Posts from the Past
I look too Healthy

I look too Healthy

I get this all the time......... "You look so healthy" "You don't look like you have a disability" "You can walk farther then I can" "You look amazingly fit for someone with severe asthma" "You make ...

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Needle in a haystack

Needle in a haystack

What are the chances you could re-connect with a person you only met for a few hours while in a sea of 75,000 other runners, in a foreign country, that you never exchanged addresses with , or for that matter ...

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Cracking the stems off of Primatine mist bottles.

Cracking the stems off of Primatine mist bottles.

I don't usually write about my childhood, because frankly, its too painful and because most of it is so outrageous, that a lot of people wouldn't believe it anyway. But just for kicks, I thought Id share one of my ...

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Behind that finish line smile

Behind that finish line smile

Ok, so I look really strong in some of my finish line photos, but believe me.. looks can be very very deceiving. I'm an expert at hiding what I feel inside (I think most asthmatics are, to some degree.) ...

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A matter of timing

A matter of timing

Sometimes when I'm suffering from bouts of dyspnea, I'll divert my attention by writing about it .... or I should say... bitching about it. Nine out of ten times, I'll never actually post/publish these rantings, because by the ...

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The Recuperative phases of a severe asthma exacerbation

Suffice it to say, I wasn't exactly a happy camper when I wrote that Dr W helped me get through this awful time by reassuring me that what anguish I was experiencing, was a normal response after suffering such ...

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Off to the Eternal city

Off to the Eternal city

(Piazza Navona) Well, after a close call with my lungs this weekend , in just a few hours and with a ton medications in tow, I'll be on a plane to Italy for the start of my Roman adventure. This ...

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Walk kind of walker are you?

Walk kind of walker are you?

Just as runners come in a variety of flavors (joggers, runners, sprinters, hurdlers, marathoners, ultramarathoners, etc.),not all walkers are alike. They also come in an assortment of flavors. ( Marciatori Racewalking Track... Circa 1900 ) (Italy's Ugo Frigerio wins the 10-kilometer ...

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I'm a recovering  Albuter-holic

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, ...

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I'm Hardcore Now

I'm Hardcore Now

GOT A NEW TATT !!! Hmmm...piercing sounds interesting too. Maybe next time.

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18 down, 8.2 to go

18 down, 8.2 to go

Here are a couple pictures I snapped during my 18 mile training walk, which brought me through the Sea Cliff area of San Francisco. This is one of the toughest training route Ive done, mainly because all the hills. It's ...

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Reflecting

Reflecting

It's weird, but when I look at my marathon photos, it's almost like I'm looking at a stranger . It's as though someone else did this race for me and I just went along for the ride. ...

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Did you bring a note with you??

Did you bring a note with you??

Back in the old days when you got sick and ended up in the hospital, it was probably because your primary care doctor put you there. Boy, have things changed. Nowadays you have one set of doctors ...

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Flat Faced Furry Friend is Family

Flat Faced Furry Friend is Family

Turns out that this is the second time in a week that this little cat was found by someone and taken to the animal shelter. After the first incident, the shelter kept it for a few days ...

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The nights are the worse.

The nights are the worse.

Ever notice the time stamp on many of my blog entries? I usually compose and publish them in the early morning hours...sometimes way before dawn. You know why? Because I'm usually awake at 3 or 4 in ...

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Walking Expenses

Walking Expenses

Living on a fixed income, I have to track all of my expenses closely. I just figured out that in the last 6 months ,I spent a total of $1175.97 on walking related stuff . This includes fees ...

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My cat has a shoe fetish

My cat has a shoe fetish

This has been going on long before I started fitness walking..............

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Propofol

Propofol

This is a picture of me on a ventilator last year during a severe asthma exacerbation ( what they call status asthmaticus). See the little IV bottle inside the blue rectangle with the milky looking stuff inside ? ...

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Battle Scars......Electrode Gum

Battle Scars......Electrode Gum

Can anyone out there relate to this...... You've been home from the hospital for a few days now, and you still can't get all that electrode gum off your chest? It's like a black rubber ...

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Up my nose with a rubber hose.

Up my nose with a rubber hose.

Does my new nose wire make a fashion statement? Or does it clash with my beautiful blue eyes ? Actually, I was really bummed about having to deal with this thing in my nose and stomach for the next 24 ...

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That's a lot of ABGs

That's a lot of ABGs

Can you believe I've had 118 arterial blood gases radial artery. If that were the case , my wrist would have fallen off by now. Some of those samples actually came from

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Night walking

This past weekend Douglas and I decided that rather than stay home and watch the same old crap on Sunday night television ,that we would start a new hobby, where once a month we would pick an interesting location somewhere ...

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The not so glamorous side of being a severely asthmatic marathon walker.

Yeah, I made it to Boston , Ive walked the Rome and Portland marathons a couple times, and yeah Ive been written up in lots of walk magazines and medical journals, but I think a lot of people who ...

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The SARP experience

The SARP experience

Welcome to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the

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6 times a day

I had planned to write a post about my nebulizer treatment routine, but then I thought....what the heck,  I'll just video it! Its  spontaneous , unedited and kinda lame, but it's the real deal and it's what I have to do ...

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Number 96

taxco 001

Thanks everyone for all your kind emails while I was in the slammer. The hospital volunteer who brought the messages to my bedside, said he’d never delivered so many messages to one person , and that I must be pretty popular:-) Sorry I couldn’t respond to each one individually, but I read all one of them, and they brought a smile to my face. It’s definitely a plus, when people are rooting for you.

As far as incarcerations go, this one went pretty smooth and was fairly minor in intensity without any major surprises. Because the ER staff at UCSF know me so well, I didn’t have to spend that much time in the ER and was admitted promptly to the ICU. And because I had the smarts to come in early on in the exacerbation, I managed to avoid intubation…. which also means I suffered less trauma to my body in general. They didn’t have to put any IVs in my feet this time, but they did have to put one in my thumb…ouch! 012

In total I spent just 2 days in the Intensive Care Unit and day and a half in the step down unit. I was released on good behavior ( and because I’m an RT) Friday afternoon. They know I can take care of myself pretty good at home, so they’re always willing to discharge me sooner than they would with other asthma patients. My PFs on discharge were still in my red zone, but trending upward.

About the only complication I had this time around, was some benign,but really annoying heart palpitations/ectopy ( PVCs) probably caused from all the albuterol. Over a 4 day period, I received a total of 270 mg of Albuterol . To give you an idea of how much Albuterol that is, a single neb treatment contains only 2.5 mg , which means I received the equivalent of about 108 individual neb treatments. I also received 2 grams of Magnesium over 30 minutes ( instead of 1 gram) ,which is something new they’re doing for patients at UCSF with status asthmaticus.

While I was in the ICU they also gave me the (regular) flu shot, which was pretty cool , because now I don’t have to make a separate trip back to the hospital just for that. Because of my hypoxemia,they also wanted to test me for HIV , which I agreed to, and which of course was negative. Also new this time, is that they had Propofol ( the Micheal Jackson drug) listed as one of my allergies on my allergy bracelet, because of the reaction I had to it the last time I was intubated. Unfortunately, most of the alternative sedative drugs don’t work as well as Propofol. Hopefully, I won’t have test that theory anytime soon.

The Nurses I encountered during this 96th hospitalization were incredibly kind and professional. The ICU and TCU nurses in particular were awesome. Thank you Jen RN, Linda RN, Kevin(ICU Nurse Practitioner) and Susan RN , for putting up with me. The RTs were awesome as well. Thanks Oscar and Carl and the others for all your help. It’s tough taking care of someone like me over and over again…I drive everyone crazy. Last , but not least , a special thanks to Norm, one of the hospitals spiritual counselors, for spending time with me and for arranging a laptop to be send to my bed in ICU.. Thanks Norm!

I’m still pretty sick and on a lot of medication, so it may be some time before I can resume my regular fitness and/or blogging activities. Thanks again everyone for your continued support . Also give a shout out to Tammy for taking 1st place in the racewalking division at last weekends Portland Marathon .

010

Time to go home….YAY!

PS..As it turns out, no one was really pissed off that I did the Rock&Roll race on Sunday and that it may have contributed to this flare-up. In fact, most of the doctors thought it was pretty cool that I did the race, and if it made me sick?… so what.. was their attitude.

Out of commission

Ive been trying my best to tough this one out at home, but I’m starting to get really tired which is not a good thing. If I end up on a ventilator because I waited too long to come in , I’ll really look like an idiot. So, I’m gonna bite the bullet now, and go in for treatment while I still have a chance for a quick recovery. I’ll be at the following prison…UCSF until further notice.

Asthma

Brief race update.

Had a great time and a stronger than expected finish at yesterday race. My final race results aren’t in yet due to a technical glitch, but I think I finished in about 3:07 , which is much faster than I anticipated and probably why I’m having problems today. I felt fine immediately after the race, [...]

Achievements

Another write-up

(Click on cover to read article)

Exercise&Fitness

Do you know the way to San Jose?

…..I do , and I always get lost when I drive through the downtown area:-D San Jose is about an hour south of where I live and that’s where I’m heading out to in a few minutes. I’m gonna have lunch with my Mom and Sister who live in south San Jose, and then I’m [...]

Misc

Night walking

This past weekend Douglas and I decided that rather than stay home and watch the same old crap on Sunday night television ,that we would start a new hobby, where once a month we would pick an interesting location somewhere the city ,and then explore it on foot…at night! On this particular evening we chose [...]

Exercise&Fitness

Getting slower and fatter.

For the past few months Ive been timing some my longer tempo walks (walking at race pace) and the results are pretty much what I feared…..I’m getting slower! In just 3 years Ive slowed almost 40 minutes in the half marathon distance. In 2006 for example, I PRd (personal record) the SF half marathon with [...]

Air-trapping

SARP podcast

In case you didn’t get a chance to read the

Exercise&Fitness

Rock & Roll training complete

My training for the Ms Lizzy, will be doing this race. It’s always nice to have the support of your friends and fellow walker/runners at a fun event like this. My goal for this race, as with every race I do, is simply to finish it… AND… without making myself sick. Because of my declining [...]

Asthma

30 Things About My Invisible Illness

I rarely ever do these question and answer things , but some of my favorite asthmatics are doing it and it’s for a good cause…. so what the heck. 1. The illness I live with is: asthma 2. I was diagnosed with it : at the age of 2 3. But I had symptoms since: [...]

Asthma

My stress reliever

Yup, I’m a severe asthmatic and my stress reliever is a cat! How weird is that. I should do a survey to see how many severe asthmatics have cats!

Asthma

Im going to Pennsylvania to be studied.

SARP for short), is a collaborative research effort involving 4 different Universities, each adding their own research specialties to the mix. The basic goal of the SARP is to determine what make “severe” asthma different than the moderate of mild forms of the disease. The information they gain by studying people like me, is added [...]

Achievements

Im 20,089 days old !

I can’t believe it . Today I obtained the age of 55, and the official rank of “Senior Citizen”. I guess I should start acting my physical age huh? (That’s a scary thought). In my wildest dreams I never thought Id be around this long, but 13 marathons and 500 blog posts later…I’m still walkin, [...]

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Today, Friday July 30th, 2010

Broke my own rule and walked when I was in my yellow zone. Walked 8 miles yesterday, and now I'm paying for it with crappy peak flows and increased dyspnea. I just wanted to try my new shoes out. When will I learn. Taking 2 days off from walking.

FEV1:39% O2 SAT: ⇩ 96% Peak Flows:⇧ 80%

Categories

Ive managed to stay out of HERE


for

164
whole days

Approaching a record number of days that Ive been hospital -free

I went Organic

and gave up
HFCS
46
days ago

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