GWS ColinJ.. DVT/Pulmonary Embolism

[phil_hg_uk]

Glad to hear things are on the up colin, take it easy and dont rush it I am sure you will be out on the bike again in the near future but wait until you are ready we dont want you getting ill again.

 

[ColinJ]

Glad to hear things are on the up colin, take it easy and dont rush it I am sure you will be out on the bike again in the near future but wait until you are ready we dont want you getting ill again.

Thanks Phil.

I am in the transition period. I couldn't physically cope with much exercise until now but I'm not yet fit and well enough to cope with a huge workload so I will just have to take it at the pace my body can handle - 'little and often' is what I need.

I'm going to the shops later. It's 30 minutes or so out of the house getting a bit of a walk in the sunshine. I've changed my shopping habits from buying a week's worth at a time, to only buying enough to see me through the day and the next morning's brekkie. This way, I have to go out most days.

STOP PRESS!

I am just back from shopping with a friend. We both normally walk quicker than your average shopper so we are forever catching people up and having to overtake them. As you probably now know though, this has not been my experience of late!

We charged round to the Co-op and as we got there I realised that I wasn't out of breath, my heart rate was fairly sensible and my gammy leg wasn't hurting. We did the Co-op and another couple of shops and then carried the shopping home. Only in the last 100 yards or so did my leg start to throb a little.

That is BIG progress ... I feel better than I have since my forum ride to Otley on 15th July which is just before I got ill.

Hopefully that won't have jinxed me and I continue to get better, ready for my comeback walks and rides in Spring 2013!

 

[summerdays]

We both normally walk quicker than your average shopper so we are forever catching people up and having to overtake them. As you probably now know though, this has not been my experience of late!

Each time I've been pregnant I have suffered very badly with sciatica and other muscular/skeletal problems to the extent that by the end of pregnancy what would be a 15 minute walk would turn into a 45 minute torture. And OLD people would overtake me (your comment reminded me of that feeling). Once I gave birth things would return to normal and then there would be that fantastic feeling the first time I overtook someone after struggling so long. I realise that it will be a longer recovery for you ... but enjoy that feeling as you start to feel that you aren't the slowest person around and not being so frustrated with your body.

 

[potsy]

I know Colin looks pregnant in some of the ride photos @summerdays but there's no need for that

 

[coffeejo]

I know Colin looks pregnant in some of the ride photos @summerdays but there's no need for that

Coffee!! Keyboard!!

 

[ColinJ]

I know Colin looks pregnant in some of the ride photos @summerdays but there's no need for that

Ha ha!

I'd rather that photo didn't resurface until after I complete my metamorphosis when I will post 'before and after' shots!

 

[potsy]

Ha ha!

I'd rather that photo didn't resurface until after I complete my metamorphosis when I will post 'before and after' shots!

It's safely locked away, might even have deleted it

 

[gbb]

Glad to hear you're doing well Colin.

 

[totallyfixed]

I know Colin looks pregnant in some of the ride photos @summerdays but there's no need for that

Not any more he doesn't! We had lunch with Colin in Hebden Bridge yesterday after picking up dr_pink's new bike. Colin, you are looking very well in spite of everything that has happened to you, keep it up and time now, as you said to start working those cycling muscles.
Hebden Bridge is looking amazing these days, even to the extent of leaving a rather expensive bike in the back of the car. There is every chance we might pop in again for a better look in a couple of weeks or so.
Sitting in the cafe with the snow falling outside [as opposed to inside] felt very seasonal, but the drive back, first to Holmes Chapel and then on to Rutland wasn't. What makes someone drive at over 80 mph in strong winds and heavy rain and only 20 feet or so from the car in front?

 

[ColinJ]

Not any more he doesn't! We had lunch with Colin in Hebden Bridge yesterday after picking up dr_pink's new bike. Colin, you are looking very well in spite of everything that has happened to you, keep it up and time now, as you said to start working those cycling muscles.

It's hard to maintain a sense of humour or optimism when feeling very ill and scared so I'm pleased to be finally getting my old 'spark' back!

I loved dr_p's new bike. Hopefully, it can make a guest appearance at a hilly forum ride up here in 2013?

I was supposed to meet a friend at the bottom of 'The Buttress' this afternoon - the monstrously steep cobbled path that I pointed out to you and dr_pink yesterday.

I waited at the bottom for a few minutes but I was getting cold so I decided to start walking up the path to meet her. It would be tough, but I'd probably only get 30 or 40 yards up it before we met and came back down. However, unbeknown to me, she had decided to come down the hill by a different route without telling me, because the cobbles were covered in ice. (She didn't have her phone with her.)

As a result, I ended up walking all the way to the top. That's the hardest exercise I've been able to do since July, and do you know what ... I didn't feel ill!

My heart rate was proportional to what I was doing (rather than racing crazily, the way it was a month or so back) and I got just a little out of breath (rather than gasping for air). I felt unfit rather than ill! I don't mind 'unfit' because that is something I can sort out with some hard work, and now I feel well enough to start doing it. I'll gradually build up towards Christmas/New Year, take it easy for the festering festivities, then start ramping the exercise up in the NY with a view to doing a forum ride in the spring if at all possible.

Hebden Bridge is looking amazing these days, even to the extent of leaving a rather expensive bike in the back of the car. There is every chance we might pop in again for a better look in a couple of weeks or so.

It has certainly improved a lot since I first visited the town in the late 70s when it was still a bit run-down, with boarded-up houses and decaying mills.

If you do come back up, let me know. I might be fit enough to manage a moderate walk by then. (I'm booked up from the 20th to early in the NY though.)

Sitting in the cafe with the snow falling outside [as opposed to inside] felt very seasonal, but the drive back, first to Holmes Chapel and then on to Rutland wasn't. What makes someone drive at over 80 mph in strong winds and heavy rain and only 20 feet or so from the car in front?

The same lunacy that makes people cross double-white lines at speed and drive head-on into innocent drivers coming the other way? I was pretty shocked to see the pictures of your smashed-up car and think you were very lucky not to have been maimed or killed. I hope that the injuries you did get heal soon!

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Not any more he doesn't! We had lunch with Colin in Hebden Bridge yesterday after picking up dr_pink's new bike. Colin, you are looking very well in spite of everything that has happened to you, keep it up and time now, as you said to start working those cycling muscles.
Hebden Bridge is looking amazing these days, even to the extent of leaving a rather expensive bike in the back of the car. There is every chance we might pop in again for a better look in a couple of weeks or so.
Sitting in the cafe with the snow falling outside [as opposed to inside] felt very seasonal,

Sounds like your on your way back Colin, keep up the good work, I'll have to spend some time on the turbo or you'll be leaving me on the hills next year and not the other way round.

but the drive back, first to Holmes Chapel and then on to Rutland wasn't. What makes someone drive at over 80 mph in strong winds and heavy rain and only 20 feet or so from the car in front?

The same idiocy that has the driver of a small lorry sit a couple of feet behind a cyclist on an icy descent, it happened to me a couple of winters ago on St Giles Rd, houses on one side, open fields on the other side and containing a steep descent, the road never gets treated and is used as a rat run to a nearby industrial estate, that particular morning the road was covered with compressed polished snow and ice, I tip toed down it at about ten mph and rapidly became aware that I had company. These people are idiots and need removing from our roads.

 

[ColinJ]

Latest instalment of my 'online recovery diary' ...

On Wednesday, I decided to see if I could walk to Mytholmroyd and back. No heroics - I didn't take any of the various longer, hilly options - just a level walk there, a cafe stop, and back to Hebden Bridge to do a quick trip round the shops. That was a total distance of 4 miles.

Outcome...? No problem!

There was still some minor tingling and swelling in the clotted leg but not enough to make me stop for a rest. I think that either some of the DVT is still there, or it did some lasting damage because the leg is definitely not 100%, but at least it is now 50-60% rather than 10%!

I did some sections of the walk at a very brisk pace to see how I coped. Again, I felt a bit unfit but I didn't feel ill!

That was so encouraging that I decided to try a much harder challenge today - a walk up the hill to the village of Heptonstall. That is a walk that challenges your typical 'townie' so I was expecting to suffer, and was prepared to turn back if I had to.

Outcome of this walk ...?

Well, I did get very short of breath on the first part of the hill, but I was expecting that - it is pretty steep - 15-20%, I'd guess! Let me dig up a few old photos ...

There is a short footpath at about 25% at the top of that road, about 40 yards respite, and then it kicks back up to 10%+ all the way to the village.

I could only just speak when walking up that steep road, but had no problems chatting on the final stretch to Heptonstall.

After a quick cafe stop, I walked back into town, did some shopping and have just got home. My unfit legs are telling me that they have done more work in the past 3 days than they did in the 3 months before that, but it's good to get that tired feeling again after so much bed and sofa time!

I'm staying off alcohol until at least the end of February, maybe longer, and will try not to go OTT with food this Christmas/New Year so I should (touch wood) start 2013 lighter than I've been for 4 years, and well enough to start getting some serious exercise in.

(Can you tell that I'm pleased? )

PS

Tue 18th Dec: Walked along Rochdale canal towpath to Todmorden, shopped at LIDL and Morrisons, walked back to Tod station and from Hebden Bridge station with shopping. Total distance walked 10 km or 6.2 miles.

 

[coffeejo]

(Can you tell that I'm pleased? )

So you should be - that's great news

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Well done Colin, just think tonight when you put your feet up you'll be able to say to yourself I've earned this, and that is a wonderful feeling.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Best news I've had all day