coventry for Christmas. I walked to Hebden Bridge station with my rucksack - no problem. I walked from Coventry station to my sister's house - no problem. I walked the dog with her - no problem. Went shopping with her - no problem. I began to think that I'd be doing some gentle turbo sessions in January ready for getting back on the bike in February - dream on!
I walked round to a friend's house on the Friday before Christmas. It's only about 1 km from my sister's. There is a short hill to go up which probably gains about the height of a house in about 150 m. I charged up feeling pretty good and sat down with my mate to chat away for a few hours, catching up on old times. Still no problem.
At the end of the evening, I stood up to go home and felt a twinge in my leg where the DVT had been discovered. It was enough to make me wonder was going on, but was not actually painful. I set off to walk back down the hill and within 30 seconds I was short of breath again and my pulse was racing. Damn!
And that was that - a few weeks worth of progress was wiped out in a few seconds. I can only assume that a bit of residual DVT went walkabout and got up into my lungs.
I've had my ups and downs since then but have gradually improved overall back to where I was mid-December, so I am about 6 weeks behind where I thought I'd be at the end of January.
Ho hum ... It's a blow to my former confidence that I would make a full recovery without the need for any intervention other than the Warfarin. Having said that, I am feeling okay today.
It looks like my recovery is definitely going to be a succession of two-steps-forwards-one-step-back stages, so I'll just have to hope that I eventually get well again and try not to get too upset at these setbacks.
I have another appointment with the consultant at the end of March to discuss the results of a battery of blood tests which he has told me to have a couple of weeks earlier. I'll try and do a lot of gentle walking before then to get myself as fit as I can without over-stressing my body.
I still consider myself lucky though - I've read some real horror stories of young men and women keeling over and dying in front of their kids with this illness. Many don't even get the chance to try for a recovery.
Apparently, 75% of Americans do not even know what a DVT is! Another scary statistic - on average, one person a month gets off a long-haul flight at Heathrow and dies at the airport from DVT/PE. (I know that a lot of people pass through Heathrow, but it does make you think that the dangers of DVT when travelling are still not being taken seriously enough.)
I was going to say "I'll do a CycleChat forum ride some time in 2013, or die trying" but it would be wiser to say "I'll try hard to do a CycleChat forum ride some time in 2013, but if it isn't possible, there's always 2014"!
Oh, to end on a more positive note ... The weight fell off me when I got ill last summer because I almost stopped eating for a month. When I came out of hospital, I got my appetite back and started eating sensibly again, plus I was treating myself to a bit too much comfort food. As a result, by the end of the festive season I was pretty much back up to 15 stone. (I was 16.5 stone when I got ill.) Well, the good news is that I have the eating under control and am back down to 14.5 stone, and steadily losing weight. My target is 12.5 stone, so I am halfway there. I look and feel better for it. When I finally do get cycling again, I should have a slim body to work with and I'm looking forward to getting fit again.
Assuming nothing major happens in the mean time, I'll report back again in a month or so.
