Got my finishers certificate and the official results book for the 2010 Boston marathon in the mail today. Out of the 23,177 people who started the race, only 22,721 actually finished it. And yours truly has the distinction of being the 22,721st person to cross the finish line. In other words…. I finished the race [...]
From the Archives
Do you know when it's time to go in?
The idea for this post came to me during the middle a recent severe exacerbation. Actually, it was the same exacerbation that put me in the hospital for 12 days, for which I am still recovering. Foremost on my mind during one of these really bad flares is the ...
My Trip to Churchill
My journey begins in Winnipeg (my very first time crossing the Canadian border). Just 2 days earlier there had been a pretty bad snow storm and potential weather delays at the airport were a big concern.Fortunately things worked out and I got there on time without any problems. ...
Asthma guilt trip
How many times have you had a really bad asthma flare, but had serious trepidations about going to the emergency room for treatment? How many times have you felt guilty that maybe you weren't sick enough to be admitted to the hospital? Well, that's pretty much been the ...
Double Whammy Asthma
I often find it frustrating that here I am, a life long asthmatic, a Respiratory therapist and an asthma educator, yet still unable in normal conversation, to describe what makes my type of asthma so different from others. When asked to define asthma in general, I usually give the ...
I'm a recovering Albuter-holic
Rick, the author of the Respiratory Therapy Cave , wrote to me the other day talking about what it was like growing up with severe asthma. One of the things he mentioned that I thought was kinda funny, was how he used to sleep with an inhaler ...
Healing Walks
Carolyn Scott Kortge's new book is finally out and guess who's in one of the chapters? Carolyn contacted me about year ago for this project. She thought I had an interesting story to tell, and that it would fit in nicely with the motivational theme of the book. It's really ...
My New Old Passion
It's actually not a new passion, more like the reigniting of an on again, off again love affair Ive had since early childhood. I'm referring of course to the bass guitar, or for that matter any other heavy string instrument. My introduction into the world of making music actually ...
Boston 2011 Race Report
They don't call it the best marathon in the world for nothing , and this year was no exception. The weather was near perfect and the spectators and volunteers outdid themselves. The moment I entered athletes village and the disabled athletes staging area early Monday morning, my worries and stress about ...
Buried Alive
The photo is from the movie "Awake" , but what happened to me last September was not fiction. It was the real deal. I'll share with you now, what I couldn't 9 months ago because of pending legal action. Ive since withdrawn my lawsuit against the parties involved and ...
A quarter million puffs
Care for some Albuterol? (Hey.....how did the primatine mist get in there?) I sometimes jokingly claim that Ive
Questions for Dr. Wenzel
Last week after finding out just how damaged my lungs really are, the only thing going through my head was..WHY? All of the assumptions I had made about my asthma throughout the years, suddenly didn't seem to make sense anymore. I was beginning to wonder if ...
Asthma Breathing Zones
This is the 2nd installment of my " Breathing, the mini series". This one is more for the non-asthmatics out there, but I think some of our lung challenged friends might learn a thing or two as well. If you hang around asthmatics or browse as many personal asthma blogs ...
#97 , misinformation and a virus from Hell
Battle scars: 4 failed arterial line attempts and 12 failed IV attempts. I have no veins left and my radial arteries are so scarred up from previous insertions, that it's virtually impossible to get access unless they put a central line in. Very frustrating for the doctors and ...
No Mountain climbing for me :-(
Looks like I jumped the gun on this one. After polling my family, friends and doctors, and after reading up on high altitude hiking, Ive decided to heed some good advise for a change and will not be participating in the Mt Evans COPD Challenge hike. The elevation just makes it too risky for someone [...]
Recovering Sugar-holic
As you might recall, about a month ago I switched to an all organic, non-pesticide treated diet. What you might not know, is at about the same time, I also began to reduce my sugar consumption. I’m slowly weaning myself off one of the most additives compounds known to man. Yes me, Mr. Candy man, [...]
Double Whammy Asthma
I often find it frustrating that here I am, a life long asthmatic, a Respiratory therapist and an asthma educator, yet still unable in normal conversation, to describe what makes my type of asthma so different from others. When asked to define asthma in general, I usually give the spiel about how asthma is an [...]
Be an RCP
[JP-Facebook-Like]Check out this nifty little pin the California RCP board sent me… At first I thought they sent it to me for putting in 25 years of devoted service to the profession, but it turns out that they sent these pins out to every licensed RCP ( Respiratory Care Practitioner) to commemorate 25 years of [...]
I think I’ll go climb a REAL mountain
How’s this for a view! In just a few weeks , if all goes as planned, I hope to be standing on that very same rock with a half a dozen of my COPD friends. The brainchild of my Boston marathon walking partner Mike Mc Bride, the “COPD Mt Evans Challenge” as he calls it, [...]
Organic Dairy Question
You might remember a couple weeks ago I wrote a post about switching to an all Organic diet? Well, someone left a comment that raised some very interesting ethical questions regarding the treatment of sick organic dairy animals. Because I’m fairly new to the whole organic food thing, I decided to contact one of [...]
Annual Asthma Report Card
It’s been almost a year since Ive updated my asthma status. Here’s the latest report card. For the year, I give myself a C + In general my lung function has only declined a couple percent which is good. The problem of course, is that when you’re down in the lower ranges like I am, [...]
A Fathers Day Reunion 50 years in the making.
Hey, I gotta question for you? What’s the longest length of time you’ve ever been separated from a loved one until being reunited with them again? 5 years, 10 years, maybe even 20 years? How does four and a half decades sound? About a week ago, my brother and I took a very special trip [...]
Going Organic
Here’s a question Ive been asking myself a lot lately (thanks to a most cool brother); When it comes to improving my fitness, why should I go through all the pain and sacrifice of exercising my body hard everyday, if I’m gonna continue to throw toxic chemicals into it? Doesn’t make much sense.. does it? [...]
My First Adsense Paycheck…Woohoo!
[JP-Facebook-Like] Wow…Ive hit the big time! I’m major player now. A force to be reckoned with. At the top of my game. Watch out world, I’m going places now! Today I got one of these… Ben at his finest.That’s right, my blog is finally paying ME! So after 5 years, I finally reached the $100 [...]
Is too much of a good thing, bad?
For 5 years now, I’ve been heralding the benefits of daily exercise in people who have severe lung disease. That message is plastered all over this blog, and I believe is the reason that Ive lived so long. But wait, just as with every other facet of this frustrating disease, there’s a catch 22. While [...]
Born again Respiratory Therapist
Following up on a previous post, I’m happy to announce that the state RCP board has accepted my RCP renewal application. I now have a valid license to practice Respiratory Care in the State of California. Yah….I’m legal again! I have no plans on ever returning to the traditional work force as an RT, but [...]
