FitOldDog, A Motivational Speaker? It's story-telling, really, and I enjoy that! You can follow my podcasts via this link! Patient to patient motivation is critical! We vascular disease patients meet on Facebook, largely by chance! Rarely does the medical profession bring us together! I do have one great medical cheerleader, Tara, my second aortic surgeon! We met the first time on Twitter, and ... Read more
Aorta Patient's Perspective? After Aortic Surgery, You're Essentially On Your Own! It can't be helped! It's up to us, to help each other! Much Appreciated Aortic Surgeons Are Too Busy, Saving Other Lives! Aortic surgery is modern magic, that has saved my life, and that of countless others. New aortic surgery techniques could have extended the life of Albert Einstein, but he was born too soon. They did what ... Read more
No Exercise Causes Your Body To Decay Aortic Aneurysm Or Aortic Dissection Clearly, Exercise Is Critical For Injury Recovery But How? "...that's great but I'm 13 months post dissection and banned from all exercise until my bp comes down which itself has caused more problems." Facebook response to post on my survey on "Living With Aortic Disease." NOTE: Exercise was critical for my recovery from a ... Read more
If you survive an aortic dissection, or another, less stressful form of aortic disease, such as in my case, an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), you'll need support from people who understand. Here are some people who understand - The Aortic Warriors Organization. I can often forget that I have an aortic aneurysm, due to the life-saving, and constant activity of Rupert, my magical Cook Zenith Abdominal Aortic ... Read more
PLEASE NOTE: If you have aortic disease, don't undertake any kind of sport or exercise before you have carried out your own benefit/risk assessment, with the guidance of your medical advisors. In the fall of 2010, I started this blog, in the hopes of finding another Ironman-distance triathlete with an abdominal aortic aneurysm stent graft. I am yet to find such an athlete, but the first person to respond to my ... Read more
Pain comes in many formats and it pays to understand it, because, have pain you will (at the risk of sounding like Yoda). Painful sensation ranges from slight irritation to personality-destroying chronic agony. The worst I've felt in my life (and no, I haven't had a baby) was severe enough to cause me to lose consciousness, when lots of morphine didn't touch it (two big medical professionals pulling a ... Read more
A number of people have accused (yes, accused) me of inducing my abdominal aortic aneurysm by undertaking endurance sports, in the form of Ironman, at an older age. Never made any sense to me, as it is clearly a connective tissue disorder, based on aortic fluid mechanics alone. The article referred to below supports my case. And here are the conclusions of this recent research study on the issue, posted ... Read more
I just received an 'out of the blue' communication from an endurance athlete, Shaun, an ultramarathoner who plans to continue his running once he recovers from recent aortic valve surgery. Shaun kindly permitted me to present his story here, as extracted from our e-mail conversation. When you are out there on your own on the trails with aortic disease, inspiration from fellow 'aortic athletes'' provides ... Read more
Healthy food for a healthy body and a happy planet.
The secret is to be a Jack of All Trades, but master of one. One that will earn you a living if the grants don't come in.
Recent Comments